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Crescent moons, stars and lanterns illuminated the light poles in an area known as Little Palestine on the first night of Ramadan. The area is home to one of the largest Muslim and Palestinian populations in the U.S. chicago.suntimes.com/religion/202...

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Prosecutors are set to deliver opening statements in the Highland Park Fourth of July parade mass shooting trial Monday as they lay out the case that Robert Crimo III committed one of the worst mass shootings in Illinois history. www.wbez.org/criminal-jus...

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Ten singers who were part of the Wendell Phillips High School alumni a capella choir in the 1960s and 1970s under director Andrew Duncan returned to the Bronzeville high school for the first time since graduating, celebrated as “living legends.” www.wbez.org/music/2025/0...

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The James Beard Foundation announced that Lem’s — specializing in ribs, hot links, fried shrimp and fried chicken — has been awarded a 2025 America’s Classics Award, one of only six given out annually across the United States. chicago.suntimes.com/food-and-res...

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While some bakeries are eating the cost of higher ingredients, others have had to increase prices by as much as 30% for the jelly or custard-filled doughnuts eaten to mark the start of Lent, which falls on Wednesday, with Pączki Day taking place Tuesday. chicago.suntimes.com/money/2025/0...

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Few have done more to amplify the voices of the city’s Asian American community than Tuyet Le. A number of young activists she worked with said they’d never seen anyone like Ms. Le. www.wbez.org/obituary/202...

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Joseph Czuba was found guilty of attacking his tenant and killing her 6-year-old son, Wadee Al Fayoumi, in October 2023 after becoming radicalized by coverage of the war in Gaza. www.wbez.org/criminal-jus...

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Former Mayors Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot are among those advising Mayor Johnson on how to handle questioning from some of Congress’s most outspoken, far-right reps at the hearing that many view as political theater in a crusade against Democratic policies. www.wbez.org/politics/202...

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Letonia Robinson has spent two years searching for an affordable home. She’s not alone — rents in Chicago are climbing faster than incomes, squeezing thousands of families. www.wbez.org/housing/2025...

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Joseph Czuba is accused of stabbing his tenant Hanan Shaheen and killing her 6-year-old son Wadee Al Fayoumi. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are expected to make their closing arguments on Friday. www.wbez.org/criminal-jus...

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Listen: The Illinois organizer of a nationwide “Economic Blackout” on Feb. 28 is encouraging consumers to stop purchases from major corporations for a day. WBEZ's Reset learns more. www.wbez.org/reset-with-s...

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Ramirez-Rosa is Mayor Brandon Johnson’s choice to replace Rosa Escareno as superintendent of the Chicago Park District. www.wbez.org/city-hall/20...

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The People’s Union USA, a grassroots group, is calling on Americans to join a national boycott by not shopping for 24 hours on Friday. Here is what to know about the boycott and the organization coordinating it. www.wbez.org/politics/202...

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The federal EV tax credit, worth up to $7,500, saw big changes in 2024. For buyers, the credit typically became easier to get. But if their dealers skipped a step, it was a different story. www.wbez.org/money/2025/0...

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“Each year, there’s some difficulty that requires us to work hard to overcome it,” Pritzker said. “This year, the surfacing difficulty is Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s plan to steal Illinois’ tax dollars and deny our citizens the protection and services they need.” www.wbez.org/springfield/...

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Chicago’s Board of Education reaffirmed its decision to permanently save five Acero charters but voted to close two at the end of this school year. The move went against Chicago Public Schools officials’ recommendations and received mixed reactions. www.wbez.org/education/20...

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Court records show that, in addition to Naval Station Great Lakes, Xuanyu Harry Pang also discussed an attack on the Cloud Gate sculpture commonly known as “The Bean,” as well as a busy Michigan Avenue bridge. www.wbez.org/criminal-jus...

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As production season kicks off, the city’s top film post has been vacant. DCASE did not make any officials available for an interview and the mayor’s press office had not replied to WBEZ’s questions about the Film Office vacancy nor how film fits into his overall agenda. www.wbez.org/movies-tv/20...

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Listen: From the creation of fabrics to the washing of synthetic fibers to the quick disposal of yet another piece of en vogue clothing, fast fashion harms the environment in multiple ways. Reset discusses local alternatives to fast fashion. www.wbez.org/reset-with-s...

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Listen: The Music Box Theatre has curated a selection that will hit the home run for baseball fans and film buffs alike in their series “Play Ball!” Reset sits down with the series programmer and a sports contributor to break down what makes this pairing so riveting. www.wbez.org/reset-with-s...

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Listen: The Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition is open at the Museum of Science and Industry through April 27. The show features more than 150 works from artists across the country, but one is a teen competition featuring art from Chicago-area students. www.wbez.org/arts/2025/02...

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Amanda Luciano racked up more than $138,000 in debt and has paid off about $52,000. The lawsuit says Navient should have erased her loans because she attended a “predatory for-profit” school. Instead, the company refused and wouldn’t explain why. www.wbez.org/education/20...

