Stories by Hedy Weiss

Alan Turing was a genius — a brilliant English mathematician and logician who is renowned for his invaluable work as a codebreaker during World War II. But he also was a tragic figure, driven to an early death by chemical castration (and possibly by suicide) because of his homosexuality, which during his lifetime, was treated as a crime.

On Monday night, the Evanston City Council approved a cash option to its Housing Restorative Program. Now, the program includes direct cash benefits for those who qualify.

The independent expenditure funded by the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, paid for $258,000 in cable television advertisements on March 16 and $359,000 in digital advertising on March 15, records show. 

City officials weigh solutions to Chicago’s lead-paint problem. A key witness pulls back the curtain on alleged bribery in the “ComEd Four” trial. What the mayoral candidates plan to do about transit issues.

ComEd’s lobbying team got the go-ahead in 2018 to kill the Illinois attorney general’s proposal to give low-income consumers a break on their electric bills with the blessing of her father, Speaker of the Illinois House Michael Madigan, according to a witness. 

Recently, a young child was poisoned in his Belmont-Cragin apartment and now faces a host of health problems. It’s spurred a debate on whether the city can do more to fix the problem before another child is affected. 

Buses that never show up and unreliable train travel times. Filling a CTA staffing shortfall. And a push for better bike safety. Those are just a few of the transit topics on the minds of voters

The suspect also died after being shot by police following the violence at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade. 

Alex Nitchoff, 56, of Lemont, was charged with one count of conspiracy to bribe a public official and two counts of using a facility in interstate commerce in order to facilitate the acts of bribery, federal authorities announced Monday.

The number of motor vehicle thefts reported in Chicago this year as of March 19 is 6,421, a whopping 136% over the same time last year when 2,726 thefts were reported, according to Chicago Police Department data.

Twelve people were shot in 11 separate incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday, the Chicago Police Department said.

Much of the focus has been on the mayoral candidates’ public safety plans, but whoever emerges victorious on April 4 will also inherit environmental and climate-related challenges.

In 1994, brothers Sean Tyler and Reginald Henderson were convicted of murder after being tortured into false confessions. They were exonerated in 2021 after serving more than 25 years in prison.

Little Village is on high alert as two young women have been found dead there in recent weeks. And now with a reported disappearance, 15-year-old Azreya Lomeli, who was last seen walking in Little Village, community members are increasing calls for action from the police.

The Chicago Park District is offering teenagers a chance to work where they play this summer in seasonal positions like recreation leaders, lifeguards and junior laborers.

If you weren’t able to make it out to Cantigny Park last summer to see the “Creatures of a Dream World” exhibition of alebrijes, good news! Twenty of those super-sized sculptures have traveled to the North Riverside Park Mall.

This year, Tim Adams and Frank Smith will be inducted into the Chicago Golden Gloves Hall of Fame as the tournament marks 100 years since the Chicago Tribune sponsored the first competition in 1923.

This month marks three years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. More than 2,300 Latino Chicagoans have died from COVID-19 since March 2020, according to data from the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Little Village residents are on high alert after two women are found dead. The toll of COVID-19 three years later. Alebrijes sculptures on the move. And medical students find their match.

“Proximity” comprises performances about the search for connection in a tech-dominated world, humanity’s fraught stewardship of the environment and the impact of gun violence in cities and communities.

Two wrongfully convicted brothers fight for justice. Residents push for the reopening of a closed “L” stop. Lyric Opera tackles emotional stories. And in the ring with Golden Gloves winners.

Detainees awaiting trial or serving misdemeanor sentences retain the right to vote, but face barriers to exercising it in many parts of the U.S. Cook County Jail, with more than 5,500 inmates and detainees, is one of the largest jails in the nation.

Hundreds of women travel each week to the southern tip of Illinois to secure an abortion, something that is no longer available to millions living in a 1,800 mile stretch of 11 Southern states that have mostly banned pregnancy terminations.

Another week of mayoral campaigning down — another to go. We’ll analyze the race, plus the claims of bringing former cops back to the force. And air taxis could shorten your trip to O’Hare.

United Airlines is partnering with Archer Aviation to offer flyers an air taxi service from Vertiport Chicago on the Near West Side to Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

The race for Chicago mayor enters its final stretch. Political speechwriter, debate strategist and senior lecturer at Northwestern University Jason DeSanto breaks down the latest developments in a tightening race.