Stories by Patty Wetli

Thanks to a recent update to the arboretum’s website, gardeners will find it easier to broker a love connection between plants and pollinators.

On this Juneteenth, learning how rest can be a means of resistance. And how Meigs Field became a public park.

Whether the weather ahead is pleasant or there’s a June monsoon brewing, here’s a starter list of arts and culture opportunities to get you out into the atmosphere.

City Council narrowly approves a “snap curfew.” And a wrongfully convicted man gets a settlement after almost three decades behind bars.

The Chicago City Council on Wednesday passed the "snap curfew" ordinance by a vote of 27-22. Mayor Brandon Johnson has pledged to veto it.

Less than six months into the year, Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $189.3 million to resolve nearly two and a half dozen lawsuits, exceeding its budget to resolve lawsuits alleging police misconduct by more than $100 million, city records show.

Before the vote, Mayor Brandon Johnson Johnson repeatedly questioned whether the measure is constitutional and frequently said that he does not believe that expanding the city’s curfew would stop teen “trends” or “takeovers.”

Tricia Hersey is known as the Nap Bishop. The Chicago native founded the Nap Ministry in 2016 under the framework “rest is resistance,” a tool used to resist and dismantle systems of oppression.

The dazzling panoramic shot released Wednesday of the Sculptor galaxy by a telescope in Chile is so detailed that it’s already serving as a star-packed map.

The administration said in its statement that everyone who contacts the 988 lifeline will continue to receive access to crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress, but there will no longer be the LGBTQ+ specialized services.

The COVID-19 variant that may be driving a recent rise in cases in some parts of the world has earned a new nickname: “razor blade throat” COVID.

The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas but all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for government review.

The heat will be particularly worrisome this weekend across wide stretches of Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, where forecasters are warning of extreme temperature impacts.

The stations, located at Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr, will open to the public beginning July 20. City officials said this will mark the largest simultaneous opening of stations since the Orange Line opened in 1993.

Along the Chicago lakefront is a strip of land that was once home to a small airport called Meigs Field. That was until one March 2003 morning when the city awoke to find Mayor Richard M. Daley had the airport bulldozed in the middle of the night. WTTW News explains.

Chicago Public Schools hired a former police officer who was on the city’s do-not-hire list after he was fired for inappropriate communication with a 17-year-old girl. Newly released records reveal he submitted false work histories before landing a full-time position at Lane Tech.

Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.

It was 160 years ago that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — after the Civil War’s end and two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Mayor Brandon Johnson criticizes a “snap curfew” proposal. And we sit down with outgoing Chicago Public Schools leader Pedro Martinez.

Late last year, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s handpicked school board fired Martinez without cause after he refused to take out a $300 million loan to cover the cost of a new teachers’ contract — but he remained on the job for the last six months, as dictated by his contract.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s blistering condemnation of the proposal raises the likelihood that he will veto the measure if it passes or ignore it and count on Supt. Larry Snelling to never use the power to declare a "snap curfew."

Members of Congress from at least five other Midwest states said law enforcement told them that their names were in Boelter’s writings. They included three elected officials from Illinois.

Illinois state officials are interested in attracting the nascent industry because of its potential for economic growth and positioning Illinois as a high-tech leader in the coming decades.

U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Jonathan Jackson attempted to enter the immigration facility, located at 2245 S. Michigan Ave., but said they were only able to make it into the lobby before being told to leave by a person identifying themselves as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

Father's Day took on extra meaning this year for Lake County's piping plover papa Pepper — he's a dad again, at least three times over.

A Vernon Hills toy company is arguing President Donald Trump illegally imposed tariffs under an emergency powers law rather than getting approval from Congress.