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Two months after parents and educators celebrated a Board of Education vote that spared seven Acero charter schools from closure for a year and promised to absorb five of them in 2026, Chicago Public Schools officials are now set to backtrack from that plan. www.wbez.org/education/20...

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Gov. JB Pritzker and the state’s Democratic congressional delegation are pressing the White House to release an estimated $1.88 billion in federal funds that are being withheld despite courts rescinding a freeze that has wreaked havoc across the country. www.wbez.org/politics/202...

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One of the men who was initially charged in the 2011 slaying of Chicago Police Officer Clifton Lewis has filed a federal lawsuit alleging fellow officers “perpetuated a wide-ranging scheme” to manufacture evidence to secure convictions in the case. www.wbez.org/criminal-jus...

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“Some of my initial civil disobedience training was in the drama club at Libertyville High School,” Morello told WBEZ this week. Find the full conversation here www.wbez.org/music/2025/0...

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Chicago’s inaugural Social Change Theater Festival is one of a few showcases of emerging writers who are taking playwriting in a community-centered direction. www.wbez.org/theater-stag...

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Acero Schools officials say the adult was picked up with two children in their car. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials did not immediately confirm the action. www.wbez.org/immigration/...

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Listen: This is Letonia Robinson’s story. She’s a single mom who has tried for two years to find an apartment in Chicago she can afford. www.wbez.org/housing/2025...

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The near-collision at Midway Airport on Tuesday wasn’t the only close call in the Chicago region in recent years. Two airplanes in the skies near O’Hare Airport came dangerously close to each other in 2019 in an incident caught by a passerby on camera. www.wbez.org/transportati...

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Mayor Johnson struggled to pass his $830 million general obligation bond issue featuring a back-loaded repayment schedule that raises the overall price tag to $2 billion. His 26 to 23 victory was secured only after he was forced to cast the third tie-breaking vote. www.wbez.org/city-hall/20...

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Pigeons have gotten trapped and died at the Clinton station for years. A commuter who has rescued some of the birds launched a petition demanding a permanent solution from the CTA. www.wbez.org/transportati...

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The Bronzeville Walgreens, which shuts today, joins five total closing in Chicago, all on the South and West sides of the city. The stores are part of the company’s plan to close 1,200 stores over three years. www.wbez.org/business/202...

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Data: WBEZ collected data on median rent in every Chicago community area to trace how rents have changed in the city over the past century. Read more on what we found and how the city has steadily become less affordable. www.wbez.org/interactive/...

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Listen: The National Endowment for the Arts changed its guidelines for grantees after the president’s executive orders. Reset speaks with one of the signatories about the demands and learns how local artists are responding to these changes. www.wbez.org/reset-with-s...

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Listen: When Vivian Harsh became a Chicago librarian, she began, “the special negro collection,” an archive housing Black history and literature. Harsh knew writers like Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston personally. More on Reset. www.wbez.org/reset-with-s...

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Goodman Theatre announced its centennial season, calling the 2025-26 lineup “epic” and “unprecedented,” set to present in all 50 of the city’s wards with “100 Free Acts of Theater” being produced in collaboration with Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. www.wbez.org/theater-stag...

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Trustee Jason House handily won the primary race for mayor of south suburban Dolton Tuesday, defeating former ally and embattled incumbent Tiffany Henyard and bringing her sole, troubled term to a close in a stunning landslide. www.wbez.org/government-p...

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In the 1920s and ’30s, Chicago was home for the burgeoning Black aviation community, a place of opportunity central to Black exploration and innovation. www.wbez.org/curious-city...

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“We have an opportunity right now as a city to show what supporting artists and arts organizations can look like in our nation,” said Brooke Flanagan, Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s executive director, at a Tuesday meeting of the city’s Cultural Advisory Council. www.wbez.org/arts-culture...

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A new poll showing Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s public approval rating in the single digits and editorials clamoring for more substantive changes have only deepened the distrust between the mayor and City Council that culminated in a marathon budget showdown.

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The rift between Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the inspector general he inherited got wider Tuesday over efforts to remove what chief watchdog Deborah Witzburg views as roadblocks impeding her internal investigations.

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Hanan Shaheen was the first witness called to testify in the trial of Joseph Czuba, the Plainfield landlord charged with attacking her and killing her 6-year-old son, Wadee Al Fayoumi.

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A Southwest Airlines jet nearly crashed with a business jet that was not authorized to be on the runway Tuesday morning at Chicago's Midway Airport, according to the FAA.

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Cardinal Blase Cupich spoke out against “powerful voices trying to rewrite history” during an interfaith prayer service in Chicago Monday to mark three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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The coming season at Chicago's Goodman Theatre will feature 11 productions in all — six of them world premieres.

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The Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition is open at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry through April 27. The show features more than 150 works from artists across the country, but one is a teen competition featuring art from Chicago-area students.

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An upside-down flag signals distress. The Rev. Michael Pfleger, St. Sabina’s senior pastor, said the flag outside the Chicago church will stay inverted “as long as this country is under siege.”

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The gunman in a deadly shooting at Chicago's 2021 Puerto Rican Day parade in Humboldt Park was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday, the harshest punishment the judge could impose.

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