Stories by Amanda Vinicky

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan held a tight grip on the gavel for 36 years – a term only interrupted by a two-year blip in the ‘90s. His successor, Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, is making headway on fulfilling a promise that would prevent anyone else from a similar reign.

The U.S. poverty rate last month reached its highest point during the pandemic at 11.7%, according to researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame. We discuss the issue as part of WTTW’s Firsthand initiative exploring poverty.

COVID-19 has put some people on disability benefits, but others say the system isn't built for people with the virus. We discuss the obstacles people with long COVID-19 symptoms are facing.

Chicago’s top doctor talks about the resumption of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the latest updates on the Loretto Hospital scandal, declining infection rates in Chicago and more.

After an anxious 24 hours, bird watchers can relax: Monty, one half of Chicago’s beloved piping plover lovebird duo, has arrived at Montrose Beach Dunes, and been reunited with his mate, Rose.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has long complained about the flow of illegal guns into Chicago from Indiana, where gun control laws are much more relaxed than they are in Illinois.

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an appeal to expand gun rights in the United States in a New York case over the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.

Illinois has now lost a seat in the U.S. House after the past three census counts. The results of the 2020 census continue the steady decline of Illinois’s clout in Washington, D.C., since the size of its House delegation peaked at 27 seats in 1943. In 2022, there will be 17.

Crop prices are expected to surge and spill over onto grocery shelves. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer takes us behind the headline of that story and more.

A recently passed Illinois law requiring insurance companies to cover donated breast milk and breast milk fortifiers for infants who are premature or critically ill gives them the “best possible chance” for survival, according to a legislator who sponsored the measure.

The Chicago Police Department has taken to social media to criticize a “synthetic and manipulated image” that went viral and claimed to show the CPD had expressed support for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer convicted of killing George Floyd.

One-on-one with the new speaker of the Illinois House. When Chicago may reach herd immunity. Can COVID-19 long-haulers qualify for disability benefits? How the pandemic has impacted poverty.

Work is underway on a yearslong effort to repair Chicago’s crumbling streets, sidewalks, bridges and shoreline with billions of dollars of borrowed money, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Monday. 

While vaccines are helping to curb the pandemic, easier and better treatments are needed, especially as virus variants spread. 

Rose, one half of Chicago’s beloved piping plover duo, was spotted Sunday at Montrose Beach Dunes. The hope is that Monty, winging his way from Texas, won’t be far behind. 

Plans to expand a medical marijuana dispensary on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side are on hold after members of the City Council’s Black Caucus blocked them from advancing over concerns that none of its owners are Black or Latino.

Chicago journalists break down the Derek Chauvin trial and verdict. A new life for the old Michael Reese Hospital site. A throwback to WTTW’s show “Our People.” And a history-making Oscar nominee. 

Our trip down memory lane with the WTTW program “Our People” from the late 1960s and early ‘70s brought back memories for one former Chicagoan. Here is his story.

After a three-week trial, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, a conviction President Joe Biden called “a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America.” We discuss the verdict, the reaction and what comes next with local journalists.

Even as the Derek Chauvin case was fresh in memory — the reading of the verdict in a Minneapolis courtroom, the shackling of the former police officer, the jubilation at what many saw as justice in the death of George Floyd — even then, blood flowed on America’s streets.

With Derek Chauvin convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death, activists and the Floyd family are turning their attention to this summer’s trial for the other three officers involved in his May 2020 arrest. 

The 93rd Academy Awards will begin at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC. There will be no host, no audience, nor face masks for nominees attending the ceremony at Los Angeles’ Union Station — this year’s hub for a show usually broadcast from the Dolby Theatre. 

With a green light from federal health officials, many states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Saturday. Among the venues where it was being deployed: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Mental health concerns for Latino youth following the shooting of Adam Toledo. Debating rent control. Approaching a pandemic-induced career change. And a local bakery serves up Unique Sweets.

Health professionals say the fatal shooting of Adam Toledo by police has led to a mental health crisis among Latino youth. We take a look at the resources available to them.

Since 1997, rent control has been banned in Illinois. A bill working its way through the General Assembly would give cities and towns the chance to hold a referendum vote on whether their municipality should allow it.