Stories by Associated Press

Brad Aldrich’s name was covered with X’s on Sunday, the same day that the names of the 2020-21 champion Tampa Bay Lightning were added to the Cup, according to the Toronto-based Hall.

Dinosaurs, a hot chocolate run, film festival and bike ride usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Another political guilty plea in federal court. Rahm Emanuel faces Senate confirmation vote for ambassador. Actor David Straithairn comes to town with a one-man show. And diving into the metaverse.

There’s a new bar in Andersonville that is one of the only bars left catering to queer women. Chicago Tonight’s Joanna Hernandez recently stopped by to learn more about the inspiration behind the bar’s name, Nobody’s Darling.

The state’s political landscape is shuffling with the new congressional map and the political fallout of the Chicago Park District sex abuse scandal. Our Spotlight Politics team on that and more. 

Chicago State University is partnering with the Chicago Urban League and the Bronzeville Children’s Museum to bring COVID-19 vaccine awareness to Black and brown communities. 

Actor David Strathairn will be on stage through Nov. 11 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater portraying Jan Karski, a Polish resistance fighter and diplomat during World War II. 

A new report says we collectively understand women’s health far less than men’s health. That’s because just a fraction of research funds to study things like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and autoimmune disease go toward studying women -- even though they disproportionately face those diseases.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company is rebranding itself as Meta in an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future — what Zuckerberg calls the “metaverse.”

The full U.S. Senate is set to consider Rahm Emanuel’s nomination to serve as President Joe Biden’s ambassador — but if the former Chicago mayor is confirmed, it will happen without the support of at least two progressive Democratic senators.

Many of the videos played in court were found by police on social media sites, where lots of footage was streamed live or promptly posted after the bloodshed, and many of the scenes were familiar to those following the case.

There are many fine performances and clarion ensemble voices in this production. But it is Curtis Bannister, as ragtime musician Coalhouse Walker Jr., who steals the show.

Buoyed by the recent passage of the ambitious Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is heading to the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland, to present Illinois as a global player in the emerging green economy.

Niquita Booker, 27, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder following the fatal shooting Sunday of 22-year-old Kailah Bledsoe in the Gresham neighborhood.

FBI agents took Heather Mack, 26, into custody on her arrival at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday morning.

The former member of the Illinois House told a federal judge Wednesday that he offered a member of the Illinois Senate monthly payments of $2,500 to support a bill supported by a sweepstakes firm that he worked for as a lobbyist.

So little prairie still exists in Illinois, most residents of the state have never encountered this rare landscape. Here, then, is an introduction.

“Our schools have been incredibly resilient throughout this pandemic, and CPS is committed to supporting our dedicated principals and staff as we navigate the unique challenges of the past and current school years,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said in a statement.

The Department of Justice has charged 13 members of a Chicago street gang faction with racketeering conspiracy as part of a federal indictment related to dozens of murders, attempted murders and acts of violence spanning more than 20 years.

The union said 55% of its members at the 12 main plants voted against this latest contract offer Tuesday.

Illinois tax revenues plummeted when COVID-19 hit, but according to the Illinois Department of Revenue, they’re rising again.

The cause of balding – in mice. The probe of a distant exoplanet. Tuskless elephants. University of Chicago paleontologist Neil Shubin returns to help us understand some of the latest science stories making headlines.

The Steppenwolf Theatre reopens after a 20-month shutdown due to the pandemic. The 46-year-old theater celebrated its return with a ribbon cutting Tuesday for a new wing that includes a state-of-the-art stage. 

U.S. health officials on Tuesday gave the final signoff to Pfizer’s kid-size COVID-19 shot, a major expansion of the nation’s vaccination campaign.

Democrats reached an agreement Tuesday on a plan to lower prescription drug costs for older people, capping out-of-pocket Medicare costs at $2,000 and reducing the price of insulin, salvaging a campaign promise as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion domestic policy proposal.

Jurors heard starkly different portrayals of Kyle Rittenhouse — instigator or victim — in opening statements at his trial Tuesday on charges of shooting three people on the streets of Kenosha during a turbulent protest against racial injustice.