Stories by Patty Wetli

“I fell hard for Monty and Rose, the first piping plovers I ever met, and I can now bring my love and passion to their offspring and kind,” Tamima Itani told WTTW News.

Chicago is facing a nearly billion-dollar budget shortfall. A local anti-violence advocate fresh off the DNC stage. And how a Chicago business owner is helping kids access bilingual books.

Workers are continuing their protest over the state’s plan to close and rebuild Stateville Correctional Center, citing concerns over safety and job stability.

The NASCAR Chicago Street Race will return to the city next summer for the third year in a row. The Chicago Street Race Weekend will take place July 5-6, 2025.

It’s one thing to read about the male turtle’s mating “dance.” It’s another to witness it with your own eyes.

Estelle Glaser Laughlin carried a lifelong message of optimism despite coming of age during a terrible time in history. She died this week at the age of 95.

The delays have changed where students enrolled, with many students forced to pick a college with limited information about their financial picture.

Picture your holiday decorations with an actual figure from the Marshall Field’s window displays — a boy riding an old-fashioned bicycle or Christmas carolers or even a miniature version of the famous Marshall Field’s clock. Thirty mechanized figures can each go to the highest bidder.

“There are sacrifices that will be made,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

A look at how Black men could impact the outcome of this year’s presidential race. And we explain the history of redlining and how it began in Chicago.

Vice President Kamala Harris made her case for the presidency last week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago where she zeroed in on a problem plaguing many Americans: affordable housing.

Pew Research projects more than 34.4 million Black Americans will be eligible to vote this November. Black men are emerging as a potentially key voting bloc in this year’s presidential race.

Human cases of the West Nile virus, spread by a bite from an infected mosquito, is typically at its highest in August and September, according to Rebecca Lee Smith, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

A state commission is soliciting submissions for a new Illinois flag.

Levy, the hospitality partner of the Bears, on Wednesday unveiled a menu of new foods that will be available this season at Soldier Field. The new lineup offers an updated version of football food classics, including a Chicago dog with a Bears player’s personal twist. 

As of June 30, nearly half a million 401(k) accounts (497,000) had balances of $1 million or more, up 2.5% from the prior quarter. The average balance hit $1,595,200, up from $1,581,000 at the end of March, according to Fidelity’s data.

The pictures were released Wednesday as FBI officials gave new details around Thomas Matthew Crooks’ internet searches in the days before the shooting and how investigators are using those searches to piece together his mindset that day.

Medical marijuana patients can now purchase cannabis grown by small businesses as part of their allotment, Illinois’ top cannabis regulator said, but smaller, newly licensed cannabis growers are still seeking greater access to the state’s medical marijuana customers.

The Education Department is seeking to provide a faster path to loan cancellation, and reduce monthly income-based repayments from 10% to 5% of a borrower’s discretionary income. The plan also wouldn’t require borrowers to make payments if they earn less than 225% of the federal poverty line — $32,800 a year for a single person.

For more than a decade, the Illinois and Chicago departments of transportation have been holding public meetings on a proposed redesign of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Earlier this month, they held an open house to show off their preferred option — one that doesn’t include a dedicated or shared lane for buses.

Farmers are also planting more acres of corn, in part to meet demand for ethanol, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service. It all means more plants working harder to stay cool — pumping out humidity that adds to steamy misery like that blanketing much of the U.S. this week.

To this day, Chicagoans live in a fairly segregated city. And that segregation didn’t happen by coincidence but by design. WTTW News Explains how redlining worked in Chicago.

Crews start demolishing a longtime landmark to make way for Chicago’s permanent casino. And Chicago Public Schools are in session — how teachers are tackling the new year.

The Chicago Teachers Union is still in the midst of public contract negotiations, and the union said CPS leaders aren’t doing enough about the lack of academic resources. This comes amid concerns over district funding.

The permanent casino will be four times as big as the temporary casino now open at the Medinah Temple at Ohio Street and Wabash Avenue.

A man whose body was discovered in Wisconsin near the Illinois border in 1993 was known only as John Doe for more than three decades. He is now confirmed to be Ronald Louis Dodge following nearly a decade of renewed DNA testing and analysis.