Stories by Angel Idowu

A big anniversary is coming up for Walt Whitman and the Soul Children of Chicago.

Why many alderpeople are calling it quits. Inside the proposal for a domed Soldier Field. Indiana lawmakers take up abortion. And previewing a big concert from the Soul Children of Chicago.

A growing list of alderpeople have announced they will not be running for re-election in 2023, or have already resigned from the City Council. We hear from four of them. 

Chicago is battling New York City, Atlanta and Houston for the right to celebrate the party’s nominees for president and vice president in August 2024, while showcasing the Democratic Party’s pitch to voters.

The mayor has a new proposal to upgrade Soldier Field, but can it really sway the Bears to stay? 

A wildly exuberant, ideally performed, fabulously designed production of “Priscilla Queen of the Desert”  — superbly directed and choreographed by the ever formidable Christopher Chase Carter — has come to the stage of Chicago’s Mercury Theater.

Damage across the St. Louis region was widespread after a massive downpour dropped more than 11 inches of rain in parts of St. Charles County and up to 10 inches elsewhere in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

On Monday, “Chicago Tonight” correspondent Joanna Hernandez hosted the latest edition of our “Chicago Tonight: Voices” community conversation series, moderating a discussion focused on gun violence in America.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Tuesday new federal legislation targeting the straw purchasing of firearms, nearly a year after a Chicago police officer was fatally shot with such a weapon during a traffic stop in Englewood.

Growth appears to be sputtering, home sales are tumbling and economists warn of a potential recession ahead. But consumers are still spending, businesses keep posting profits and the economy keeps adding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month.

Legal experts, including Republican attorneys, say there is no legal means to decertify the past election and no evidence to support such action. Nevertheless, decertification continues to be a rallying cry among many Republicans in Wisconsin and elsewhere.

Indiana is one of the first Republican-run state legislatures to debate tighter abortion laws following the U.S. Supreme Court decision last month overturning Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

The mayor unveils her Hail Mary plan to keep the Bears at Soldier Field. The owner of a bakery vandalized with hate speech. A Chicagoan on his painful bout with monkeypox.  And inside the new musical based on a cult sci-fi comedy.

Mayor Lightfoot unveiled three options to renovate Soldier Field, ranging in price from $900 million to $2.2 billion. The mayor, who is running for a second term, declined to say how much public funding she was prepared to spend to prevent the Bears from leaving the city and moving to Arlington Heights.

Additional monkeypox vaccines are arriving in Chicago, but they will be in limited supply. This as the World Health Organization this declared monkeypox a public health emergency. 

It’s been a difficult few weeks for UpRising Bakery and Café in suburban Lake in the Hills. The cafe was targeted with hate speech and vandalized after making plans to host a family-friendly drag show. 

A new business venture from a co-founder of a Chicago weed giant fizzles. The company that gave up the Water Tower Place is now selling it’s big property across the street. And there’s some good news for landlords trying to fill suburban office spaces.

Sundays on State brings the city of neighborhoods to one central location to showcase the best of what Chicago has to offer. What started as a way to accelerate the economy after the pandemic has since transformed into a free celebration showcasing local vendors and performers.

The abandonment and neglect that has undermines the economies of many Chicago and Cook County neighborhoods is very much man-made, according to a new study.

From planter boxes to koi ponds, these Chicago gardeners know how to create an oasis in the city. 

The city’s Board of Education on Wednesday will vote on a one-year, $10 million contract renewal with the Chicago Police Department that would allow it to provide school resource officers in several Chicago high schools.

Destructive fires in recent years that burned too hot for forests to quickly regrow have far outpaced the government’s capacity to replant trees. That’s created a backlog of 4.1 million acres in need of replanting, officials said.

Your chance of winning the grand prize is minuscule, at one in 302.5 million. You have better odds of a smaller payoff, such as winning $1 million for matching five regular numbers but missing the Mega Ball. But even that is one in 12.6 million.

The bee was logged at the outset of the fourth annual Backyard Bumble Bee Count, which kicked off Saturday and runs through Aug. 1.

According to Chicago Police Department data, 65 people were shot in 43 separate shootings between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

Nearly a dozen baby Blanding’s turtles — a state-listed endangered species — were recently released into the swampy waters of a Cook County forest preserve wetland.