Stories by Heather Cherone

The first-of-its-kind audit by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg of the city’s workers compensation system found “major improvement” in the system that paid $73.5 million to resolve approximately 3,700 claims in 2022.

A series of events inspired the four co-founders to start Raíces Chicago Story Coalition, a nonprofit capacity-building organization that supports archival and storytelling projects by and about Latino communities. 

Officials quickly moved to tailor the Chicago convention to Harris with only four weeks, in part drawing from the 2008 convention when Barack Obama accepted the nomination given the historic candidacy of Harris herself.

The online voting process doesn’t end until Monday, but the campaign marked the moment when she crossed the threshold to have the majority of delegates’ votes.

Thousands of journalists spoke with recruiters or networked at the career fair. Meeting rooms overflowed with attendees listening to panel discussions on career growth and industry changes, including conversations around artificial intelligence and new considerations in criminal justice coverage.

Charles Cui, 53, of Lake Forest, was convicted in December alongside Ed Burke of one count of federal program bribery, three counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity and one count of making a false statement to the FBI. 

Registration opens Saturday for the two-day festival set for Sept. 14-15. 

Chicago received 9,000 reports of tree emergencies following July’s tornadoes, and a whopping 6,500 of those involved entire trees felled.

Protests erupted in Venezuela over the results of the country’s latest presidential election. Current president Nicolas Maduro declared victory — but his opposition is raising concerns over the accuracy of those results.

Novel Pizza Cafe is putting a modern twist on an Italian classic. The Pilsen spot is decked out with ‘90s-inspired throwbacks, and the food embraces a fusion of the owners’ Mexican and Filipino cultures.

Election results are being disputed in Venezuela — what it could mean for folks here. Efforts to document Latino history. And a new pizza spot serving up a fusion of ingredients.

Since 2018, the Dixon Brotherhood Reunion has brought together formerly incarcerated men. The event was born out of a need to network for jobs and housing and to build social connections that weren’t centered around funerals.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who has all but sealed the Democrats’ nomination after President Joe Biden last month abandoned his bid for reelection, has to choose her running mate before Aug. 7 when the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to confirm the ticket on a roll call vote.

While parts of the U.S. experienced record-breaking heat, July in Chicago was actually slightly cooler than normal.

A total of eight people including Krasikov were swapped back to Russia in exchange for the release of 16 people who were held in Russian detention, including four Americans. 

In a call, Sonya Massey’s mother, Donna Massey, reports that her daughter is suffering a “mental breakdown” and tells the dispatcher, “I don’t want you guys to hurt her.” She adds that she fears the police and asks that no officer who is “prejudiced” be sent.

After analyzing data from a community science project on urban milkweed patches, Field Museum researchers have identified common milkweed as the species most attractive to monarch butterflies. 

Trump’s visit to Chicago quickly turns contentious. Growing calls for justice in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey. And COVID-19 cases are on the rise.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cases started to rise the week ending May 18 and have seen a steady incline since. With the start of the new school year right around the corner — just what is the latest COVID-19 guidance?

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law Wednesday that forbids employers from disciplining or penalizing workers who don’t participate in meetings “if the meeting or communication is to communicate the opinion of the employer about religious matters or political matters.”

The Republican nominee for president mentioned Chicago only once during a panel discussion at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention at the Hilton Chicago on Michigan Avenue.

A Chicago music venue will soon host a karaoke blowout like no other. It’s a rare chance to step onto a big stage and sing in front of … 5,000 people. In other words, it may be your wildest dream or your worst nightmare.

“Right now, there’s over 420 residents at Stateville who are at risk of dire injury due to the structural vulnerabilities, degradation and deterioration of those buildings that put them at risk of serious physical injury,” said Heather Lewis Donnell, a partner at Loevy and Loevy.

Delegates to the Democratic National Convention will officially select their nominee for president in a process that begins Thursday. But unlike in past years, they won’t do so in the raucous party atmosphere of the convention floor or even during the convention itself.

Wednesday’s event marked former President Donald Trump’s second appearance in Chicago since 2016, when massive protests forced him to scrap a rally on the University of Illinois Chicago campus.

Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, a former CEO at aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins, will succeed David Calhoun, 67, as CEO and president effective Aug. 8, the company said.