WTTW News Explains on the common myths around tornadoes and how the weather events can hit Chicago.

The Chicago Harbor Lock was built in the 1930s as part of the project that famously reversed the flow of the Chicago River. WTTW News explains.

The consent decree is a binding court order granting a federal judge oversight of the police department. WTTW News Explains how that works in practice.

Attention Chicagoans, brace yourselves because Chicago is sinking. Northwestern University researchers were the first to study underground climate change and its effects on urban infrastructure. They call it a “silent hazard.”

We’ve got a lot of rules on the books governing when and where we can enjoy an adult beverage. WTTW News explains.

Chicago’s lakefront is famously open and free. So why is a prime section of Montrose Beach roped off every summer? Because it’s for the birds. Literally. The piping plovers. WTTW News explains.

Along the Chicago lakefront is a strip of land that was once home to a small airport called Meigs Field. That was until one March 2003 morning when the city awoke to find Mayor Richard M. Daley had the airport bulldozed in the middle of the night. WTTW News explains.

Tax-increment financing wasn’t invented in Chicago, but former Mayor Richard M. Daley perfected it as he worked to transform Mud City into a gleaming metropolis.

Chicago is home to a plateful of iconic foods. But more than anything else, Chicago is known for its hot dogs and its pizza. WTTW News explains.

For four decades, Chicago has held the designation of a sanctuary city — but what does it mean, and how has Chicago’s status endured? WTTW News explains.

Whenever there’s talk about how to curb gun violence, two words often come up: assault weapons. Illinois is one of 10 states — plus Washington, D.C. — with a so-called assault weapons ban on the books. WTTW News Explains what that ban does. 

To this day, Chicagoans live in a fairly segregated city. And that segregation didn’t happen by coincidence but by design. WTTW News Explains how redlining worked in Chicago.

Every four years, residents of Chicago’s 50 wards pick their representative on the City Council. They are officially known as alderpeople. But what exactly do they do?

Chicago has a reputation as the City of Big Shoulders. For rough-and-tumble politics. And for having a lot of crime, despite strict gun laws. But what are those laws? WTTW News explains.

In case you haven’t heard, the cicadas are coming, and things are about to get loud. WTTW News explains.

Chicago is set to host the Democratic National Convention this summer. It will be the city’s 27th time hosting a national political convention. Chicago conventions have been some of the most memorable, raucous and consequential in American history.