Stories by Nick Blumberg

The Illinois Predatory Lending Prevention Act was recently signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The legislation had support from organizations around the state, but critics say the law could shut down the payday lending industry in Illinois, leading to a host of bigger problems. 

As a global destination for culinary adventure, Mexico City is full of exciting and surprising flavors. Among them is the unique food culture created by its robust community of Mexican Jews, which brings together some of the best food traditions of each community. Now, two Mexico City natives have brought their version of those flavors to Chicago.

The Biden administration is struggling to manage a new cycle of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border as it looks to Congress to pass sweeping immigration legislation.

President Biden’s immigration policy. What shutting down payday loans could mean for vulnerable borrowers. And blending Mexican flavors and Jewish pastries.

The argument over whether vaccine passports are a sensible response to the pandemic or governmental overreach echoes the bitter disputes over the past year about masks, shutdown orders and even the vaccines themselves.

Oklahoma hired Loyola Chicago’s Porter Moser as its basketball coach Saturday following Lon Kruger’s retirement. Moser embraces the challenge of coaching at a Big 12 program that reached the Final Four in 2016 and has featured NBA talents Buddy Hield and Trae Young.

Cook County leaders may have no choice but to impose new restrictions designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 amid a “very sharp” increase in infections, officials said Saturday. “We are in the beginnings of a new surge,” said Dr. Rachel Rubin of the Cook County Department of Public Health.

The televised trial of Derek Chauvin, the former white police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, has provoked strong emotions among many Black men and women — all tinged with an underlying dread that it could yield yet another devastating disappointment. 

Pressure is mounting on leading companies in Texas, Arizona and other states, particularly after Major League Baseball’s decision Friday to move the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta. 

Yermín Mercedes got his first five major league hits and drove in four runs, and José Abreu hit a grand slam for the Chicago White Sox in their 12-8 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.

It’s easy to forget the cruelest April Fool’s joke: The season’s last frost is likely several weeks away, meaning it’s far too early to put most plants in the ground.

Another attack at the U.S. Capitol. Questions surround the police shooting of a 13-year-old boy. Mixed signals on Chicago police reform. And the mayor warns of a COVID-19 “quantum leap” in the last week.

A Capitol Police officer was killed Friday after a man rammed a car into two officers at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol and then emerged wielding a knife.

If the trial is successful, CTA will order 17 more buses, bringing the transit agency “one step closer to its goal of having a 100% electric fleet by the year 2040,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter.

Defying Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill Friday restoring the ability of the Chicago Teachers Union to bargain with the city over a wide range of issues, including class size, layoffs and the duration of the school year. 

Kneeling on George Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed and lying on his stomach was top-tier, deadly force and “totally unnecessary,” the head of the Minneapolis Police Department’s homicide division testified Friday.

Add travel to the activities vaccinated Americans can safely enjoy again. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to say fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting tested for the coronavirus or going into quarantine afterward.

Loyola University Chicago’s NCAA run has put the Ramblers in the national spotlight once again. We remember the 1963 championship team.

The life of the Oak Park native is the subject of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s newest PBS documentary. The six-hour, three-part series explores the writer’s complex life behind the carefully cultivated public image as well as his influence on generations of writers who followed him.

The past few springs, Chicago has notched record-breaking rainfall totals. All that water has to go somewhere, and when it overwhelms the city’s sewers, untreated wastewater winds up in the Chicago River.

Hope Edelman has been writing, speaking and leading bereavement workshops for 25 years. She joins us to discuss her latest book, “The AfterGrief: Finding Your Way Along the Long Arc of Loss.”

Live from Wrigleyville on opening day. Plus, inside the new PBS documentary on Oak Park-born Ernest Hemingway. Chicago Amazon employees take labor action, why a grief pandemic may be on the horizon, and how to prevent sewer overflow.

As workers in Alabama decide whether or not to unionize, Amazon employees in Chicago push for accommodations for a long overnight shift.

The Cubs may have lost their 2021 home opener, but fans consider it a win. For the first time since 2019, some 10,000 people were able to watch the game inside of Wrigley Field. We have this look at all things opening day as part of our community reporting series.

George Floyd’s girlfriend tearfully told a jury Thursday the story of how they met — at a Salvation Army shelter where he was a security guard with “this great, deep Southern voice, raspy” — and how they both struggled mightily with an addiction to opioids.

In all, 276 cases involving the United Kingdom variant have been found in samples of COVID-19 positive tests from Illinois since Jan. 15, officials said.