Stories by Jennifer Cotto

A longtime Chicago journalist just stepped away from her job after 30 years of covering crime, politics, education and urban affairs.

Bryon Ortega, 19, was charged this week with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, criminal sexual assault and two child pornography-related charges after he allegedly abused two high school students.

The City Council’s Transportation Committee advanced the measure six months after 3-year-old Lily Shambrook died while riding in a carrier on her mother’s bicycle.

Tons of toys, holiday markets, seasonal concerts and a photography exhibit usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Senate Democrats met behind closed doors at the Capitol to choose their leadership team for the new Congress that begins in January. The session was quick and upbeat, with no challengers. 

“She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home,” President Biden said from the White House, where he was accompanied by Brittney Griner’s wife, Cherelle, and administration officials.

President Joe Biden is expected to promptly sign the measure, which requires all states to recognize same-sex marriages, a relief for hundreds of thousands of couples who have married since the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized those marriages nationwide.

The Food and Drug Administration’s decision aims to better protect the littlest kids from severe COVID-19 at a time when children’s hospitals already are packed with tots suffering from a variety of respiratory illnesses.

The dispute over the future of the gang database represents the first clash between the Police Department’s leaders and the commission made up of Chicagoans given the authority to set policy for the department in an attempt to restore trust in its operations.

Users can submit photos of themselves that the app will use to generate multiple self-portraits in different art styles using artificial intelligence technology. But the trend has also reignited concerns about the ethics regarding the use of artificial intelligence in art.

The lag time for shops to open raises the question of whether Illinois has followed through on its pledge to use legal marijuana to lift communities and people who were previously punished by anti-cannabis laws.

The governor quietly signs the new SAFE-T Act. Where things stand on new pot licenses. The brave new world of AI art. And a South Side comedian readies for his headlining debut at the Chicago Theatre.

Dalia Stasevska has loved music since she was a child. She is carrying on that passion with three Chicago Symphony Orchestra performances. 

A boxing gym in the basement of a Little Village church is on a mission to provide new opportunities for neighborhood kids. Chicago Youth Boxing Club started in 2006 as a refuge for young people seeking a positive outlet.

Pat McGann made a transition from sales to stand-up comedy and in the years since has appeared on late night television and in his own special. Next year, he will headline a show at the Chicago Theatre. 

With animal fossils hard to come by, the researchers extracted environmental DNA, also known as eDNA, from soil samples. This is the genetic material that organisms shed into their surroundings — for example, through hair, waste, spit or decomposing carcasses.

Gary LaPaille, who served as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party from 1990 to 1998, died Thursday at 68 from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

In nearly three hours of arguments, liberal and conservative justices appeared to take issue with the main thrust of a challenge asking them to essentially eliminate the power of state courts to strike down legislature-drawn, gerrymandered congressional district maps on grounds that they violate state constitutions.

“Everything I have in my life I owe to public education,” Sendhil Revuluri said during the meeting. “Our city, our students, our educators all need and deserve a board that listens to the community, focuses on student outcomes, sets clear goals to drive our progress and then holds one another and our district accountable for that progress.”

Sky watchers will have their eyes peeled Wednesday night for a rare-ish celestial event: an “eclipse” of Mars.

The changes approved last week by Democratic members of the General Assembly is the fourth follow-up bill to the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, or SAFE-T Act.

The question for the justices is whether the U.S. Constitution’s provision giving state legislatures the power to make the rules about the “times, places and manner” of congressional elections cuts state courts out of the process.

Third Coast Percussion is nominated for a Grammy for the fourth year in a row. “Gauntlet” is a new work that has the ensemble making music from a table full of toys and everyday items.

CTA says it’s trying to close the huge staffing shortfall that’s been causing ghost trains and buses. Examining a legislature theory once called fringe that is now before the Supreme Court. And the possibilities of percussion.

Chicago police are seeking the community’s help after a 15-year-old boy was fatally shot outside Michele Clark Magnet High School Tuesday afternoon.

Last week, state Rep. Morgan, D-Deerfield, introduced a wide-ranging gun control bill that would prevent the future sale of what the measure describes as “assault weapons,” as well as large-capacity magazines and devices that can switch other firearms into machine-gun style guns.