Stories by Amanda Vinicky

The countdown is on for railroad companies and unions to reach a deal. If one isn’t reached by late Thursday night, workers could strike. That would have a big impact, most immediately for commuters. 

House lawmakers heard testimony Wednesday on barriers workers say they face to organizing, and what pro-business groups and Republicans in Congress call Democratic overreach.

The Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity Today Act — better known as the SAFE-T Act — was signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2021. It has now become a campaign talking point. 

During the monthlong trial, jurors heard from R. Kelly’s goddaughter “Jane” and three other accusers — each of whom testified using a pseudonym — who described being sexually abused at the hands of the singer while they were underage.

“It is not a good look for him to have the oxygen and audacity not to show up,” Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) said.

Researchers at NewsGuard searched for content about prominent news topics on TikTok and say they found that nearly 1 in 5 of the videos automatically suggested by the platform contained misinformation.

At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world has never been in a better position to stop COVID-19. The U.N. health agency said deaths fell by 22% in the past week, at just over 11,000 reported worldwide. There were 3.1 million new cases, a drop of 28%.

The funds will be used for repairs, debt retirement and pension contributions.

An amendment has been proposed to the Chicago Park District code, which, if approved, would insert commissioners into the permit approval process for events drawing more than 10,000 attendees. 

Court Theatre has opened its 2022-23 season with “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Joseph Kesselring’s maniacally zany 1941 Broadway hit that is probably most widely known by way of its 1944 film version starring Cary Grant and Boris Karloff.

More than 500 immigrants who are seeking asylum have arrived in Chicago on 11 buses since Aug. 31, officials said.

The program, which is expected to include 3,250 households, will launch a test of a basic-income program with $41.5 million from the federal COVID-19 relief package signed into law by President Joe Biden in March 2021, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle said.

Chicago police Deputy Chief Fred Melean said there was a “personal altercation” between two groups in the park at around 7:45 p.m Tuesday before “multiple shots were fired.”

The February 2023 election represents a nearly unprecedented opportunity for Democratic Socialists to not only take on Mayor Lori Lightfoot but also to remake the Chicago City Council after a wave of retirements and departures.

Jury deliberations are underway in R. Kelly’s trial. Another veteran City Council member says they’re done, inside President Biden’s cancer moonshot initiative, and the life and times of a Chicago rock-and-roll photographer.

For the first time, the James Webb Space Telescope has been used to directly image an exoplanet — that’s a planet outside of our solar system. A Northwestern astronomer was part of the team. 

The number of farmers in Illinois is declining and the most recent census data shows the average age of a farmer is nearly 60.

“You can think he’s the most amoral, unethical person on the planet,” R. Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said, “and that has nothing to do with whether the government has met its burden on the charged offenses.”

At the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, President Biden channeled JFK’s famed moonshot speech 60 years ago, likening the space race to his own effort and hoping it, too, would galvanize Americans.

Rock, reggae, jazz, folk, R&B – he’s captured it all. We catch up with photographer Paul Natkin, and he shared stories and pictures worth many thousands of words.

Ken Starr, a former federal appellate judge and a prominent attorney whose criminal investigation of Bill Clinton led to the president’s impeachment, died Tuesday at age 76, his family said.

“It Starts Now” is not an easy work to describe. It is a transfixing physical manifestation of human existence — epic in its emotional tension, its simultaneously real and mystical aura and its remarkable dancing.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month — a time professionals and community voices raise awareness of this stigmatized, and often taboo, topic. A new film explores powerful stories of those impacted by suicide and takes viewers to the front lines of research with scientists whose work is leading to better prevention and treatment. 

Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30th Ward) announced he will not run for re-election to represent Belmont Cragin in 2023, joining an unprecedented exodus from the Chicago City Council. Reboyras, 69, said in a statement it had been “an unbelievable honor” to represent parts of the city’s Northwest Side for 20 years.

Members of Herbert “Bert” Jacobson’s family have waited all their lives to attend a memorial for the young man they knew about but never met. Jacobson was among the more than 400 sailors and Marines killed on the USS Oklahoma during the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 

State rebates are on the way — how soon could money be coming your way? How neighborhoods are recovering from weekend flooding, DePaul University has a new president and a virtual cooking camp.