Stories by Patty Wetli

Neither groundhog saw its shadow, indicating an early spring.

“The City Council, if they’re going to talk about the challenge of war in the Middle East, you’ve got to make sure that you include all the perspectives,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “They did not do that.”

The Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago initiative aims to link local community groups. The goal is to coordinate care and spending between the city, county and state governments, community organizations and the business community.

Chicago won’t evict migrants until at least mid-March — a look at the possible impact. A new book teaches first-generation Latinos about navigating money and culture. And how a beauty salon is giving new arrivals opportunities.

The zoo’s seven bottlenose dolphins will spend the next six weeks getting used to their new and improved digs.

Perhaps the most anticipated show in Chicago this winter, “Illinoise” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater promises “a new kind of musical.” Dance and stories are woven into songs written by Sufjan Stevens from his beloved 2005 album “Illinois.”

The Police Board is blocked from holding any hearings until Feb. 24, with the next hearing in the lawsuit brought by the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 7, set for Feb. 26, according to the Cook County judge's order.

It is the latest recent strike in the U.S. news industry. The striking workers are employees of Alden Global Capital, a New York hedge fund that has been buying up newspapers across the country and facing criticism for slashing budgets and cutting jobs.

CPS on Thursday released its proposed calendars for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years, which included a start date of Aug. 26 for the upcoming year due to the “estimated influx of 75,000 visitors: coming to Chicago for the convention.

Cook County Jail provides medications for opioid use disorder to incarcerated people. Where frustration comes from advocates — and local officials — is the limitations of the Illinois Department of Corrections’ medication programming in prisons.

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling confirmed the shooting occurred just after 3:30 p.m. in the 1200 block of West Thorndale Avenue, just blocks away from Senn’s campus.

Chicago becomes the largest American city to adopt a cease-fire resolution. Reminding Black men to check their prostate health. And talking self-care with Chicago native Common.

Rapper, actor and activist Common was in Chicago this week to talk about his latest book, “And Then We Rise: A Guide to Loving and Taking Care of Self.” The Chicago native sat down with WTTW News to talk about the book and some of his activism.

One in six Black men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to the advocacy organization ZERO Prostate Cancer. Research from the American Cancer Society shows Black men are more than twice as likely to die from the disease than their White counterparts.

Chicago is now the largest American city to adopt a cease-fire resolution, joining Minneapolis, San Francisco, Oakland, Atlanta and Detroit.

According to a copy of the Jan. 26 police report obtained by WTTW News, William Hozian, principal of Stevenson Elementary School reported that Stacy Davis-Gates spoke to attendees at a union meeting and said, “In talking to my Stevenson brothers and sisters, I told them they should punch their principal in the face.” 

Journalists at the Chicago Tribune are among more than 200 journalists, designers, and production workers at seven newsrooms across the country owned by Tribune Publishing who will be participating in the one-day walkout.

The alignment of sun, earth and moon will plunge the city into darkness, and as long as the maddeningly unpredictable Northeast Ohio weather cooperates, people will view a spectacle that lasts just under four minutes but occurs only three times in a 638-year span above the city.

Speaking Wednesday before the Economic Club of Chicago, Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said police officers will always have some role in school safety, even if they’re no longer working inside schools.

Advocates say the proposed ordinance aims to combat climate change and reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, while critics believe it would increase cost and risk reliability.

Donald Trump is “not qualified for the presidency and cannot be placed on the ballot because he is ineligible under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, for having engaged in insurrection having previously sworn an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution,” Illinois residents argue in a petition asking the Cook County Circuit Court to take the case. 

Chicago police on Tuesday morning announced that two boys and a girl have been charged with armed robbery. The boys also each face an additional count of armed robbery stemming from a separate incident Monday.

Election officials rule on whether Donald Trump can be on the Illinois ballot. CPS students walk out in support of Gaza cease-fire. And an effort to ban natural gas in new Chicago homes.

It is an absolute knockout — both literally and figuratively. And that is the most concise way to describe “Champion,” the physically, emotionally and musically stunning work now on the Lyric Opera stage, writes WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss.

Chita Rivera first gained wide notice in 1957 as Anita in the original production of ”West Side Story” and was still dancing on Broadway with her trademark energy a half-century later in 2015’s “The Visit.”

The U.S. National Science Foundation awarded the grant to Current Innovation NFP, a nonprofit “innovation hub” whose mission is to “solve pressing water challenges caused by climate change and pollution.”