Stories by Patty Wetli

The district’s proposed $510.9 million budget for 2022 includes a property tax increase that will add $4.3 million to its bottom line. The tax will cost the average homeowner an extra $4 a year, officials said.

The sergeant who led the botched raid in February 2019 that left Anjanette Young handcuffed while naked and pleading for help should be fired, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown told the Chicago Police Board.

Craft beers, handmade pizzas, flamenco dancing and a love story usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Created by a group of six performers and musicians, the 1981 musical is now being brought back to vivid life in a terrific production devised by director Daryl Brooks, music director Robert Reddrick and choreographer Rueben D. Echoles.

Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners President Avis LaVelle said Wednesday she was not forced to resign by Mayor Lori Lightfoot for her handling of complaints that girls and young women were being abused while working at Chicago’s parks.

About 900,000 kids aged 5 to 11 will have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in their first week of eligibility, the White House said, providing the first glimpse at the pace of the school-aged vaccination campaign.

While both parties have gerrymandered, these days Republicans have more opportunities. The GOP controls the line-drawing process in states representing 187 House seats compared with 75 for Democrats. The rest of the states use either independent commissions, have split government control or only one congressional seat.

In a joint letter, UChicago President Paul Alivisatos and Provost Ka Yee C. Lee said they’ve spoken with city leaders about formalizing “a number of short and longer-term public safety strategies specifically” for Hyde Park and its surrounding communities.

The book, “The Ultimate Chicago Pizza Guide: A history of Squares and Slices in the Windy City,” is Steve Dolinksy’s second on Chicago pizza.

After COVID-19 outbreaks earlier in the pandemic, officials say the situation has improved at state-run veterans’ homes, which are only about half full. Admissions are slower than usual because of the pandemic, according to officials.

Celebrating the life and music of sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar in a new exhibition at the South Asia Institute.

The first man killed by Kyle Rittenhouse on the streets of Kenosha was shot at a range of just a few feet and had soot injuries that could indicate he had his hand over the barrel of Rittenhouse’s rifle, a pathologist testified Tuesday.

Emergency plans for the Astroworld music festival did not include protocols for dangerous crowd surges like the one that unfolded during a rush to see headliner Travis Scott, which left eight people dead and injured hundreds of others.

Mental health challenges for children have reached a national emergency, according to several medical organizations representing 77,000 physicians and more than 200 children’s hospitals. “The pandemic has taken its toll in numerous ways,” said clinical psychologist Mashana Smith.

The online tool will allow Chicagoans to use map-drawing software similar to the kind that members of the Chicago City Council have been using since the end of July — but Chicagoans have less than three weeks to send in their proposal.

Reaching for FDR-style accomplishments with slimmer-than-ever Democratic majorities has been politically messy at best, arduous at worst, and about to become even more daunting for the president and his party. 

The Chicago actress is giving a rip-roaring performance in playwright Cheryl L. West’s “Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer,” a 75-minute, one-woman show to which the actress brings all the grit, endurance, fiery spirit and vocal power that marked the indomitable Hamer herself.

While the COVID-19 vaccine has now been approved for younger children, Chicago could find itself in the midst of another coronavirus surge this winter if families wait too long to get their children vaccinated, the city’s top doctor said Tuesday.

Pfizer asked U.S. regulators Tuesday to allow boosters of its COVID-19 vaccine for anyone 18 or older, a step that comes amid concern about increased spread of the coronavirus with holiday travel and gatherings.

Illinois’ congressional delegation on the latest from D.C. Gaps in medical care for Illinois veterans. A national emergency in children’s mental health. A slice of pizza pie with one of the city’s best-known foodies.

Chicago officials removed Arkansas from the city’s COVID-19 travel advisory Tuesday even as confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in Chicago as colder weather blanketed the city. 

Experts in crowd safety say an investigation by neutral outsiders into the tragedy during Friday night’s performance by rapper Travis Scott could help the city avoid potential conflicts of interest and promote transparency.

Gaige Grosskreutz, the third and final man gunned down by Rittenhouse during a night of turbulent racial-justice protests in the summer of 2020, took the stand at Rittenhouse’s murder trial and recounted how he drew his own pistol after the bloodshed started.

The rookie quarterback Justin Fields guided the Chicago Bears to a go-ahead touchdown against Pittsburgh with 1:46 remaining, but Ben Roethlisberger responded with the 50th game-winning drive of his 18-year career. 

Approximately 15,150 pediatric COVID-19 doses have been administered as of midday Monday, according to the state public health department. 

According to Chicago police data, shootings have increased in both the downtown police districts over last year, with District 1 seeing a 66% increase and District 18 seeing a 59% increase.