Stories by Patty Wetli

An audit by the Inspector General’s Office found numerous flaws in the Department of Streets and Sanitation’s system of clearing weeds from vacant lots, including the lack of an up-to-date list of city-owned vacant property.

Worn 24/7, the soft, flexible sensor is being used to monitor cough, shortness of breath and fever in a small number of patients and front-line health care workers. Researchers hope the device can provide more insight about the coronavirus.

Watch the July 23, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

A baseball season that was on the brink before it ever began because of the virus outbreak is set to start Thursday night.

The three-week reprieve ordered by Gov. J.B. Pritzker allows state officials time to set up a program to distribute more than $300 million in help to landlords and tenants struggling to make ends meet during the coronavirus pandemic.

Attorneys representing Black Lives Matter Chicago and several other groups filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking an injunction to halt the feds from interfering with peaceful protests or making arrests without probable cause.

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President Donald Trump is expanding the administration’s intervention in local enforcement as he runs for reelection under a “law-and-order” mantle.

Chicago police say Tuesday’s mass shooting is a chilling example of gang revenge and retaliation — a cycle that needs to end. They are pleading with witnesses for help, while residents deal with the trauma.

Gun violence in Chicago is again taking the national spotlight. Our politics team weighs in on President Donald Trump’s plans to send 100 federal agents to the city and more.

A mass shooting injures at least 15 people outside a funeral home in the city’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood. How community leaders are responding to the gun violence crisis.

The Cook County sheriff says an advocate for detainees is lying about what the jail has done to curb the coronavirus. She responds on “Chicago Tonight.”

Students leading the movement to change the name of Douglas Park said they were frustrated to have been left out of the board’s meeting Wednesday, and for their broader campaign to have been ignored. 

President Donald Trump will send “more than 100” federal agents to crack down on surging crime in Chicago — but will not order a Portland-style paramilitary strike force to patrol the city.

Watch the July 22, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

A look at the life and legal work of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with family stories from her son.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has repeatedly said 30 days’ notice is not nearly enough time for a single person, let alone a family, to find a new place to live and move. Now, long-term renters will get more notice of an eviction without cause.

The Chicago Police Department can no longer impound cars that may have been used to commit a crime following a unanimous vote Wednesday to rein in the program in an effort to ease the debt burden imposed on low-income residents.

State officials announced Wednesday they are investigating a widespread nationwide fraud schemed linked to each state’s federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

State officials on Wednesday reported the highest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases for the month of July, prompting a stern warning from Illinois’ top doctor: Wear a mask or we’ll move backwards.

An effort by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration to settle a lawsuit that sought to force the Chicago Police Department to turn over nearly five decades’ worth of secret files stalled Wednesday amid opposition from progressive aldermen.

As workers return to offices, children prepare to return to schools and those desperate for normalcy again visit malls and restaurants, the emerging science points to a menacing reality: If people who appear healthy can transmit the illness, it may be impossible to contain.

The morning after a shooting injured at least 15 people, police Superintendent David Brown and Mayor Lori Lightfoot pleaded with community members to come forward with information and help break the ongoing cycle of gang violence in Chicago.

More than a dozen people were shot in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood in what has become one of the city’s largest mass shootings in years — at a time when President Donald Trump is planning to send federal agents to Chicago.

It’s time to be strategic, rather than reactive, when it comes to managing a vital piece of Chicago’s infrastructure — it’s trees. 

We journey to the sun’s surface and explore more from the world of science with University of Chicago paleontologist Neil Shubin.