Stories by Joanna Hernandez

The Ravenswood shop isn’t just fixing cars — it’s working to fix an industry-wide gender gap. Founder Lisa Thompson said women make up just 2% of auto mechanics nationwide.

Latin American culture was on full display on Super Bowl Sunday with Bad Bunny’s historic halftime show. Among the 700 performers on the field were Lyrik Cruz and Giancarlo Guerrero, two Latino artists with Chicago connections.

Early voting for the March 17 primary election is now open at the Chicago Board of Elections office, located at 69 W. Washington St. on the 6th floor, and at the new Chicago Board of Elections supersite, located at 137 S. State St.

Environmental groups described the move as the single biggest attack in U.S. history against federal authority to address climate change. Evidence backing up the endangerment finding has only grown stronger in the 17 years since it was approved, they said.

You don’t have to travel to Italy to experience the sport.

The Board of Education is no longer working with Alma Advisory Group, which was hired last May to help guide the search for Chicago Public Schools’ next permanent CEO, according to a statement from six board members.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced the new lawsuit, which was filed along with officials from California, Colorado, Minnesota after the Office of Management and Budget’s directive to cut grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — a move that could be enacted as early as Thursday.

“Abolish ICE” is now one of 25 finalists that Chicagoans can vote for through Saturday, with the top six vote-getters winning the honor of renaming one snowplow in each of Chicago’s six snow districts.

Every Thursday, WTTW News newsletter producer Josh Terry highlights his picks for the week’s must-see cultural events.

If landscapes could talk, the 61-acre Greene Nature Preserve in Lake Forest would have quite the tale to tell.

New evidence in the shooting of a Chicago woman by federal agents. And Democrats grill Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Lawmakers continue to negotiate U.S. Department of Homeland Security funding, which Democrats are holding up over proposed reforms to immigration enforcement efforts.

There are efforts from the federal government to reshape how history is taught and examined by institutions.

Republicans said the legislation is needed to prevent voter fraud, but Democrats warn it will disenfranchise millions of Americans by making it harder to vote.

Some Chicagoans who had their cars towed by the city could get $1,250, if their vehicle was scrapped, or a refund of what they paid to get their car out of the impound lot.

The new evidence includes texts to and from Exum following the shooting, surveillance photos and body camera footage from agents who were at the scene of the Oct. 4 shooting of Marimar Martinez.

Illinois state legislators are proposing the Power Act, which would put guardrails around the rapid expansion of large-scale data centers.

James Van Der Beek, a heartthrob who starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in “Dawson’s Creek” and in later years mocking his own hunky persona, has died. He was 48.

Taxpayers paid an additional $5.2 million to private attorneys to defend former Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara and the other officers named in the four lawsuits.

Legal experts say the newly enacted Clean Slate Act may help reduce gaps in record-clearing, and federal marijuana reclassification could spur broader reforms across the country.

A federal judge has upheld a first-of-its-kind Illinois law that protects consumers and retailers from paying so-called credit card “swipe fees” on taxes and tips.

Dominga Flores Gomez, 55, died in the crash that ended the chase launched by two Chicago Police Department vehicles just before 9 p.m. Sept. 28, 2022, in McKinley Park, records show.

Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.

Mayor Brandon Johnson vows to fight back after the Trump administration denies a disaster relief request. And why unplugged oil wells could cost Illinois residents more than $1 billion.

The Reader was recently acquired by Noisy Creek, a startup publishing company based in Washington state focused on acquiring and restoring troubled alternative news sources.

Oil production was once a major industry in Illinois, but it has steadily declined since the 1950s. Most active wells in Illinois are “stripper” wells that produce less than 1.5 barrels per day.