Stories by Abena Bediako

At issue is the Sims Metal Management company in Pilsen, which was cited by state and federal officials for violating environmental laws. The company agreed to build new equipment to contain emissions from at the site.

What’s on the line as Election Day approaches. And Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget pitch includes property tax hike.

While all eyes have been on next week’s presidential election, another important local race has flown under the radar. We’re talking about the vote for Chicago’s official bird.

Enjoy an extra hour of sleep this weekend as clocks "fall back" an hour with the return to standard time.

Applications opened Oct. 1 for adults age 60 and older, individuals with a disability, families with children under age 5, and households that are disconnected from their utilities or energy vendors, have a disconnect date within seven days or whose propane tanks are less than 25% full. 

Amid ongoing turmoil, Chicago’s Board of Education on Friday pushed ahead with its first meeting in more than five weeks — one day after president Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson became the eighth person to resign from the seven-member board in the last calendar month.

The AP has already run a series of stories outlining how everything works, and has a team of reporters who will be assigned on election night to write in plain language why it is “calling” key individual states for presidential candidates Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

The rival positions get at a fundamental distinction between the two candidates on how to guide the world’s largest economy: Harris’ team is arguing that the rule of law creates the certainty that can make markets and workers thrive, while Trump is arguing that tariff increases and tax cuts are the keys for growth.

As a vegan for nearly 10 years, I’ve been fortunate to try many different foods and cuisines that have expanded my idea of what vegan food can be. In light of World Vegan Day, here are some of my personal favorite food spots in the city serving dishes inspired from around the globe.

The 53-foot Colorado blue spruce was planted in Logan Square 50 years ago and represents a bit of neighborhood history.

The head of the Chicago School Board is resigning after backlash over controversial comments. And the election is just days away — where Latino voters stand on the issues.

With just five days until the election, Chicagoans have already cast more than 320,000 ballots.

Chicago Board of Education President Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson resigned under pressure Thursday after a series of antisemitic, misogynistic and conspiratorial social media posts generated a wave of outrage that stretched from the Chicago City Council to Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

With global tensions and an intensely partisan presidential campaign fueling division among Americans, Illinois is launching the Help Stop Hate program to combat the severe increase in hate crime throughout the state. 

Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, who already faced attempted murder charges will now face additional terrorism and hate crime charges, Chicago and Cook County officials announced on Thursday afternoon.

Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre has more than 3,800 seats, and almost every last one of them was filled this past Monday night as Sting took to the stage for two hours of his terrific music.

A group of about 40 incarcerated women read their poetry at the “Live and Alive From Inside” poetry slam, put on by the Women’s Justice Institute.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, 82, and his longtime confidant Michael McClain, 77, are charged with racketeering, bribery and wire fraud. They have each pleaded not guilty.

The Black male vote has turned into a crucial bloc this election, with both Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump making appeals to get their votes. 

Field Museum scientists have new CT scans of mummified people from the museum’s “Inside Ancient Egypt” exhibit. Researchers hope the scans will help the public see the mummified individuals as people instead of artifacts.

The fountain will shut down for the season Thursday night. 

The mayor reverses course on a property tax hike. Black male voters and their critical role this presidential election. And calls for more state funding of early childhood services.

Early intervention, or EI, comprises an array of developmental and social-emotional services like speech and language, occupational and physical therapies and social work that are designed to improve the long-term outcomes of a child and family’s life.

Illinois’ first-in-the-nation law doesn’t outlaw so-called interchange fees completely, but it does preclude credit card processors from applying the fee on the portion of a card swipe that pays for state and local taxes and tips.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said proposing the tax hike, the second largest in modern Chicago history after the $588 million property tax hike pushed through by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2016, was a “difficult decision” that was the result of an "excruciating process.”

The Chicago City Council confirmed four of the five Chicagoans picked by Mayor Brandon Johnson to serve on the board of the Regional Transportation Authority, which is facing a $730 million deficit in 2026.