Proposed changes to the SAFE-T Act gather momentum. The future of the financial district. New guidance for detecting anxiety in kids. With winter comes road salt — and some ecological problems.

As firms and other businesses have started locating their offices in other parts of town, and with the massive shift in work patterns driven by COVID-19, the eight-block stretch has become home to more vacancies than any other part of downtown. Now, the city has an ambitious plan to spur development.

In another move signaling the nation’s ongoing mental health crisis, a national panel of health care professionals is recommending all kids get screened for anxiety, starting as young as 8 years old.

What do the Greek Independence Day Parade, the Bud Billiken Parade and the Mexican Civic Society Parade all have in common, aside from being parades of course? Well, they were all photographed by Greek photographer Diane Alexander White.

Changes are coming to the SAFE-T Act, the new law that, amon

Federal student loan forgiveness applications are open. Our Spotlight politics team breaks down last night’s gubernatorial debate. Comedian and actor Jeff Garlin joins us. And the author of the book “Black Skinhead.”

Human rights groups say more than 100 people have been killed in Iran since the death of a 22-year-old woman who was in the custody of police. Iranian Americans in Chicago have a message they want everyone to hear: “Stand with Iranian women.”

Black Americans have historically been the most reliable voting block for the Democratic Party for decades. But in her book, “Black Skinhead: Reflections on Blackness and Our Political Future,” Chicago native and Harvard research director Brandi Collins-Dexter says the picture is much more nuanced.

Thanks to a “little-known loophole,” hedge funds, private equity firms and real estate investors have “siphoned” approximately $280 million from schools, parks, libraries, fire departments and other government agencies between September 2015 and September 2022 in Cook County. 

Comedian and actor Jeff Garlin is back home in Chicago. He’ll be appearing at the Chicago Humanities Festival this weekend for an event titled “Jeff Garlin: Our Man in Chicago.”

The final debate in the race for governor turns out to be short on substance but high on name-calling. Our politics team weighs in on that story and more.

Borrowers who apply before mid-November should see forgiveness before Jan. 1, when payments on loans are scheduled to restart after a pause during the pandemic.

Chicago’s top doc on upping the vaccine booster rate. Why Mayor Lori Lightfoot is sitting on federal COVID relief money. A look at why Cook County Forest Preserves is asking voters for a small tax hike. And Hedy Weiss reviews new productions.