Stories by Patty Wetli

Morton Arboretum conducted an international search to select a successor to retiring CEO and president Gerard Donnelly, and landed on a familiar face, close to home.

Russia has choked off the supplies of cheap natural gas that the continent depended on for years to run factories, generate electricity and heat homes. That has pushed European governments into a desperate scramble for new supplies and for ways to blunt the impact as economic growth slows and household utility bills rise.

Both events served as the latest vivid illustration of why 2022 has rightly been designated “The Year of Chicago Dance.”

A trio of high-level renderings released by the team on Tuesday demonstrate the scope of the Bears ambition. More than just a new stadium, the team is aiming to turn the 326-acre Arlington Park property into "a multi-purpose entertainment district anchored by a new, best-in-class enclosed stadium."

The settlement resolves one of the biggest legal threats facing the beleaguered company, which still faces nine separate lawsuits from other states. Additionally, Juul faces hundreds of personal suits brought on behalf of teenagers and others who say they became addicted to the company’s vaping products.

According to Chicago police, 55 people were shot in 47 separate incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday.

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson announced Tuesday he is exploring a possible run for Chicago mayor, taking the first step toward confronting Mayor Lori Lightfoot with a serious challenge from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

The weather may still feel like summer, but when it comes to Chicago's beaches, the season is officially over.

In a city where air pollution is an environmental justice issue, local grassroots groups are self-installing, funding and monitoring air pollution monitors to understand the specific threats they face and demand change.

On this Labor Day, remembering the city’s long history of unions and what a pro-worker ballot measure means this November. Plus, LGBTQ icons make a splash and a South Side parade marches downtown.

The so-called Workers’ Rights Amendment would guarantee Illinois workers the constitutional right to collectively bargain for things like wages, hours and working conditions. 

Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, 62, the first member of the Chicago Teachers Union to be elected to the City Council, said in a statement released on Labor Day that she wanted to start the “next chapter” of her life.

The group that arrived Sunday was made up of mostly families, their country of origin was not clear, Lightfoot said.

In 1925, the all-Black, all-male workers organized and founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in hopes of forcing the Pullman Company to the bargaining table.

This week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the names of seven interim commissioners who will make up the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, Chicago’s first civilian police oversight board. The group is charged with a tall order: rebuilding public trust in the department.

On Saturday, Sept. 10, sweet and savory empanadas take center stage in a one-day festival at Whiting Lakefront Park along with cultural performances by local music and dance groups

While the overall unemployment rate for Chicago is nearly 5.8% in August, the rate for Black residents is more than twice that, at 14.3%.

Why the Black unemployment rate in Chicago is nearly three-times the rate for White Chicagoans. Plus, some of the city’s newest civilian police oversight commissioners and Taylor Bennett’s new tracks.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he’s moving out migrants to other cities because the border crisis has Texas overwhelmed. Critics say he’s using them in an attempt to send a political message.

Jorge Garcia wasn’t always a bird paparazzo – in fact, he’s only been at it for a couple of years, after a gear upgrade for his job as a technologist took an unexpected turn. The fledgling interest soon hatched into a full-blown hobby.

What lies ahead for newly arrived migrants in Chicago. Answers for vendors at the Discount Mall. And a taste of the first-ever Empanada Fest in Northwest Indiana.

Chicago’s new immigrant arrivals, the president’s partisan calls for saving democracy and the Chicago Police Department gets some civilian oversight and more time off. 

A team of researchers, led by Morton Arboretum, spent the better part of the past five years creating the first-ever standardized checklist and threat assessment of the nearly 900 species native U.S. trees. Their work provides the foundation on which to build awareness, advocacy and future conservation efforts.

Chicago police leaders are adding patrols in neighborhoods, high-traffic areas and along the CTA during the Labor Day weekend, officials announced Friday.

Most recently, his focus has been on purchasing a 326-acre tract of land in suburban Arlington Heights, Illinois, where a new stadium and entertainment complex could be built. 

The ceremony will also mark Michelle Obama’s first visit to the White House since Obama’s presidency ended in January 2017, and only the second visit for Barack Obama. He was at the White House in April to mark the 12th anniversary of the health care law he signed in 2010.