Stories by Joanna Hernandez

A group of students on the West Side are determined to make a big change by confronting environmental issues and working to bring solar energy to their community. We learn more about their vision for Garfield Park.

Humanitarian aid is flowing into Haiti following Saturday’s  deadly 7.2-magnitude earthquake. However, the Caribbean nation’s political unrest, as well as an approaching tropical storm, is complicating efforts.

A new wave of Chicago organizations say they’ll require COVID-19 vaccinations. Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Danny Ecker has details on that story and more.

The Route 66 Monarch Flyway in Illinois aims to breath new life into small towns while providing critical habitat for the imperiled butterfly.

The crowd roared and jumped to its feet the minute the 88-year-old country music legend walked onto the stage on Saturday night — and his ability to instantly connect to his audience is unwavering, with his guitar playing still seemingly effortless.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said the order bars “the city of Chicago and its entities” from releasing any materials related to the fatal shooting of police Officer Ella French under the Freedom of Information Act or the city’s transparency policy.

More than 45 days after Ald. Carrie Austin (34th Ward) was indicted on charges of bribery and lying to federal officials, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who picked Austin to lead the Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity, has yet to call for Austin to relinquish her position. 

New research on how the pandemic is spurring anti-Asian violence. A nursing shortage is looming in health care. The latest on Afghanistan. And more businesses are requiring the COVID-19 vaccine.

Chicago police said the girl and her 6-year-old sister were each shot multiple times by an unknown suspect in the 6200 block of West Grand Avenue around 2:50 p.m. Sunday. 

Five years after Barack Obama chose Chicago as the site for his legacy project, construction officially began Monday on the Obama Presidential Center.

Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Inclusive Economy Lab found that 26% of Black students at Chicago Public Schools experience homelessness during their academic tenure. We discuss those findings and what can be done to better support homeless students.

Why Black students at Chicago Public Schools are so much more likely to be homeless, and what can be done about it. New laws protecting people living with HIV. And a pedal through Big Marsh Park.

As the number of homicides continues to rise in major American cities, police leaders are targeting bail reform efforts as a contributing factor to the surge in violent crime rates — but data from a Chicago study shows that only a small percentage of defendants released on bail are committing violent crimes.

Warning of tough days ahead with surging COVID-19 infections, the director of the National Institutes of Health said Sunday the U.S. could decide in the next couple weeks whether to offer coronavirus booster shots to more Americans this fall. 

Afghanistan’s embattled president left the country Sunday, joining his fellow citizens and foreigners in a stampede fleeing the advancing Taliban and signaling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan.

Chicago Public Schools requires all teachers and staff to get vaccinated — we hear from the district’s interim CEO. A musical collaboration highlights Puerto Rico. Chicago teens learn camping skills. 

Students and teachers at Chicago Public Schools head back to the classroom this month. We speak with the district’s interim CEO and an official from the health department about returning to school as COVID-19 cases rise.

“Un Puente Musical” weaves the Chicago Philharmonic’s chamber orchestra with the instruments, musicians and composers of La Isla del Encanto.

Once rookie quarterback Justin Fields settled in, the Chicago Bears saw the playmaking ability they dreamed about on draft day.

While suburban congressional districts are swelling with new residents, lawmakers in large swaths of rural America and some Rust Belt cities are in need of more people to represent.

Across the U.S., the growth in the number of people who identified as multiracial on 2020 census responses soared over the last decade, rising from under 3% to more than 10% of the U.S. population from 2010 and 2020.

Americans at high risk from COVID-19 because of severely weakened immune systems are now allowed to get a third vaccination in hopes of better protection, a policy change endorsed Friday by influential government advisers.

The killing of a Chicago police officer highlights tension between police and the mayor. Chicago’s budget deficit shrinks. Census numbers show population growth. CPS announces a vaccine mandate.

The new measures are an attempt to stem the rising tide of COVID-19 cases that has pushed hospitals to the breaking point, including in the Dallas area, where top officials warned they are running out of beds in their pediatric intensive care units.

A federal judge on Friday refused landlords’ request to put the Biden administration’s new eviction moratorium on hold, though she ruled that the freeze is illegal.

The last seven Julys, from 2015 to 2021, have been the hottest seven Julys on record, said NOAA climatologist Ahira Sanchez-Lugo. Last month was 1.67 degrees warmer than the 20th century average for the month.