Stories by Patty Wetli

A week after suffering the devastating loss of Monty, one half of Chicago’s beloved piping plover power couple, the city’s birding community has cause for celebration: One of Monty and Rose’s 2021 chicks has been positively ID’d on a beach in Duluth, Minnesota.  

Two people were killed and seven people were wounded in a mass shooting late Thursday blocks from Michigan Avenue amid a continuing surge in violence downtown. Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the incident “an outrageous act of violence.”

A Manhattan judge declared Trump in contempt of court on April 25 and fined him $10,000 per day for not complying with a subpoena in New York’s long-running investigation into his business practices.

The 100-year-old bakery closed at the end of April. Fans looking to own a piece of Chicago history can bid on the sign at auction June 3, with proceeds earmarked for charity.

The 14-3 vote by the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee tees up a showdown over the controversial measure by the full City Council, which is set to meet twice next week on Monday and Wednesday. 

Leaders of a Tennessee abortion clinic calculated driving distances and studied passenger rail routes as they scanned the map for another place to offer services. They chose Carbondale in Illinois — a state that has easy abortion access but is surrounded by more restrictive states in the Midwest and South.

La Casita de Don Pedro is one of many parts of Humboldt Park that reminds people of the neighborhood’s deep Puerto Rican roots. Maintaining that culture is something advocates have been focused on.

We’re live from Humboldt Park. Plus, the Chicago Park District’s new CEO on cleaning up a culture of sexual abuse; behind a new push to protect 30% of Illinois land for preservation and a library gets an artist-in-residence.

For the next two years, The Legler Regional Library in West Garfield Park will be home to artist-in-residence Alexandra Antoine. She’ll work on her own art while also connecting with people in the community. 

Illinois has made a commitment to conserve 30% of the state’s land and water resources by the year 2030. What will it take to reach that target?

Do inmates in Illinois prisons and jails have a right to safety? That’s the central question raised in a new publication written by former Cook County Department of Corrections Warden Nneka Jones Tapia.

The ACLU of Illinois immediately blasted the new Millennium Park policy as “too vague, allows too much discretion and does not recognize the right to protest for those under 18.”

Efforts to rethink the policy and spur development on the South and West sides while preventing long-time residents from being displaced from the Northwest Side are starting to pay off, symbolized by the grand opening set for Friday of an apartment complex near the CTA Blue Line Logan Square station, Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara told WTTW News. 

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability in a statement Thursday said the boy survived the shooting and was hospitalized in serious condition. 

“We’re not asking for an additional anything, just save our teachers” a Chicago Public Schools parent said Tuesday. “We’re not asking for more, we’re just asking for the status quo.”

The current touring production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” playing Chicago for only one week, is an ideal example of how “a classic” can have a whole new resonance at this very moment.

Starting Thursday, Chicagoans calling the Illinois Helpline for Opioids and Other Substances can be transferred directly to treatment provider Family Guidance Centers, Inc. to receive immediate medication-assisted recovery. 

The City Council’s Finance Committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend the settlement, which is set for a final vote by the full City Council on May 25.

The City Council’s Finance Committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend the settlement, which is set for a final vote by the full City Council on Wednesday.

The Chicago burger giant said its existing licensee Alexander Govor, who operates 25 restaurants in Siberia, has agreed to buy McDonald’s 850 Russian restaurants and operate them under a new name. McDonald’s did not disclose the terms of the sale.

The mayor’s new curfew proposal for teens. A fight for power in the Chicago Teachers Union. A new study on the unaffordability of child care. And how a name change could affect your vaccine card.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will ask the Chicago City Council to change city law to expand the curfew for teens to start at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, acknowledging that an executive order she issued Tuesday was fatally flawed.

A recent report from the Illinois Child Care for All Coalition, which includes the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois, argues that child care in the state is “unavailable, unaffordable and unsustainable.” According to the findings, child care is the largest expense for parents of children ages 4 to 8.

The City Council passes a new ward map, avoiding the possibility of allowing voters to weigh in on a new map via a referendum. And the mayor orders a change to the city's teen curfew. Our politics team weighs in on that story and more.

Proof of vaccination against COVID-19 is no longer required in most public spaces, but some establishments still require it. What should you do if you’ve legally changed your name since getting the jab? Here’s what you need to know.

The June 28 primary is approaching. But Friday comes another election, one that’s bound to have a big political impact: The election for leadership of the Chicago Teachers Union. While only CTU members can vote, the results will have an impact beyond the union itself.