Stories by Patty Wetli

The 53-foot Colorado blue spruce was planted in Logan Square 50 years ago and represents a bit of neighborhood history.

The head of the Chicago School Board is resigning after backlash over controversial comments. And the election is just days away — where Latino voters stand on the issues.

With just five days until the election, Chicagoans have already cast more than 320,000 ballots.

Chicago Board of Education President Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson resigned under pressure Thursday after a series of antisemitic, misogynistic and conspiratorial social media posts generated a wave of outrage that stretched from the Chicago City Council to Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

With global tensions and an intensely partisan presidential campaign fueling division among Americans, Illinois is launching the Help Stop Hate program to combat the severe increase in hate crime throughout the state. 

Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, who already faced attempted murder charges will now face additional terrorism and hate crime charges, Chicago and Cook County officials announced on Thursday afternoon.

Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre has more than 3,800 seats, and almost every last one of them was filled this past Monday night as Sting took to the stage for two hours of his terrific music.

A group of about 40 incarcerated women read their poetry at the “Live and Alive From Inside” poetry slam, put on by the Women’s Justice Institute.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, 82, and his longtime confidant Michael McClain, 77, are charged with racketeering, bribery and wire fraud. They have each pleaded not guilty.

The Black male vote has turned into a crucial bloc this election, with both Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump making appeals to get their votes. 

Field Museum scientists have new CT scans of mummified people from the museum’s “Inside Ancient Egypt” exhibit. Researchers hope the scans will help the public see the mummified individuals as people instead of artifacts.

The fountain will shut down for the season Thursday night. 

The mayor reverses course on a property tax hike. Black male voters and their critical role this presidential election. And calls for more state funding of early childhood services.

Early intervention, or EI, comprises an array of developmental and social-emotional services like speech and language, occupational and physical therapies and social work that are designed to improve the long-term outcomes of a child and family’s life.

Illinois’ first-in-the-nation law doesn’t outlaw so-called interchange fees completely, but it does preclude credit card processors from applying the fee on the portion of a card swipe that pays for state and local taxes and tips.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said proposing the tax hike, the second largest in modern Chicago history after the $588 million property tax hike pushed through by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2016, was a “difficult decision” that was the result of an "excruciating process.”

The Chicago City Council confirmed four of the five Chicagoans picked by Mayor Brandon Johnson to serve on the board of the Regional Transportation Authority, which is facing a $730 million deficit in 2026.

The Chicago City Council voted to pay $4 million to the family of a man who spent 33 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of murdering a woman in 1989 in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.

The hotline aims to help the U.S. Department of Justice deter and combat discrimination and intimidation at the polls, election fraud and threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, according to a news release.

Michael Madigan, 82, and his longtime confidant Michael McClain, 77, are charged with racketeering, bribery and wire fraud. They have each pleaded not guilty.

Will Venable, who turned 42 on Tuesday, is stepping in for Pedro Grifol, who was fired in August with the White Sox on their way to breaking the modern major league record for most losses in a season. With Grady Sizemore serving as interim manager, the club finished with a 41-121 record.

This year in Illinois, there are no statewide elections. And yet, political campaigns in the state raised about $600 million in itemized individual contributions, according to a Capitol News Illinois analysis of Illinois campaign finance data.

Two nights and 200 miles apart, the dueling closing arguments outlined in stark terms the choice U.S. voters face on Nov. 5 when they will weigh two very different visions of leadership and America’s future.

The high court, over the dissents of the three liberal justices, granted an emergency appeal from Virginia’s Republican administration led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The court provided no rationale for its action, which is typical in emergency appeals.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, accelerated to a 3.7% annual pace last quarter, up from 2.8% in the April-June period. Exports also contributed to the third quarter’s growth, increasing at an 8.9% rate.

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