What the future holds for Urban Prep Academies. Chance the Rapper talks mental health. And paddling through history along the African American Heritage Water Trail.

Helping veterans address mental health challenges. The professor who literally wrote the book on the country’s trillion-dollar fraud industry. And bringing basketball back to city parks.

In “Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, and Secrets from the Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry,” DePaul University forensic accounting professor Kelly Richmond Pope explores the many forms fraud can take and the sometimes surprising stories of the people who perpetrate it.

My Block My Hood My City founder Jahmal Cole says bringing back basketball to our parks will lead to a safer city. Cole is leading the Save Street Ball campaign to replace and restore rims and nets across city parks.

The kitchen at Chesa’s Bistro & Bar is entirely gluten-free, meaning customers with severe allergies can dine without worrying about cross-contamination.

The Department of Veterans Affairs found Black veterans may be more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than their White counterparts. However, an internal VA report shows Black veterans were more often denied benefits for PTSD.

Employment efforts for Black youth. The cost of wrongful convictions. Fighting for water justice. And an art exhibit showcasing gay Black men in Chicago during the 1980s. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson has instructed the city’s budget office to find ways to fund youth unemployment and enrichment programs — and according to a new study by UIC’s Great Cities Institute, those jobs are critically needed.

A 2022 Guardian analysis found that majority Black and Latino neighborhoods had the highest concentration of lead in their tap water. As of a few months ago, the city of Chicago had replaced fewer than 300 lead service lines out of about 390,000.

Every Tuesday afternoon at the Thurgood Marshall Branch of the Chicago Public Library, retiree Jerry Bowen signs “hello” to the sign language class he’s taught remotely for three years.

Kameron Huckleby is on the road home after incarceration, and he’s on the road to helping others do the same as a re-entry navigator in training with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership.

What young Chicagoans hope to see from their new mayor. Resources for people returning from incarceration. And learning sign language at a local library.

For young people in the city, the start of a new administration at City Hall is both a chance for progress and a moment to call attention to the issues most important to them. 

A study by the Kapor Center and the NAACP finds that between 2014 and 2021, there was only a 1% increase in Black representation within technical roles at large tech companies.

“Underground Railroad Game” touches on heavy themes like race, power, sex and the American psyche, but its creators say it’ll also make you laugh. The play runs at the at the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts from May 18-20.

Chicago’s new process for picking a police superintendent is underway. Providing hope to new moms. And how an artist with thousands of red tulips is addressing systemic racism.