Stories by Joanna Hernandez

Luv City focuses on youth violence prevention on Chicago’s West Side. Students delve into the world of digital media — learning about film production, editing, photography and acting.

Linda McMahon promised to cut off federal money from schools that defy President Donald Trump’s orders against transgender athletes in women’s sports, campus antisemitism and DEI initiatives across the country.

Park advocates say the permanent staff cuts will leave hundreds of national parks — including some of the most well-known and most heavily visited sites — understaffed and facing tough decisions about operating hours, public safety and resource protection.

Despite the lack of a formal arrangement, emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided to WTTW News show members of the city’s staff collaborating for months on the app’s development and promotion. The unusual arrangement means municipal employees worked, while on the taxpayer’s dime, on a privately held product not subject to any formal agreement with the city of Aurora.

The gas utility company’s pipe replacement program had been on hold for over a year so the Illinois Commerce Commission could determine how to move forward with the program, which has been years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. Thursday’s decision does not have an immediate effect on customers’ bills, according to state regulators.

A gentle reminder: It is important to embrace the culture and free expression that define us as Chicagoans and Americans. In other words, buy a ticket and see a show. Here are five to consider.

The boost has a lot to do with young people, who have been much more likely than older generations to identify as something other than heterosexual, Gallup said.

Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti on Thursday granted a prosecution motion that will allow any victim who is set to testify against Robert Crimo III to remain in court throughout the entirety of his trial.

“We don’t have kings in America, and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “If we don’t want to repeat history, then for God’s sake, in this moment, we better be strong enough to learn from it.”

Pritzker’s budget team provided a rosier projection of an extra $1.5 billion in revenue growth, meaning he has to cover a $1.7 billion budget gap to balance the budget, rather than the $3.2 billion deficit previously estimated.

What’s in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s budget plan. An effort to lower Chicago’s default speed limit stalls. And civil rights icon Ida B. Wells is honored on a quarter.

Women’s suffragist, investigative journalist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells is now immortalized as part of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program.

The movie is about Harith Augustus, a 37-year-old barber who was shot and killed by police in South Shore in July 2018. The shooting sparked immediate public outcry and legal fights for full access to police body camera video.

The measure failed after nearly all members of the City Council’s Black Caucus voted against it because of concerns that the change would mean more fees and fines levied against Black, Latino and low-income residents.

 A recently discovered asteroid, named 2024 YR4, is now the riskiest asteroid ever detected. NASA has calculated that the space rock has a 3.1% chance of hitting Earth in 2032.

The Trump administration is falsely claiming that tens of millions of dead people over 100 years old are receiving Social Security payments.

Researchers at Boston University’s CTE Center found that Hull had stage 2 CTE when he died in 2023. He was 84. Hull struggled with short-term memory loss and impaired judgment over his final decade. He chose to donate his brain after seeing former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Stan Mikita decline late in his life.

Stylist Jonathan Van Ness has been the guide to glamour through nine seasons of the Netflix series “Queer Eye.” Van Ness is one of the Fab Five — a quintet of advisors who use humor and empathy as they apply their skill sets toward improving someone else’s life.

“Reliably providing safe drinking water is one of the most basic and important government functions,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said. “Providing clear and readily available information in which people have reason to be confident is another.”

“It is research that is essential, it is research that is nonpartisan, it is research that improves lives and improves communities,” said Aaron Krall, president of the UIC United Faculty union. “This is deadly serious, these are life-and-death matters.”

The Chicago City Council unanimously agreed Wednesday to pay $27 million to the family of a Chicago woman killed by a driver being chased by Chicago police, the latest massive settlement prompted by a police pursuit that violated department policy and ended with a bystander’s death.

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

A push to create a Department of Government Efficiency in Illinois. And Gov. J.B. Pritzker prepares to unveil his budget plan.

Chicago residents struggling with mental health issues often encounter barriers to accessing traditional care like therapists or medication.

More than 200 people rallied in downtown Chicago on Tuesday to push back on President Donald Trump’s sweeping efforts to cut government spending and reduce the size of the federal workforce.

The bill comes after the Illinois Supreme Court issued a pair of rulings last year. The court ruled in September that the smell of burnt cannabis did not give police probable cause to search a vehicle, but three months later ruled the smell of raw cannabis was probable cause for a search.