Stories by Associated Press

The June 24 collapse at the oceanside Champlain Towers South killed 97 people, with at least one more missing person yet to be identified. The site has been mostly swept flat and the rubble moved to a Miami warehouse. 

The face of gymnastics in the United States is changing. There are more athletes of color starting — and sticking — in a sport long dominated by white athletes at the highest levels.

High temperatures and oppressive humidity levels could combine for a triple-digit heat index Saturday. Air quality continues to be affected by smoke in the atmosphere from wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada.

Belated and beleaguered, the virus-delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics finally opened Friday with cascading fireworks and made-for-TV choreography that unfolded in a near-empty stadium, a colorful but strangely subdued ceremony that set a striking tone to match a unique pandemic Games.

The Justice Department is launching an effort in Chicago and four other U.S. cities to reduce spiking gun violence by addressing illegal trafficking and prosecuting offenses that help put guns in the hands of criminals.

Since January 2018, Whitney Bradshaw has photographed more than 375 women who participated in her “Scream Sessions.” All portraits are now on display together for the first time in a new exhibit at the McCormick Gallery called “Outcry.”

Researchers have developed technology that enabled a man unable to speak because of paralysis to communicate by translating his brain waves into text on a computer screen. Rabiah Mayas of the Museum of Science and Industry has details on that story and others making headlines.

The city is expanding a program that works to keep people from getting a drug offense and, instead, places them into treatment. Eleven police districts are currently eligible for the program, but officials say it will be available in all districts by the end of the year.

Some of the Games’ most high-profile moments will incorporate clever examples of “reduce, reuse, recycle,” like medalists standing on 3-D printed podiums made from recycled plastic collected by the Japanese people. 

The historic Bronzeville neighborhood on the city’s South Side sits just south of McCormick Place, and has been known for decades as a hub of Black arts and culture in Chicago. Wednesday, City Council paved the way for a massive new development that could reshape the community’s future.

The country’s top law enforcement officer visits Chicago. A live report from Bronzeville. How a program to keep drug users out of jail is expanding. And translating brainwaves into text.

A “racial healing and historical reckoning project” launched by Mayor Lori Lightfoot after she removed the city’s three statues of Christopher Columbus has stalled, and the statues remain in storage a year after they were wrenched from their pedestals.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been criticized as “racist” — even as a Black woman — and she’s been called “notoriously thin-skinned” but she remains determined to leave a legacy far beyond her time in office.

A “breakthrough” case is when a fully vaccinated person gets infected with the coronavirus. A small number of such cases are expected and health officials say they’re not a cause for alarm.

“Access to birth control should never be determined by economic status, education or ZIP code. Birth control is a basic health care service. It should be treated as such and readily available for all,” said state Sen. Melinda Bush, a co-sponsor of the bill. 

“Renegades: Born in the USA” is a bound edition of the popular “Renegades” podcast featuring conversations on everything from fame to cars to the country itself between former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen.

As the battle over control of business sign permits concludes, a new front in the struggle over aldermanic prerogative opened Wednesday over the future of the city’s ward superintendents. 

Eight people who had been around a party bus were shot on the North Side late Wednesday, marking the third shooting in Chicago with at least five victims in just a six-hour span, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Illinois’ governor says he’ll be among thousands of people flocking to Grant Park next week for the massive music festival, even as the delta variant drives a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in Chicago and across the U.S.

A historic agreement on civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department — our Spotlight Politics team weighs in. The new chief who investigates police misconduct. Colleges prepare to reopen.

Meet a group of Chicago food vendors who are now the owners of a shared kitchen after renting it for years. With it, they hope they can help their community achieve the American dream.

The massive music festival that routinely attracts more than 100,000 people per day to its stages starts next week as the delta variant drives a rise in COVID-19 cases. Should the show go on? A local music critic and an infectious disease doctor share their thoughts.

What will the fall semester look like on college campuses? We discuss reopening plans with the leaders of three area universities.

The Chicago City Council has approved a measure to create a board of civilians to oversee the Chicago Police Department, the police board and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Andrea Kersten, the interim chief administrator of COPA, shares her thoughts.

With just two votes to spare after a contentious debate of nearly two hours, the Chicago City Council voted 36-13 to create an elected board of Chicago residents to oversee the Chicago Police Department, enacting the most far-reaching police reform ordinance in the country.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected two Republicans tapped by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, a decision the Republican denounced as “an egregious abuse of power.”