Stories by Marc Vitali

Everyone in Chicago knows the work of architect Benjamin Marshall, even if his name doesn’t carry the weight of Louis Sullivan or Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s hard to imagine the city without Marshall’s enduring contributions — the South Shore Cultural Center, the Drake Hotel and many other historic buildings.

Though murders were down 12% from August 2023, the number of shootings and shooting victims was slightly higher, according to Chicago Police Department data.

The impact of Stateville’s closure on workers and those incarcerated. How some men in prison are hoping to change the way they can be released. And highlighting the history of Negro League baseball.

Parole Illinois was formed by men who are incarcerated in Illinois prisons. They’re working to reinstate the parole system after it was abolished in the state in 1978.

Both the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability released new reports Wednesday.

Advocates are raising concerns about the location of these facilities and the impact they will have on both those behind the prison’s walls and its employees. 

The 12-foot-tall statues — “Maurie” and “Flaurie” — were removed Wednesday, but fear not, it’s just for a little buffing and polishing.

For as long as Taylor Townsend has had a racket in her hand, Donald Young and his family have been in her life. That's why it's so meaningful that she might help the 35-year-old Young end his career on Thursday as a Grand Slam champion by winning the U.S. Open mixed doubles final, his last match before retiring from tennis.

Jim Dreyer, 61, has tried four times since 2023 to swim across Lake Michigan, including an effort just a few weeks ago, but has been unsuccessful due to lake conditions or other factors.

In 2022, most of the world’s nations agreed to make the first legally binding treaty on plastics pollution, including in the oceans. Final treaty negotiations take place in South Korea in November.

A 30-year-old Chicago man has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder following a fatal Labor Day shooting on a CTA Blue Line train in suburban Forest Park. At a bond hearing Wednesday, Rhanni Davis was ordered detained pending trial.

The Bears head coach Matt Eberflus does own an apiary on his Lake Bluff property but leaves the beekeeping to others.

Days before a fatal shooting on the CTA Blue Line, a judge rules concealed carry guns should be allowed on public transit. And hopes are high as the Bears kick off their season this weekend.

For football fans, the wait is nearly over. The NFL regular season is set to kick off this week. And after a disappointing last few seasons — arguably decades — there’s excitement brewing once again at Soldier Field.

“The Chicago Police Department is transforming,” said Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling, who was present during a majority of the protests and wore a body camera. “This is a transformation.”

The U.S. Department of Education reviewed 139 incidents of discrimination reported to the university from 2015 to 2023.

In a decision released Friday, Judge Iain D. Johnston said under current U.S. Supreme Court standards, the law violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

Temperatures and precipitation weren’t too far above or below normal, but those tornadoes that hit the Chicago area in mid-July rewrote the record book.

The shooting took place before 5:30 a.m. Monday aboard a Blue Line train that was moving near where the line ends in Forest Park. A suspect was later arrested on another CTA line, according to police.

It’s always hot this time of year in central Arizona, but 2024 is proving to be an endless summer with especially high temperatures in Phoenix. On Tuesday, the city hit its 100th straight day with at least 100 degree temperatures. That’s long since shattered the record of 76 days in a row set back in 1993, according to data from the National Weather Service.

Illinois offers a tax credit worth up to $750 for “qualified education expenses” at both public and private schools, including book rental, lab fees and tuition.

Though consumer sentiment is slowly rising, a majority of Americans in some surveys still complain about elevated prices, given that the costs of such necessities as food, gas and housing remain far above where they were before the pandemic erupted in 2020.

The hearing date means a final decision could well come in the next administration. While it’s possible it could precede the end of President Joe Biden’s term, issuing it before Inauguration Day “would be pretty expedited,” said cannabis lawyer Brian Vicente.

The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president will devote almost all of their remaining time and resources to just seven states. They will spend hundreds of millions of dollars targeting voters who, in many cases, have just begun to pay attention to the election.

According to preliminary Chicago Police Department data, 29 people were shot in 27 separate incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday.