Stories by Patty Wetli

The 45-foot Colorado Blue Spruce will take centerstage during an official tree lighting ceremony on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m.

“Political and government-related bribery, extortion, fraud, conflicts of interest, theft of campaign funds, and tax cheating continue to undermine the public’s trust in government,” according to the report.

What migrants face as temperatures drop. The story of Chicago AIDS activist Danny Sotomayor. And Chicagoans mark Day of the Dead.

El Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Day, is a two-day celebration where people come together to remember their late loved ones. It’s a beautiful, colorful tradition with festivities, music and food.

Chicago’s temperatures are dropping. This brings a new set of challenges for the more than 2,800 migrants living at police stations — most of whom have never experienced a Chicago winter.

The late Chicago AIDS activist Danny Sotomayor didn’t just open doors at City Hall. He was also a political cartoonist and an organizer who used civil disobedience to wage war on city officials marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community.

“I had a good series of conversations,” said Mayor Brandon Johnston, who led the coalition. “I think we shared our sense of urgency and we shared this belief that we need funding, but really what we want is a longer-term solution.”

A dance series, film festival and Native American art usher in the weekend. Here are five things to do in and around Chicago.

This weekend, nearly 80 sites across the greater Chicago region will be collecting pumpkins for composting, part of a nationwide push to keep food waste out of landfills.

On a recent cool and sunny Saturday, 14 trash haulers mounted their trucks to compete in the annual Republic Road-eo. The competitors had a singular focus: to become one with their craft as they safely navigate an obstacle course of trash cans, traffic cones and judges.

Using sidewalks as exam rooms and heavy red duffle bags as medical supply closets, volunteer medics spend their Saturdays caring for the growing number of migrants arriving in Chicago without a place to live.

If the measure is approved, Chicago workers would be entitled to more time off than workers in New York City and Los Angeles, and would be the first to earn time off for any reason, not just if they or a family member falls ill.

The independent monitoring team that oversees the CPD’s consent decree implementation published its eighth semi-annual report this week, which found that although the department has reached some level of compliance with 85% of paragraphs, it has only fully complied with 33 out of 552 paragraphs.

City Council blocks a vote to transform a vacant lot into a migrant shelter. Why it takes so long for wrongfully convicted people to get legal representation. And Cook County’s state’s attorney on the elimination of cash bail.

A year from now, Chicago voters will for the first time decide who will run the city’s schools. But first, Illinois legislators have a lot of decisions to make about how that process will work. Chief among their responsibilities is dividing Chicago into 20 districts.

It’s been more than a month since Illinois became the first state to eliminate cash bail entirely. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said her office was preparing for almost 18 months before the Pretrial Fairness Act went into effect.

More than 3,300 wrongfully convicted people have been exonerated in the U.S. since 1989, according to the University of Michigan’s National Registry of Exonerations. That time on the inside adds up to more than 30,000 years unjustly spent in prison for many of those people.

Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st Ward) said he was “highly disappointed” by the decision by the mayor’s office to open a migrant shelter in his ward, but acknowledged he could not stop the proposal.

An ordinance amendment would require library hosts to obtain a permit before setting up a “public bookcase” in the public way, and would limit permit holders to institutions.

Chicago-based Conagra Brands must pay out $3.1 million in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages, according to the Cook County Circuit Court verdict. 

The Democratic leaders say in a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday that while they appreciate Biden’s efforts so far, much more needs to be done to ease the burden on their cities.

The epaulette shark pup hatched Aug. 23, born from what staff believe was an unfertilized egg. 

The Center for Native Futures was founded by artists on a mission to make an epicenter of Native creativity. The inaugural exhibition showcases dynamic work from artists representing 19 Native tribes.

The launch of the anti-Islamophobia effort has been anticipated for months after the administration in May released a national strategy to combat antisemitism that made passing reference to countering hatred against Muslims.

Love it or hate it, the stunt works for the station. In 2022, the LITE’s ratings doubled between November and December.

Their mission was to pass out flyers with information about an upcoming COVID-19 and flu vaccination clinic at Richard J. Daley Community College on the Southwest Side.