Stories by Erica Gunderson

The policy prohibits officers from pursuing people for only running from police nor can they pursue people for parking and ordinance violations and certain traffic offenses. The finalized version comes a year after officers shot and killed 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez and 13-year-old Adam Toledo in separate shootings that followed foot pursuits.

Reaction to CPD’s new foot pursuit policy and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Plus, closing out Pride Month with a look at what’s next for the LGBTQ movement. And cooling off with a craft cerveza.  

The Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade raises the question of whether the constitutionality of gay marriage could soon be on the table. Also, activists are mobilizing as about 12 states are proposing legislation affecting LGBTQ Americans. So, what’s next for LGBTQ rights? 

For lovers of a craft brew, Chicago’s beer steins overflow with options, you can belly up to more than 160 craft breweries in the city. But even here, it’s rare to find a microbrew crafted by Latinos. Lucky for Chicagoans, there’s a spot that offers brews with all the flavors of Mexico, created by a pair of hermanos from Hermosa.

A day after the Supreme Court’s bombshell ruling overturning Roe v. Wade ended the constitutional right to abortion, emotional protests and prayer vigils turned to resolve as several states enacted bans and supporters and foes of abortion rights mapped out their next moves.

Thursday evening’s bravura production was a major event in Muti’s penultimate season as the CSO’s music director. And it was a grand homage to both the composer whose work he has long cherished, and the orchestra he has embraced and nurtured since becoming its music director in 2010.

The legislation will toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged to be dangerous.

The Supreme Court overturns the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade. Plus, former President Trump stumps in Illinois. And the governor's race heats up with election day right around the corner.

The agency charged with the investigation recommended two Chicago Police officers should be fired and seven disciplined for their role in an incident that injured a woman’s eye after she was pulled from her car at the Brickyard Mall during the unrest that swept the city after the police murder of George Floyd.

People identified as close contacts to someone suspected or confirmed with monkeypox are being offered the vaccine, as well as treatment with antiviral medication for those with more severe illness, according to city health officials.

Louis Lay Jr. and his wife Erica Beck were each held on $20,000 D-bonds during a hearing Friday, a day after Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced an indictment that included dozens of charges filed against six current or former postal workers.

Abortion will remain legal in Illinois, thanks to a law signed by former Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017 that rolled back a measure that would have automatically banned abortion in Illinois if Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, was overturned. 

The FDA said Juul must stop selling its vaping device and its tobacco and menthol flavored cartridges. Those already on the market must be removed. Consumers aren’t restricted from having or using Juul’s products, the agency said.

The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

For the first time in three years, Northalsted and the surrounding neighborhood will host the city’s Pride Parade.

We visit Northalsted near the end of Pride Month. The 50th anniversary of the landmark Title IX legislation. The latest on ethics reform. And a new journal documents the reality of being transgender.

Researchers say the lives of trans people haven’t been well-represented in existing journals. The Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies plans to change that. It’s launching as the first academic journal to have an entirely trans editorial board.

An effort to overhaul Chicago’s ethics rules will remain stalled for at least another month, even as Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she has begun negotiating with Ald. Michele Smith, who introduced the measure in April. 

Title IX is turning 50. The law forbids discrimination based on sex in education, and despite its age remains a vital piece in the ongoing push for equality, including in the LGBTQ community.

One week ago, federal officials lowered the risk warning level to high for Cook County. But even as confirmed cases of COVID-19 continued to drop, hospitalizations rose just enough across Cook County to trigger an increase in the warning level by federal officials.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other city agencies announced the launch of the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) program’s new data dashboard, which will provide regular updates on when and how these 911 calls are handled.

Cook County budget officials will only have to close an $18.2 million budget shortfall in 2023, the smallest gap in a decade, avoiding tax hikes and layoffs. Thebudget has been boosted by sales taxes, corporate income taxes and revenue generated by the construction boom. 

The five planets that are visible to the naked eye are now lining up in a particularly unique formation in the early morning hours, all of them appearing in the same part of the sky. Want to catch the show? We’ve got tips.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability recommended discipline ranging from a 180-day suspension to terminating Bruce Dyker from the Chicago Police Department. Dyker left the CPD and has been charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct.

The Flint water environmental catastrophe, with its strong racial overtones, is at the core of “cullud watta,” the expertly written play by Erika Dickerson-Despenza. Her powerful story of three generations of Black women, now receiving a fiercely emotional regional premiere at Victory Gardens Theater, is a model for how to fully humanize a social crisis.

Some 300 members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 — those who are employed by Chicago-area quarries run by Lehigh Hanson, Vulcan Materials Co. and Lafarge Holcim — went on strike June 7.