Stories by Nick Blumberg

The deadly collapse of a condo building in Surfside, Florida, has prompted quick action in nearby cities. It has also left some Chicagoans wondering whether any local condo buildings are at risk, and what sorts of inspections they face.

Inspector General Joseph Ferguson will leave his post as the city’s watchdog in October after running into a brick wall of opposition from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago City Council during the final 18 months of his term in office.

At least 100 people were shot, including 18 who died, between Friday evening and Monday night in what was so far the bloodiest weekend of 2021, according to Chicago Police Department data.

Officials overseeing the search at the site of the Florida condominium collapse sounded increasingly somber Tuesday about the prospects for finding anyone alive, saying they have detected no new signs of life in the rubble as the death toll climbed to 36.

Hundreds of songbirds have died in Indiana from a mysterious illness, prompting wildlife officials in that state to ask residents to remove all bird feeders. Officials in Illinois say they have yet to receive reports of similar infections.

The latest on a violent 4th of July Weekend in Chicago. The Florida condo collapse: could it happen here? Inside the Bears possible move to Arlington Heights. Meet the new president of Illinois Tech.

Keegan Casteel, 32, was allegedly found in possession of a loaded rifle with a laser sight and multiple ammunition magazines inside his 12th-floor Chicago hotel room overlooking Ohio Street Beach during the Fourth of July weekend.

In Chicago, 100 people were shot and 18 people were killed from 6 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Monday, according to the Chicago Police Department. There were 69 shooting incidents during that period, police said.

The pressure of hosting an Olympics during a still-active pandemic is beginning to show in Japan. The games begin July 23, with organizers determined they will go on, even with a reduced number of spectators or possibly none at all.

It’s no secret that America is divided across partisan and racial lines. But a new, nationwide survey of white and Black Americans from the University of Illinois at Chicago illustrates just how deep some of those divisions are.

A look at how Americans differ in defining their national identity. A distinctly Latino post of the American Legion. And the pandemic’s impact on plastic pollution and efforts to reduce consumption.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO on Monday, handing over the reins as the company navigates the challenges of a world fighting to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

Rescuers were given the all-clear to resume work looking for victims at a collapsed South Florida condo building after demolition crews set off a string of explosives that brought down the last of the building in a plume of dust.

Calling a vaccination “the most patriotic thing you can do,” President Joe Biden on Sunday mixed the nation’s birthday party with a celebration of freedom from the worst of the pandemic.

This Fourth of July holiday we look at a word that has had different meanings for different Americans: patriotism, and what it means to some members of the Black community.

On this Fourth of July, what Independence Day means in the Black community. The city’s new monument to activist Ida B. Wells. Meet the new head of the Lincoln Museum. And ladies who sing the blues.

Jessica Stern, soon to become the State Department’s special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, sees a mix of promising news and worrisome developments almost everywhere she looks, both at home and abroad.

Tyson Foods Inc. is recalling nearly 8.5 million pounds of ready-to-eat chicken products because they may be contaminated with Listeria, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Saturday.

Chicago’s “challenging” holiday weekend turned more violent overnight after four people were shot in a drive-by shooting.

A recent South Side Weekly report used city data to show that Chicago’s vaccine disparity is widening between wealthier parts of the city, like the Loop, and areas on the South and West sides with a majority of Black and brown residents.

How some Latino Chicagoans view their own patriotism. Chicago’s vaccine disparity and the delta variant. And “¡Viva la Libertad!” at the Newberry Library.

A new exhibit and programming series at the Newberry Library looks at the ties between the revolutionary histories of the U.S. and countries across Latin America.

For many Latinos, both American-born and immigrants, feelings of pride and patriotism for the U.S. are complicated by history, racial injustice and cultural erasure, leading to questions of what it truly means to be an American patriot.

The Biden administration on Friday gave a rare look inside an emergency shelter it opened to house migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone, calling the California facility a model among its large-scale sites.

With Tropical Storm Elsa looming in the Caribbean and forecast to move toward the state in the coming days, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the building in Surfside is “tottering” and “structurally unsound” and demolishing it is the prudent thing to do.

After decades of organizing by parents, activists and unions, Chicago is on the verge of having a fully elected school board for the first time in its history.