Stories by Kristen Thometz

Echoing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Illinois health officials are recommending COVID-19 booster shots for older adults, as well as front-line workers and people who live in group settings.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys finished their closing arguments this week. The 54-year-old singer is accused of running a Chicago-based criminal enterprise that recruited his accusers for unwanted sex and mental torment.

While specifics of President Biden’s $3.5 trillion economic recovery initiative are still being negotiated, Gov. Pritzker honed in on the package’s enhanced child care benefits and universal pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds.

Only 225 migrants remained in a Texas border camp where almost 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants had gathered just days ago hoping to seek asylum, the top elected official in Val Verde County said Friday.

“Michelle and I could not be more excited to break ground on the Obama Presidential Center in the community that we love,” the former president says, seated beside his wife, in a video announcement shared first with The Associated Press.

Chicago, a wild-card team last year, is going to the postseason in consecutive years for the first time. The White Sox are in their first season under Tony La Russa, who will turn 77 on Oct. 4.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans, opening a major new phase in the U.S vaccination drive against COVID-19.

The neighborhood has changed from an industrial hub to an area bustling with bars and restaurants. And more changes are on the way, with huge new developments under consideration, including a Guinness brewery.

A rift between Chicago Bears leadership and the owner of Soldier Field— the Chicago Park District — may be brewing, as speculation swarms over whether the team is planning to relocate. 

We’re live in the West Loop. The future of Soldier Field. A preview of the Bears vs. Browns matchup. The fight over citizenship for immigrants. And to the symphony with Hedy Weiss.

Thousands of immigrant-rights advocates, including some with Illinois organizations, marched in Washington on Thursday to demand congressional leaders create a legal pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. 

A prosecutor in closing arguments at the sex-trafficking trial of R. Kelly urged jurors on Thursday to make the R&B superstar “pay” for his alleged crimes, while a defense lawyer told them they’ve been misled by opportunistic accusers about consensual relationships.

Justin Fields will get his first NFL start against the Browns in Cleveland on Sunday. Can the rookie quarterback and hope for the future of the franchise live up to the hype and high expectations to deliver a win?

Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra announced he has extended his contract as music director by one year through the 2022-23 season. The 80-year-old Italian became music director of the CSO in 2010, succeeding Daniel Barenboim.

It is the largest single-day volunteer effort in support of environmental stewardship. Here’s how to get involved in National Public Lands Day at Chicago area parks and preserves.

In what officials call a key step to combat climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is sharply limiting domestic production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners.

The mayor’s latest push for vaccinations invokes the city’s 77 community areas to encourage Chicagoans from all neighborhoods to get vaccinated — and to enlist those who have already been jabbed with the lifesaving vaccine to help others follow their lead.

Timothy Wynn, 18, was ordered held without bail during a court hearing Thursday, following his arrest on felony charges of home invasion and first-degree murder in the shooting death of 36-year-old Ben Sims.

A new $40 million workforce recovery grant program seeks to help job seekers get back to work, while another $4.4 million program aims to increase access to career training programs for at-risk youth, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday.

Capybaras, native to Central and South America, are the largest members of the rodent family, tipping the scales at 130 pounds. Three of them have just arrived at the Brookfield Zoo.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson was discharged from a rehabilitation facility Wednesday following an earlier diagnosis of COVID-19.

The U.S. moved a step closer Wednesday to offering booster doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to senior citizens and others at high risk from the virus as the Food and Drug Administration signed off on the targeted use of extra shots.

Some Chicago public schools will retain their resource officers, following a split vote by the Board of Education to approve a one-year, $11 million contract with the Chicago Police Department.

The two teams have met each other three times during the regular season, with the Wings taking two of those games. We get game-day predictions from the head coaches of women’s basketball at Loyola University and the University of Chicago.

With efforts well underway to craft new ward boundaries that could shape Chicago politics for the next decade, Chicagoans on Wednesday got a brief glimpse of the heated debate taking shape behind closed doors at City Hall.

It was just before opening night that “American Mariachi” had to close its doors. Now, nearly 18 months later, the cast has returned to the stage. We go behind the scenes of this new musical play set in 1970s Chicago.