What if our cities could be more like forests? That’s the question at the heart of a new building prototype developed by architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Illinois Congress members on Chicago violence. How more midwives across the state can reduce health care inequities. A suburban fight over a Carvana vending machine. And a Santa shortage. 

In October, the Chicago City Council approved a $31.5 million plan to send checks to the city’s families most in need, promising immediate assistance. But no assistance has gone out yet.

Neighbors in Illinois and other states clean up from deadly tornadoes. How contact tracers are doing their jobs nearly two years into the pandemic. Addressing violence in Chicago. And a COVID-19 outbreak for the Bulls.

Sterling Bay is set to unveil its plans for the North Side megaproject. Danny Ecker has the details on that story and more.

In 2014, Chicago saw homicides hit a historic low at 426. The city has exceeded that number every year since and is on pace to again this calendar year by more than 80%, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch.

As searches continued for those still missing, efforts also turned to repairing the power grid, sheltering those whose homes were destroyed and delivering drinking water and other supplies.

Earlier in the pandemic, the program began by focusing on contact tracing. But it has since expanded to meet other needs – like scheduling vaccine appointments and working the city’s COVID-19 hotline. 

The NBA postponed the Chicago Bulls’ next two games on Monday, with 10 of the team’s players in the league’s health and safety protocols.

A rare Chicago showing of provocative paintings by an overlooked African American artist at the Chicago Cultural Center.

WFMT, our sister station, is celebrating 70 years on air. Chicago's classical music and fine arts radio station first hit the airwaves in December 1951. On Monday, the station will be live from Northeastern Illinois University’s Jewel Box Recital Hall for a day full of live performances.

The NFL’s most storied rivalry hasn’t been much of a rivalry in recent years. But the Bears will take another crack at team shareholder Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in prime time at Lambeau Field with rookie quarterback Justin Fields coming back from a rib’s injury.

The Obama Presidential Center announced Thursday that a number of its spaces will be named for historic human and civil rights figures. But as that center marches closer toward its opening date, one neighboring community has concerns about the center’s impact on longtime residents.