Stories by Patty Wetli

Treatment by the Chicago Park District of a grub infestation, which laid waste to a third of Welles Park’s 15 acres, will shut down the affected area to all activity for months, and spring sports are in jeopardy.

The U.S. moved a step closer to expanding COVID-19 vaccinations for millions more children as a panel of government advisers on Tuesday endorsed kid-size doses of Pfizer’s shots for 5- to 11-year-olds.

Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a two-day holiday that honors dead relatives, remembering loved ones and celebrating ancestors. We talk about the holiday’s meaning, traditions and misconceptions with community leaders.

NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said Tuesday it was “still very early” in the investigation and the agency typically takes one to two years to determine accident causes.

The Wrigley Building celebrates its 100th anniversary. The latest edition of “Ask Geoffrey” explores how the Chicago icon transformed Michigan Avenue.

In their first major live performance since the pandemic began, members of Giordano Dance Chicago were in grand style and exceptional form. 

The city is poised to get nearly 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for kids during the first week after the vaccine is authorized, officials said. 

City officials removed Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland and Mississippi from the travel order, joining Florida, Hawaii, California, Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

City Council members sound off on the police union’s vaccine opposition. What’s behind a rise in antisemitism? The latest in the Jelani Day case. Grubs in Welles Park. And the Wrigley Building turns 100.

Suburban Dixmoor residents went more than a week without water. Could other places face a similar water emergency?

United Airlines says its unvaccinated pilots are costing the company millions. Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Stephanie Goldberg has details on that story and more.

Public safety apps like Citizen and Nextdoor allow users to report incidents and crime in the area. But some skeptics say these apps have fueled fear.

Chicago artist Brandon Breaux says in a media-driven world, where there is a lot of false information, he wanted to use his art to educate. “We use art as a mechanism to cut through the noise.”

More than 96,000 people died of drug overdoses during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic – that’s an increase of almost 30 percent in just one year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Cook County Judge Cecilia Horan on Monday evening denied a request seeking to extend a temporary restraining order against John Catanzara, who had repeatedly urged Fraternal Order of Police members not to give their vaccination status to Chicago officials.

The hearing was likely the last before Rittenhouse goes on trial Nov. 1 for the shootings during chaotic demonstrations in Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020, two days after a white police officer in that city shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, in the back while responding to a domestic disturbance.

Women have lost nearly 3 million jobs since February 2020. A look at the barriers facing low-income, working mothers.

Beginning Nov. 8, foreign, non-immigrant adults traveling to the United States will need to be fully vaccinated, with only limited exceptions, and all travelers will need to be tested for the virus before boarding a plane to the U.S. 

A survey of 2,000 Americans highlighted what some respondents claimed were the most commonly misused phrases and words they encounter – with “I could care less,” “would of,” “anyways” and “irregardless” claiming the top four spots.

Authored by Alds. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward) and Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward), the measure to give alderpeople the final say over whether employees could be disciplined for flouting the vaccine mandate was sent to the legislative purgatory of the City Council’s Rules Committee.

Illinois will have a “robust supply” of COVID-19 vaccines for kids ages 5 to 11 as soon as they receive approval, according to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. “Parents should be able to breathe a sigh of relief they’ve been holding in for 18 months,” he said.

Francis Wayne Alexander would have been 21 or 22 years old when Gacy killed him sometime between early 1976 and early 1977, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said at a news conference in announcing the identification of Alexander’s remains.

League rules say vaccinated individuals who are asymptomatic can return to the practice facility once they have two consecutive negative PCR tests taken at least 24 hours apart. 

The latest on the water crisis in Dixmoor. What’s behind a rash of opioid deaths. Why United says unvaccinated pilots are costing the company millions. What made the list of most mispronounced words?

Mother Nature is throwing the kitchen sink at Chicago, weather-wise, to kick off the work week.

Moderna hasn't yet gotten the nod to offer its vaccine to teens but is studying lower doses in younger children while it waits. Researchers tested two shots for the 6- to 11-year-olds, given a month apart, that each contained half the dose given to adults.