Stories by Acacia Hernandez

The city of Chicago has a new public health commissioner filling this high-profile role after the ousting of Dr. Allison Arwady in August. Dr. Olusimbo “Simbo” Ige is the first Black woman to lead the Chicago Department of Public Health on a permanent basis.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office responded to a Tuesday WTTW News report that members of his administration were made aware of concerns about unsanitary conditions at a migrant shelter in Pilsen weeks before a 5-year-old-boy fell ill at the shelter and later died at a hospital.

The board would be tasked with assessing high-cost drugs, like ones used to treat cancer, auto-immune disease and diabetes, as well as other drugs that might impact the state health care system.

The Illinois Underground Railroad Task Force met for the first time this week to begin devising a strategy for sharing, growing and celebrating the history of the Underground Railroad in Illinois.

The Chicago Board of Education will take public comments on proposed changes to the district policy. That move comes weeks after CPS Inspector General Will Fletcher published investigatory results showing that $23 million worth of electronic devices had been unaccounted for.

The proposed change by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would potentially eliminate billions of dollars in fee revenue for the nation’s biggest banks, which were gearing up for a battle even before Wednesday’s announcement. 

The law, named the Protecting Illinois Communities Act (PICA), has banned the sale of hundreds of specific guns and types of guns since Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it in early 2023.

A WTTW News exclusive: What did the mayor know about migrant shelter conditions where several have fallen ill? Why Chicago says it’ll take 15 years to make crosswalks accessible for blind pedestrians. And how winter storms are contributing to a nationwide blood shortage.

Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield with migrants top of mind. Bad weather prompts Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to suspend his policy evicting migrants from city shelters after 60 days. And a plea from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

The number of people donating blood has dropped by 40% over the last two decades, according to the American Red Cross.

Fewer than 2% of Chicago’s signalized intersections have an accessible pedestrian signal that provides auditory and tactile guidance to blind, low-vision and deafblind pedestrians — despite more than two decades of requests and years of internal acknowledgement from city staffers about the need for such accommodations.

Emails from late October exclusively obtained by WTTW News shine new light on the timeline of when Mayor Brandon Johnson and his administration were made aware of conditions at a migrant shelter in Pilsen and what exactly those conditions were. 

Sundogs form when waves of sunlight pass through ice crystals suspended in clouds. They resemble rainbows or halos, or can even resemble a second sun.

The Chicago Board of Ethics ratified the inspector general’s findings on Nov. 13, and Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin now has an opportunity to contest the results of the probe at a future meeting of the board. Each violation of the law could trigger a fine of $20,000.

The Colorado native has signed with the Chicago Red Stars through 2028. The contract is worth $2 million on a four-year deal with a fifth-year option, according to reports.

CPS announced classes will be in session for all students Wednesday as the frigid temperatures the city has seen this week have begun to dissipate.

The two employees, a manager and a supervisor, “incompetently performed the duties of their positions” on May 30, 2020, when they cited the leaders of the Chicago Freedom School, according to a report released Friday by the city’s watchdog.

About 7 in 10 Iowans who caucused for Donald Trump on Monday night said they have known all along that they would support a man who has remade the Republican Party through his “Make America Great Again” political movement. 

No injuries were reported, both planes were of Boeing design, and the FAA says it will investigate the incident.

The Chicago region remains under a wind chill warning Tuesday morning as bitterly cold temperatures persist.

According to the Chicago Police Department, 18 people were shot in 16 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday.

Using the arts to repair homes and combat neighborhood disinvestment. And on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day we take a nuanced look at the revered civil rights leader.

Artist Tonika Lewis Johnson is highlighting historical injustices while working to revitalize vacant lots in Englewood. It’s part of her latest project, “unBlocked Englewood.”

“We have been carefully monitoring the forecast over the past 24 hours, and have determined that given frigid temperatures predicted for tomorrow, and a Wind Chill Warning from the National Weather Service that wind chills that could reach -30 degrees, it will be unsafe for staff and students to travel to school,” the school district said in a statement.

Decades later, warring interpretations of one of King’s most famous quotes have fueled a culture war over the merits of affirmative action and diversity and inclusion efforts.

Coretta Scott King discusses her husband's legacy during a 1978 interview on WTTW.