Since we first met Tonika Lewis Johnson in 2020, she has expanded the Folded Map project — adding workshops, a play and a movie.

Efforts backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to reduce residential segregation in Chicago have begun to show signs of progress, officials with the Chicago Department of Housing say. The centerpiece of that effort is a revamped ordinance that requires developers who get special permission from the city or a subsidy to build more units earmarked for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans and pay higher fees. 

Illinois state legislators are considering a proposal that would help facilitate carpet recycling, but the effort has what one might call wall-to-wall complications.

Northeastern Illinois University has provided 17 Afghan refugees with one-year scholarships to study at the school. 

In recent years, a patchwork of government and nonprofit programs have ramped up, offering help with lead testing and mitigation. But the need still far outstrips the available assistance, especially for high-priority places like child care facilities.

A trio of City Council members blasted Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to fight crime by going after the profits earned by Chicago’s gangs in an interview Monday on “Chicago Tonight.” 

A vaguely worded decree signed by Putin did not say if troops were on the move, and it cast the order as an effort to “maintain peace.” But it appeared to dash the slim remaining hopes of averting a major conflict in Europe that could cause massive casualties, energy shortages on the continent and economic chaos around the globe.

While Chicago has been without a permanent inspector general, former 11th Ward Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson became the 37th alderperson to be convicted of a crime since 1969. Alds. Ed Burke (14th Ward) and Carrie Austin (34th Ward) are awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to bribery and corruption charges.

Residents respond to a new report about the General Iron operation on the South Side. City Hall weighs the mayor's plan to go after gang money. Accelerating inflation. And theater critic Hedy Weiss.

As a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine looms, residents in the neighborhood are feeling the impact acutely. Many have family still living in Ukraine and feel limited in what they are able to do to help them.

Theater critic Hedy Weiss joins “Chicago Tonight” to share her thoughts on five shows currently playing on Chicago-area stages. 

Patrick Jake O’Rourke was a Toledo, Ohio native who evolved from long-haired student activist to wavy-haired scourge of his old liberal ideals, with some of his more widely read takedowns appearing in a founding counterculture publication, Rolling Stone.

Musician, friend to Mozart, music teacher to Marie Antoinette, and skilled fencer. These are just a few of the accolades that describe the man known to be the first Black composer of the 18th century.