Stories by Abena Bediako

In a speech last week, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed kids with autism will “never pay taxes, hold a job,” play sports or participate in the arts.

“We’re certainly going to mourn the loss of a truly wonderful leader, someone who was a great example, who lived their faith in word and action,” Auxiliary Bishop Lawrence Sullivan said. “But it’s also a time to really be grateful for his phenomenal leadership.”

The visitor center reopened Monday after closing for repairs in November 2023 following damage from a fire.

Harvard University announced Monday that it has filed suit to halt a federal freeze on more than $2.2 billion in grants after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to limit activism on campus activism on campus.

The FTC said Uber also made it extremely difficult for subscribers to cancel Uber One. The agency said Uber requires customers to take at least 12 different actions on at least seven screens to cancel the service.

The S&P 500 sank 2.4% in another wipeout. That yanked the index that’s at the center of many 401(k) accounts 16% below its record set two months ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 971 points, or 2.5%, while losses for Tesla and Nvidia helped drag the Nasdaq composite down 2.6%.

Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death among children and teens in the U.S. Emergency medical service encounters for firearm injury spiked in 2021 and remain higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first meteor shower of the year is here, with the Lyrids peaking late tonight into the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday.

The settlement comes after a complaint filed in Chicago’s federal court alleged Walgreens pharmacists filled illegal prescriptions for excessive quantities of opioids and prescriptions for a particularly dangerous combination of drugs.

Anyone trying to handicap the outcome should remember that Jorge Mario Bergoglio was considered too old to be elected pope in 2013 at age 76, and that Karol Wojtyla wasn’t on any front-runner lists going into the 1978 conclave that elected him Pope John Paul II.

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday sounded the alarm about the financial crisis facing the city, warning that Chicago “will have to do more with less” as President Donald Trump threatens to upend its finances and officials confront the results of decades of financial mismanagement.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, has released a statement on the death of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88.

The Chicago Park District said the best viewing will likely run through April 27.

Imani hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021. He has faithfully returned every year since, and last year he finally made a love connection.

Former President Joe Biden returns to the national stage — calling out the Trump administration’s actions on Social Security. And alderpeople are blocking Jan. 6 rioters from working with the city.

Indiana’s Legislature this week gave final approval to a bill that would create the Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission to recommend whether to change the border between the two states. The move comes as residents of some Illinois counties are seeking to separate from the Chicago area.

The citywide career fair is making its return following successful fairs in the spring and fall of last year, according to a news release.

Departed staffers include people who booked complex international trips to remote Indian pharmaceutical plants, lab scientists who tested food samples for contamination, and communication specialists who alerted the public to urgent safety recalls.

States with active outbreaks include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania and New Mexico. The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.

Skunk cabbage is the first native wildflower to emerge in Chicago’s woodlands in spring. Other ephemerals will follow, blooming briefly on the forest floor before disappearing for another year.

The event, “Spend in the Black: Resurrecting the Black Dollar” will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 75th Street and King Drive. The purpose of the event is to redirect collective economic power into local communities, according to event organizers.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she is “deeply concerned” that Trump administration officials aren’t complying with her earlier order that maintains the bureau’s existence.

The new leader of the Chicago Park District on his vision for the future. And exploring Chicago’s Latino history in an upcoming exhibit.

After 10 years as the 35th Ward alderperson, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa is moving to a different office: superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District.

Glamorous Quinceañera dresses and an Indigenous ceremonial mask are among the items that will be on display in “Aquí en Chicago,” an upcoming Chicago History Museum exhibit celebrating the long history of Latinos in the city.