Stories by Patty Wetli

The Chicago River has proven itself fit for swimming. But what about raising a family? No one’s ever tallied the number of larval fish in the waterway, until now.

Earlier this month, Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel said it would stop processing steel slabs at its Granite City Works plant in southern Illinois, just outside St. Louis, and “optimize” its operations by focusing on processing at its Mon Valley Works in Pennsylvania and Gary Works in Indiana.

The former journalist, who was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Joe Biden in 2024 for his contributions as an arts leader in Chicago, died at his home Sunday following a brief battle with cancer.

More than 430 movie, TV and stage stars as well as comedians, directors and writers added their names to an open letter Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union that argues it is “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”

If completed, the deal will transfer control of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a new joint venture based in the United States, with majority American investors and run by a majority American board of directors, the official said.

Across the city and surrounding suburbs, other teams were fanning out in support of “Operation Midway Blitz.” It has unleashed President Donald Trump’s mass deportations agenda on a city and state that has had some of the strongest laws preventing local officials from cooperating with immigration enforcement.

An escalating row over free speech after the suspension of late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. And tear gas is deployed against protesters outside an ICE facility in Broadview.

ICE launched its Chicago area operation dubbed “Midway Blitz” on Sept. 8, drawing concern from activists and immigrant communities who say there’s been a noticeable uptick in immigration enforcement agents.

Elias Rodriguez shouted “Free Palestine” during the shooting and then went inside the museum and said, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed,” according to court documents.

After twice failing to pass an energy reform package this year, lawmakers and renewable energy advocates are aiming to reach a deal in time for a brief legislative session in October.

In a series of votes, advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn’t specifically recommend vaccination but said people could make individual decisions.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has announced nearly $1 million in grants to support stewardship activities in natural areas across the state. Organizations in Cook, Lake and McHenry counties were among the recipients.

The law requires Illinois media companies to provide the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, local county government, the company’s employees and any Illinois nonprofit that might be interested in buying the business with 120 days’ notice before the sale happens.

On the face of it, playing chess and competing in the NBA couldn’t be farther apart. But it seems there is more that links the two sports than initially meets the eye — just ask NBA legend Derrick Rose.

“It could have been me in the exact same way,” Shunza Walker, 41, told WTTW News.

Attempts to end temporary protected status creates uncertainty for local Venezuelans. And for the first time in nearly 100 years, there’s an open swimming event in the Chicago River.

The Chicago River Swim is an open water swim event organized by Douglas McConnell, the co-founder of A Long River Swim, which organizes open water swimming events to raise awareness and funds in the fight against ALS.

Tens of thousands of Chicago-area Venezuelans are in legal limbo as the Trump administration attempts to end temporary protected status. These deportation protections were granted to Venezuelans in 2021 and 2023, and were originally set to expire in October 2026.

The Trump administration has singled out Chicago as its latest mark for immigration enforcement, using traffic stops in immigrant-heavy areas and targeting day laborers outside hardware stores.

The world premiere of filmmaker Kevin Shaw’s “One Golden Summer,” a documentary that revisits the trials and tribulations of the Jackie Robinson West Little League, opens up this year’s Chicago International Film Festival.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while returning from Great Britain on Thursday, Trump said federal regulators should consider revoking broadcast licenses for networks that “give me only bad publicity.”

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Thursday announced the lawsuit, which claims Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation have worked with scalpers to inflate ticket prices on the secondary market, costing fans millions of dollars every year.

Summer is nearly gone with the wind. Thankfully, all’s fair in fall with a harvest of arts and culture, so indulge yourself in the abundance that we have in this great city.

The Chicago Police Department spent approximately 7% less on overtime during the first six months of 2025 than it did during the same period in 2024, records show.

Officials call out immigration agents amid ramped-up enforcement. And how a proposal to close the city’s budget gap could impact your property taxes.

The U.S. Department of Education is cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to universities serving predominantly students of color — known as minority-serving institutions.