Stories by Alexandra Silets

Illinois enters the reopening bridge phase as summer festivals are announced. Leaked emails spell trouble for the mayor. Rahm may be headed to Japan. And the sudden death of a Chicago star-architect.

Adam Rapp’s “The Sound Inside” depicts the brief but harrowing relationship between Bella (Mary Beth Fisher), a lonely, middle-aged Yale professor and author who teaches a course in creative writing, and her intense, gifted, profoundly alienated freshman student, Christopher (John Drea).

Chicago officials announced Friday they will consider making electric scooters a permanent part of the city’s transportation system after the results of a second trial run found a demand for the two-wheelers.

The Chicago Police Department has announced changes to its search warrant policy that will go into effect later this month following widespread calls for reform after a botched raid at the home of Anjanette Young in February 2019.

A corner of West Virginia wrenched by opioid addiction is getting the chance to argue in a courtroom that some of the corporate giants it blames for a public health crisis that left hundreds of people dead deserve to be held accountable.

President Joe Biden planned to meet Friday with six young immigrants who benefited from an Obama-era policy that protected those brought to the U.S. illegally as children. 

More than a dozen states quickly embraced new federal guidelines that say fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks indoors or out in most cases. But other states and cities and some major businesses hesitated amid doubts about whether the approach is safe or even workable.

Gas shortages at the pumps have spread from the South, all but emptying stations in Washington, D.C., following a ransomware cyberattack that forced a shutdown of the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline. Though the pipeline operator paid a ransom, restoring service was taking time.

Annette Nance-Holt's pending confirmation will be “yet another crack in that glass ceiling,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday.

German architect Helmut Jahn died Saturday after being struck by a car while riding a bicycle in the western suburbs. Geoffrey Baer takes a look at Jahn’s work and his legacy in a special edition of Ask Geoffrey.

The beloved pair of piping plovers have established a nest, smack in the middle of habitat only just protected for the birds this spring. 

For pregnant women, fetal monitoring devices are a cumbersome array of wires and tape that require constant adjustment and, quite literally, tether the patient to a hospital bed. A team of researchers at Northwestern University is working to change that.

When she died 12 years ago, photographer Vivian Maier went from anonymous to fairly famous. Now the onetime North Shore nanny is receiving more posthumous praise, this time for a show of her mostly unseen color photographs of local people and places. 

Hamas sent a heavy barrage of rockets deep into Israel on Thursday as Israel pounded Gaza with more airstrikes and shells and called up 9,000 more reservists who could be used to stage a ground invasion.

A deeper look at the conflict in Israel. We visit the Village of Riverdale as part of our community reporting series. Transforming prenatal care with technology. Remembering architect Helmut Jahn.

The Village of Riverdale lags behind the rest of suburban Cook County in vaccinations. As part of our community reporting series, we speak with elected officials, community leaders and physicians about the vaccine rollout, and what they’re doing to make the vaccine more accessible.

Chicago and Illinois officials said Thursday they will follow new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and jettison rules that require fully vaccinated people to wear masks indoors. However, masks are not “going away,” according to city health officials.

The Lawrence and Berwyn stations will fully close Sunday while track is rebuilt and new stations are constructed on a 6-mile stretch of the CTA Red Line.

Illinois’ once bleak financial picture has brightened considerably during the past three months, state finance officials announced Thursday. Gov. J.B. Pritzker will use the additional revenue to boost spending on education by an additional $350 million. 

In a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people on Thursday, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.

The FBI is offering the reward for information leading to the arrest of Devontay Anderson, who authorities believe has fled the state of Illinois following his alleged involvement in the shooting death of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams last month.

Illinois will enter the next phase of its reopening plan Friday, and is on track to fully reopen June 11, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday. Here’s what you should know about the “bridge” phase.

The attorney for the 11th Ward alderman who is the grandson of former Mayor Richard J. Daley said he was eager “to get to trial and clear Mr. Thompson’s name as soon as that is possible.” 

The trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting in the death of George Floyd  will be pushed back to March 2022, in part to allow the publicity over Derek Chauvin’s conviction to cool off, a judge ruled Thursday.

Chicago Public Schools officials say the district will host dozens of focus groups in the coming months to gather community feedback before making any decision about its next CEO. Current CEO Janice Jackson will be leaving the district when her contract expires at the end of June.

Converted CTA buses will visit 15 Chicago Public Schools to provide COVID-19 vaccines to students over the next three Saturdays, city health officials announced Thursday.