Stories by Paul Caine

Chuck Hagel served as the United States Secretary of Defense under the Obama administration from 2013 to 2015, after two terms as a Republican senator from Nebraska. Hagel is visiting Chicago to speak on national security and global geopolitics at the University of Chicago. 

As part of Mental Health Awareness Month, CPS will begin the “Please Stay” initiative, which is focused on suicide prevention and prioritizing the mental health of students dealing with increased levels of anxiety and stress.

While her residency at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is ending, a New York-based composer hopes her influence on contemporary classical music will be long-lasting. 

The U.S. firearm homicide rate in 2020 was the highest recorded since 1994, according to data published Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 2019 and 2020, the overall firearm homicide rate increased by about 35%, according to the new data in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

 Some primaries are more interesting than others; either because they offer a test of the direction of a party or they help determine how competitive a district will be in the fall or simply because of a high-profile candidate.

The company in a legal filing Monday agreed to permanently stop selling access to its face database to private businesses or individuals around the U.S., putting a limit on what it can do with its ever-growing trove of billions of images pulled from social media and elsewhere on the internet.

More than 200 participants joined the public teleconference call Tuesday morning, which devolved into a yelling match between several people after the judge denied Kelly’s motion.

Experts say testing has dropped by 70 to 90% worldwide from the first to the second quarter of this year — the opposite of what they say should be happening with new omicron variants on the rise in places such as the United States and South Africa.

Pianist Yefim Bronfman performed galvanic renderings of Beethoven and an immensely challenging modernist work at his Sunday afternoon Orchestra Hall performance. 

The project is part of the city’s INVEST South/West initiative and led by the Chicago Department of Transportation. The initiative works with a variety of partners to revitalize marginalized communities. 

A committee of alderpeople are briefed on Chicago’s casino plan. Plus, the city’s top doc on COVID risk. A gubernatorial candidate won’t say if he voted for President Donald Trump. And teens work to transforming the Austin community.

In a new study published Wednesday, researchers found that police misconduct is often a “group phenomenon” that leads to a disproportionately high number of arrests in minority communities.

The “Mc” mark in McDonald’s takes center stage in a trademark dispute with a CBD merchant; Allstate CEO Tom Wilson says insurance premiums have to rise; and beer enthusiasts won’t have to wait much longer for the beloved Lagunitas taproom to reopen.

Aurora Mayor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin slammed Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s handling of a COVID-19 outbreak at a state-run veterans’ home during a Monday press conference – and repeatedly avoided questions about whether he voted for Donald Trump and his stance on Roe v. Wade potentially being overturned.

Chicago, Cook County and several surrounding counties have all recently been designated as being at “medium risk” of their residents contracting COVID-19. 

While members of the Lightfoot administration touted the proposal from Bally’s as the most lucrative proposal the city recieved and said the casino would be an “iconic” addition to Chicago's riverfront, nearly all members of a special City Council committee formed to consider the plan greeted those claims with skepticism.

To avert the first ward map referendum since 1992, 41 alderpeople must agree on a map no later than May 19, the deadline for the June 28 primary election ballot to be finalized.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has vowed to ensure Chicago remains a safe haven for women seeking an abortion or other reproductive health care.

The world may be in a terrible state of upheaval at the moment, but two different concerts performed during the past week — played brilliantly by the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — were a potent reminder that music is an astonishingly powerful emotional balm.

Murders and shootings remain down slightly in 2022. But after highlighting several recent arrests in cases involving shootings, robberies, carjackings or homicides, Superintendent David Brown said many of the suspects charged are repeat offenders.

Submissions are being accepted through July 1 for the 2022 awards, which will be judged in-person again after going virtual in 2020 and 2021. The contest is open to all Chicago residents; entry is free.

A grim Mother’s Day for moms of missing or murdered daughters, as they search for answers. The head of the Chicago Community Trust is heading to Spelman. And Black Americans in the Victorian era.

In 2021, 521,705 people were reported missing, according to the National Crime Information Center. Of that number, 89,020 were Black women and girls. That means despite making up about 7% of the U.S. population, Black women and girls were 17% of missing person cases last year.

The first Black woman to lead the Chicago Community Trust, Dr. Helene Gayle, will leave her role in June to serve as president of Spelman College in Atlanta. 

The birth and growth of gospel music in Chicago is the subject of the latest episode of WTTW’s documentary series, “Chicago Stories.”

A celestial show is coming to Chicago next weekend - on the evening of Sunday, May 15, a lunar eclipse will grace the night skies. Chicago astronomer Joe Guzman says it's a great reason to spend an evening moongazing.