If a police officer cannot be trusted, then there’s really no reason for that cop to remain on the force. That’s the thrust of a new report from the city’s primary watchdog revealing serious credibility fissures at the Chicago Police Department. The

There are tough jobs and there are very tough jobs and then there is the job of being a Chicago cop. That’s what Peter Bella was for nearly 30 years, and that time shadows and informs the life and career he has now, which is a photographer whose firs

CULLOM, Ill. — Hack Street isn’t exactly Michigan Avenue. The main thoroughfare of downstate Cullom — a town of around 600 about halfway between Bourbonnais and Bloomington — showcases cement geese hand-molded by the mayor and a market often staffed

The only thing we can say for certain about ongoing budget talks between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is that neither man will walk away from the table completely satisfied. An agreement on the debt ceiling and future budgets

CHICAGO — In the first nine days that Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was on tour this month for his novel, “Chain-Gang All-Stars,” 23 mass shootings occurred in this country. More than 30 people were killed. Many more were injured. That’s according to the

The age of “screenagers” has been upon us for some time now. Parents of teens know it well. How many times, Mom and Dad, have you smoldered at the sight of your adolescent mesmerized by their smartphone at the dinner table, or at a restaurant, or dur

I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Bringing justice to abuse survivors is a main goal of the attorney general’s efforts, and I certainly agree with that. I hope to add to that conversation by introducin

When it came time to split up the first batch of $15 billion Congress set aside last year to replace toxic lead pipes, Illinois officials had plenty of reasons to expect they would get the biggest share. Utility groups have long estimated the state l

The pandemic is officially over. By federal declaration, the public health emergency expired on May 11, capping a general sense that has been in the air for months. Yet COVID-19′s devastating effects are going nowhere. I recently attended a wedding w

CHICAGO -- Every year, Chicagoans relish the onset of “Summertime Chi,” when the frigid winter gives way to summer heat and outdoor spaces come alive with concerts and neighborhood festivals. But the rising temperatures that make Chicago more vibrant

Almost a year after the mass shooting in Highland Park that left seven people dead and over 30 injured, Illinois lawmakers passed a bill that would allow law enforcement to operate a surveillance drone for security purposes during special events like

As protests over the murder of George Floyd roiled the city on May 31, 2020, Astarte Washington, then 15, and her brother were trying to get from their grandmother’s house to their Roseland home on foot because the unrest had shut down the bus route.

Kristi Hendriks knew before her husband, Liam, started chemotherapy that he would return to the pitching mound for the Chicago White Sox. “That was his saving grace,” Kristi said Monday. “He said: ‘I’m going to play again if it takes me four rounds,

CHICAGO — Chicago Sky center Elizabeth Williams delivered a block on Washington Mystics star Elena Delle Donne ith 4:27 left in the fourth quarter and the score tied 62-62, sending the crowd into a frenzy. The Sky, who had been down by as much as 16

CHICAGO — Sweets & Snacks Expo is back, but the return is bittersweet. “It’s our last dance in Chicago,” said expo spokesman Chris Gindlesperger. Popularly known as the candy show, the trade event at McCormick Place is not open to the public. The exp

Pour one out for the Roy siblings, who take their leave of the TV landscape as unhappy and misguided as they were when “Succession” premiered on HBO in 2018. The show became an obsession for many, inviting audiences into an inner sanctum of lavish se

CHICAGO — Marcus Stroman threw his arms in the air and soaked in the cheers from the 38,163 fans at Wrigley Field. First baseman Matt Mervis’ unassisted final out of the Chicago Cubs’ 1-0 win Monday snapped a four-game losing streak on the arm of Str

When 18-year-old Albert Vaughn Jr. was beaten to death with a baseball bat during a 2008 fight at a teen dance party in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, it sparked a tragic but familiar chain of events in a city long numbed by gang violence. At Vaug

The 11-year-old boy was an altar server at St. John Vianney in west suburban Northlake during the early 1960s, when a popular priest began inviting him out to dinner, drive-in movies and even sleepovers at the rectory. His parents were pleased. “Wher

CHICAGO — Chicago will receive less migrant aid than city leaders had hoped for in the new state budget deal, a continuation of Springfield’s recent practice of awarding Chicago far below its funding requests for housing a growing population of asylu

CHICAGO — Eddie George had no plans to coach football. The long hours turned off the former Tennessee Titans All-Pro running back. He loved having time to invest in his golf game. He was building his wealth management business and acting in movies, T

CHICAGO -- Below the towering skyscrapers lining Chicago’s Millennium Park, an unlikely group is holing up in a garden: A family of foxes. Several kits frolicked in Lurie Garden as their mother looked on Sunday night. They played on the walkway, groo

Ouch! Amtrak has been running the Capitol Limited with only four cars. That’s atrocious. When I took my family to Washington in 2001 the Capitol had a baggage car, two double-decked, 44-passenger Superliner sleeping cars, three 74-passenger Superline

The summer travel season that gets underway Memorial Day weekend promises to be one of the most challenging ever. As transportation patterns return to pre-pandemic levels, millions of Americans will face the familiar miles-long traffic jams and labyr

How much truth can a marriage withstand? That question provides the source of all the feelings in “You Hurt My Feelings,” the latest — a comedy of insecurity, buoyed by a Sunday kind of love, as the old song says — from writer-director Nicole Holofce

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears took another step toward a potential new stadium at the Arlington International Racecourse site when the village of Arlington Heights on Friday issued a permit for interior demolition of the grandstand, office and jockey b

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs offense has been as unpredictable as the spring temperatures the last few weeks, switching on and off with little notice. They continued the trend Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, getting no-hit until the eighth inning of

Walgreens is eliminating 504 corporate jobs, representing about 10% of the retail pharmacy giant’s corporate workforce, the company confirmed late Thursday. The affected jobs are mostly at Walgreens’ Deerfield, Illinois, and Chicago offices. The role

As a first-generation college student, Victoria Vences enrolled in the criminal justice program at Westwood College in 2007 believing it would help her land a job as a probation officer or with the immigration service. After three years of juggling a

The Illinois attorney general’s gut-wrenching 696-page report on Catholic clergy child sex abuse in Illinois is illustrated, incongruously but perhaps necessarily, with aspirational images of the Prairie State: cornfields at sunrise, the shimmering