Speed cameras and ethics reform at City Council. Gun control on Capitol Hill. Our Spotlight Politics on that and more. Backlash over music fests in neighborhood parks. And a stunning fossil discovery.

Rep. Elaine Luria, a Democrat first elected in 2018, is facing a difficult reelection in a Virginia swing district that was redrawn to be more Republican. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who’s a pariah to some in his party because of his condemnation of former President Donald Trump, decided not to seek another term in his Illinois district.

A contingent of Lake County elected officials was in Washington Wednesday as the horrific events of the July 4 parade mass shooting took center stage at a U.S. Senate hearing. The Highland Park tragedy has re-energized calls for a ban on guns like the kind the shooter used, but critics say that’s the wrong focus.

This summer hundreds of thousands of music lovers will descend on the city for its annual music festivals. And that impact on public land is a point of contention for some neighbors who live near the parks.

A team lead by a University of Chicago paleontologist says a fossil that was found years ago — and for years largely ignored — could shed more light on that pivotal time in the evolution of life.

The vote capped months of parliamentary shenanigans and came after a concerted effort by advocates for pedestrians and bicyclists to convince undecided members of the City Council the tickets were an effective way to reduce headline-grabbing and heartbreaking crashes.

Members of Congress ahead of the final Jan. 6 hearing. Mental health, as a fourth Chicago police officer dies by suicide. And the city’s new plan for transformation and the impact of segregation.

Many of the barriers erected by elected officials and civic leaders beginning in the 1930s to keep Black Chicagoans, Latino Chicagoans and White Chicagoans from living, working and playing in the same neighborhoods remain unchanged nearly a century later, according to a new study.

Chicago is releasing its first citywide plan in more than 50 years. The draft plan, called We Will Chicago, will lay out a 10-year vision for how the city can address systemic inequities by first acknowledging the policies that created them, then creating goals for the city’s future.

After three Chicago Police Department employees died by suicide in recent weeks, Police Superintendent David Brown is defending his decision to cancel days off during the historically violent summer months.

Tuesday’s election-year roll call, 267-157, was partly political strategy, forcing all House members, Republicans and Democrats, to go on the record with their views. It also reflected the legislative branch pushing back against an aggressive court.

Doctors in Wisconsin are teaming up with Illinois abortion care providers. Previewing this week’s final Jan. 6 hearing. A labor dispute brewing for Starbucks employees. And checking in on the city’s tourism industry.

Summer travel is heating up. A survey commissioned by the American Hotel & Lodging Association shows that nearly 70% of Americans are planning to travel this summer. But what about tourism here in Chicago?