Stories by Acacia Hernandez

On the Southwest side, a small community with a population of about 20,000 people offers a suburban feel and is home to many families. And it’s promoting education as the foundation of its hopes and dreams.

The price at the pump keeps soaring, is any relief in sight? Vaccine approval could come soon for kids under 5. Unveiling the city’s new AIDS garden. And we’re live from West Elsdon.

Medical advances made while fighting the COVID-19 pandemic may have valuable applications in fighting another epidemic. 

White House COVID-19 coordinator Ashish Jha outlined the administration’s planning for the last remaining ineligible age group to get shots. He said the Food and Drug Administration’s outside panel of advisers will meet on June 14-15 to evaluate the Pfizer and Moderna shots for younger kids.

According to AAA, the current price of a gallon of regular gas in the Chicago Metro area is now $5.56, up from $3.37 one year ago. The price of premium is well over $6.00.

“Birdsongs: Sounds of the Mississippi Flyway” is a newly released compilation of original instrumental songs inspired by, as the title suggests, the sounds of birds commonly found in northern Illinois.

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th Ward) became the fifth candidate to challenge Lightfoot’s expected bid to be the first woman to be re-elected as Chicago mayor on Thursday, slamming Lightfoot as “mean-spirited” and blasting what he called her “uncollaborative” style of governing in a series of interviews.

Michelle Renee Bester’s 90-minute show is a quasi-autobiographical story that pays homage to her late grandmother. It spins an intriguing psychological family drama that homes in on the particular fears, frustrations and needs of each of that woman’s four rather different and troubled grandchildren. 

Greek eats, music fests, hot dogs and German beers usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in Chicago this weekend.

Legislation signed Thursday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker now mandates the placement of rescue equipment along Lake Michigan access points, including piers.

The AIDS Garden Chicago, a project many years in the making, is now open to the public. Located just south of Belmont Harbor, the garden’s location has a meaningful place in the history of the city’s queer community.

The first probable case of the rare disease was discovered on Wednesday in a man who recently returned to Chicago from Europe, according to a statement from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Tyshon Brownlee, 19, has been charged with one count each of attempted first-degree murder and attempted robbery involving the discharge of a firearm stemming from the non-fatal May 6 shooting of 23-year-old culinary student Dakotah Earley in Lincoln Park.

“Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of The Temptations” is an exhilarating, at times heartbreaking, and superbly executed musical now in an all too brief run at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago.

Germany said it will supply Ukraine with up-to-date anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems, while the U.S. announced it will provide four sophisticated, medium-range rocket systems and ammunition.

An Illinois auction house says it's helping preserve Chicago history, one neon light at a time. 

Paul Vallas joins the race for mayor. The U.S. Senate reportedly considers bipartisan gun measures. And how local groups are gearing up for the release of the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling.

According to new data from the Chicago Police Department, there have been 239 homicides and 971 shootings in the city this year through May.

The proposal crafted by Ald. Michele Smith (43rd Ward), chair of the City Council’s Ethics and Government Oversight Committee, and the Chicago Board of Ethics would hike the maximum fine for violating the city’s ethics ordinance from $5,000 to $20,000 as part of an effort to grapple with Chicago’s seemingly intractable legacy of graft and mismanagement.

If Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, states neighboring Illinois are poised to further restrict abortion access. Illinois organizations, both for and against abortion, are bracing for the influx of people who will likely turn to Illinois providers. 

Only six states require someone to be at least 21 years old to buy rifles and shotguns. Advocates argue that such a limit might have prevented the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead and the racially motivated supermarket attack in Buffalo, New York, that killed 10.

Paul Vallas’ announcement emphasized his years of public service, which included stints as former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s budget director and schools’ chief. 

A stalled movement to give the invasive Asian carp a more palatable name has regained momentum, and the big reveal is now set for June 22.

President Joe Biden’s appeal for funds for vaccines, testing and treatments has hit opposition from Republicans, who’ve fused the fight with the precarious politics of immigration. Congress is in recess, and the next steps are uncertain.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday announced Chapman, a former Chicago Public Schools grad and chairwoman of the Far South Community Advisory Council, will fill the seat vacated by former board member Amy Rome last summer.

A violent Memorial Day weekend and how police are responding. What the high COVID-19 threat level means, and how scientists are tracking the virus. And a high honor for a local theater company.