Stories by Marc Vitali

The exhibition “Myth and Marble – Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection” has works span hundreds of years, with the earliest piece dating from the 5th century BCE.

“For many people with Down syndrome, the question ‘to be or not to be’ is not just philosophical — it is personal,” said Chela de Ferrari, the show’s director and writer. “Society often decides who gets to take up space, whose voices are heard, whose stories matter.”

The order comes after a 2023 ruling in federal court that Chicago’s long-running failure to protect blind pedestrians violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, following on the heels of a similar ruling in New York City.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights on Friday announced it has begun investigating 45 universities for failing to follow their “civil rights obligations to end the use of racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.”

More than half of those charged in Cook County with felony firearm cases involving modified weapons have been detained pending trial during the first three-plus months under new State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke.

A controversial plan to expand a toxic dump on Lake Michigan is dropped. Why medical schools are enrolling fewer Black and Latino students. And what you should know about tonight’s lunar eclipse.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in 2023, diversity is in decline at medical schools nationwide.

The texts impersonating state road toll collection agencies attempt to get phone users to reveal financial information, such as credit or debit cards or bank accounts.

This week’s lunar eclipse will be the first witnessed in high-def from the moon itself — technically a solar eclipse on the moon — thanks to a lunar lander. “I cannot wait for this to happen,” said astronomer Michelle Nichols of Adler Planetarium.

His remarks came just two days after the agency abruptly laid off 1,300 employees, or about half its workforce, including an estimated 50 workers in its Chicago regional office.

A House committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would give high school student athletes the right to participate in both school-sponsored teams and non-school teams in the same sport at the same time.

State Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) is sponsoring two bills that would place restrictions on the use of AI in online therapy services as well as AI use in decision-making processes that determine a person’s health insurance coverage.

The Ravinia Festival summer lineup features more than 100 concerts and 40 artist debuts. Tickets for the summer season go on sale to the public April 24.

Whether it be tariffs that make Illinois soybeans less attractive to China or cuts to funds that prop up things like rural firefighting services, conservation-minded farming techniques and tree assessments after major storms, Illinois farmers are worried.

In February, the Trump administration announced deep cuts to National Institutes of Health grants for research institutions, a shift that could reduce the money going to some universities by over $100 million.

Federal prosecutors want the judge to hold an evidentiary hearing before deciding whether ex-Ald. Carrie Austin, 75, is too ill to stand trial.

The decades-old St. Patrick's Day tradition routinely attracts tens of thousands of revelers to the riverfront, but in recent years it's also attracted criticism from environmentalists.

Sculpture from Italy, theater from Peru, the inspiration for “Rent” — this week’s offerings include rare imports, an operatic favorite and a homegrown songwriter with a cinematic mind. See you at the show.

How major cuts to the Department of Education could impact local schools. And Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton on Illinois’ push against the Trump administration.

Officials from Chicago and Illinois are sounding the alarm as the U.S. Department of Education plans to lay off about half of its workforce, putting its future in peril while causing “chaos” for students and schools throughout the country.

Illinois is facing challenges in the still early days of President Donald Trump’s second term, and the state is pushing back. Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton joined “Chicago Tonight: Black Voices” to talk more about the state’s response.

Instead of going to a casino to play poker or a bar to play the slots, so-called iGaming participants could play on their tablets or phones, a change that backers told lawmakers at a Springfield hearing on Wednesday could bring in another $1 billion annually.

Seven of the civil rights agency’s 12 regional offices were entirely laid off, including busy hubs in New York, Chicago and Dallas. Despite assurances that the department’s work will continue unaffected, huge numbers of cases appear to be in limbo.

The lives of artist Adrián Viajero Román's family members are reflected in the new exhibition “Archivos Vivos” at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture.

Supporters of the ban said it would strike a necessary blow against animal cruelty, while opponents said it would harm Chicago businesses.

If prices remain high, it will be third year in a row consumers have faced sticker shock ahead of Easter on April 20 and Passover, which starts on the evening of April 12, both occasions in which eggs play prominent roles.