The decline that the Commerce Department reported Thursday in the gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the economy — followed a 1.6% annual drop from January through March. Consecutive quarters of falling GDP constitute one informal, though not definitive, indicator of a recession.

Riders returning to public transit have seen a noticeable slowdown in service and a breakdown in reliability. In the last three weeks, there have been at least two major stabbing incidents and a host of attempted robberies on city trains.

The move backs a push from progressive members of the City Council to enshrine those protections into law. Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s announcement came one day after several progressive members of the City Council urged their colleagues to protect those crossing state lines to get reproductive and gender-affirming health care in Chicago.

Lollapalooza kicked off Thursday as hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend upon Grant Park for the annual four-day music festival.

The deal to make the Thompson Center Google’s new home. A rift in the Illinois Democratic party threatens the pitch to host the DNC. Will the Russians pull out of the International Space Station?  

Debate over who should chair the Democratic Party of Illinois continues as Gov. J.B. Pritzker recruits state Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez (D-Cicero) to run against current chair U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly.

An art show near Ukrainian Village is a cry of protest against the ongoing war in Ukraine. Artists from Chicago and Ukraine are raising their voices in opposition to the Russian invasion. 

NASA said in February it intends to keep operating the International Space Station until the end of 2030, after which the ISS would be deorbited and crashed into a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. Commercially operated space platforms would replace the ISS as a venue for collaboration and scientific research, NASA said.

Google’s announcement that it would take the Helmut Jahn-designed structure off the state of Illinois’ hands caps a years-long effort to figure out what to do with 1.2-million-square-foot building at Randolph and LaSalle streets with its distinctive red-and-blue accented steel frame.

Complaints from animal rights advocates regarding the coyote, dubbed “Rocky,” prompted the forest preserve to review its ambassador animal program. A report was released Tuesday, outlining changes to the program, including a bigger enclosure for the coyote.

A big anniversary is coming up for Walt Whitman and the Soul Children of Chicago.

Why many alderpeople are calling it quits. Inside the proposal for a domed Soldier Field. Indiana lawmakers take up abortion. And previewing a big concert from the Soul Children of Chicago.

A growing list of alderpeople have announced they will not be running for re-election in 2023, or have already resigned from the City Council. We hear from four of them.