Stories by Erica Gunderson

Educator Ray Salazar has the last word on the unprecedented challenges facing Chicago teachers and students during the coronavirus pandemic.

Latinos are easy to spot at movie theaters, but not so much on the big screen. A one-on-one conversation with the director of the Chicago Latino Film Festival.

More time for the census count, but will it matter? Straight talk about Latino representation in Hollywood. How some Southwest Siders are helping people stay connected during the pandemic.

A federal judge has ordered the 2020 census schedule to continue until the end of October. We discuss efforts to boost response rates and get as accurate a count as possible.

About eight officers a year have been arrested and charged with murder or manslaughter for killings in the U.S. since 2005. Around 1,000 people a year are shot and killed by law enforcement across the country.

President Donald Trump is planning to announce his choice of the 48-year-old Indiana judge at a Saturday afternoon press conference, setting Barrett on the path to help conservatives hold sway over the court for decades to come.

More than 40 people have gotten sick and four have been hospitalized, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The U.S. is averaging more than 40,000 new confirmed cases a day. While that number is dramatically lower than the peak of nearly 70,000 over the summer, the numbers are worrisome nonetheless. 

Trump said Friday he had made up his mind and it was “very exciting,” without giving away the name, aiming to maintain some suspense around his personal announcement. 

A Supreme Court confirmation battle rages. President Trump won’t commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose. Chicago reacts to the Breonna Taylor decision, and Bears fans mourn the death of the legendary Gale Sayers.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lay in state Friday at the U.S. Capitol as the first woman ever so honored, making history again as she had throughout her extraordinary life.

Breonna Taylor’s family demanded Friday that Kentucky authorities release all body camera footage, police files and the transcripts of the grand jury hearings that led to no charges against police officers who killed Taylor.

Several aldermen on Friday urged Chicago’s chief financial officer to dip into the city’s $900 million savings account to wipe out the massive budget shortfall caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

A federal judge has stopped the 2020 census from finishing at month’s end and suspended a year-end deadline for delivering the numbers needed to decide how many seats each state gets in Congress.

Superintendent David Brown said the charges came as part of “Operation Split Corners,” a three-month Chicago Police Department undertaking in the 15th (Austin) and 25th (Grand Central) Districts.

State health officials also reported 25 coronavirus-related deaths, including seven in Cook County.

Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old accused of killing two protesters days after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Friday fought his return to Wisconsin to face homicide charges that could put him in prison for life.

Ald. George Cardenas (12th Ward) told WTTW News that Inspector General Joseph Ferguson determined he had accepted improper campaign contributions, and he planned to return the funds.

The Bears are 2-0 but they barely beat the Giants last week after dominating the first half. What do the Bears need to remain undefeated?

Little Village on Chicago’s Southwest Side is known for its rich Mexican culture. But some residents and business owners fear a neighborhood staple could be in danger.

Each Chicago neighborhood is built of out blocks. Those blocks are the bricks of the community, and the mortar is often the president of blocks. Kweli Kwaza is one of those presidents and heads a network of block clubs on the South Side.  

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 200,000 Tuesday, hitting the once-unimaginable threshold six weeks before an election that is certain to be a referendum in part on President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis.

House Democrats are going back to the drawing board on a huge COVID-19 relief bill, paring back the measure in an attempt to jump-start negotiations with the Trump administration. 

Former Gov. George Ryan expounds on the death penalty in a new book with co-author Maurice Possley titled, “Until I Could Be Sure: How I stopped the Death Penalty in Illinois.”

“Would I do it again? Yes I’d do it again,” said Adam Hollingsworth, also known as the “Dreadhead Cowboy,” when asked about his protest ride on the expressway Monday. He now faces criminal charges and prosecutors say his horse may not survive.

With thousands still becoming infected with the coronavirus daily, health officials are urging Illinoisans to get a flu shot in order to avoid a dangerous co-infection.