(WTTW News)

Generations of discriminatory lending practices and policies have taken a major toll on Black communities. A 2020 study found that for every $1 of accumulated wealth that White families have, Black families have just one cent.

Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin calls for a reduction to a requested utility rate increase by Peoples Gas at a June 1, 2023, news conference. Rosazlia Grillier, a resident of West Englewood and advocate for low-income families, is also pictured. (Andrew Adams / Capitol News Illinois)
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‘Unprecedented’ number of rate cases pending before Illinois Commerce Commission

Millions of Illinoisans could see higher energy bills next year, but the size of those increases will be determined by a state agency that has recently had its oversight powers expanded.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) said the tipped minimum wage should be eliminated to protect workers from sexual harassment, wage theft and abuse. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)
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Mayor Brandon Johnson’s mayoral campaign platform called for an end to the tipped minimum wage, noting that those who rely on tips to earn a living wage are more likely to be Black and Latina women.

FILE - An Amazon Prime delivery vehicle is seen in downtown Pittsburgh on March 18, 2020. (AP Photo / Gene J. Puskar, File)
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The agency accused Amazon of using deceptive designs, known as “dark patterns,” to deceive consumers into enrolling in Prime. The complaint said the option to purchase items on Amazon without subscribing to Prime was more difficult in many cases.

(WTTW News)
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The world’s oceans and marine life are under threat. Two Chicago-area women have made it their mission to tackle the issue, with a new business venture billed as the “future of seafood.” They’ll soon supply restaurants and grocers with a new spin on the plant-based trend: faux fish.

A Chicago landmark since 2001, the Medinah Temple was most recently home to a Bloomingdale’s furniture store and is now set to become a temporary casino. (WTTW News)
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It is not clear exactly when Bally’s will be able to open a temporary casino in the century-old Shriner’s temple at 600 N. Wabash Ave., with its distinctive domed ceilings and stained-glass windows. A Chicago landmark since 2001, the temple was most recently home to a Bloomingdale’s furniture store.

(Courtesy of NASCAR)
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City leaders and NASCAR officials said they were confident the race would avoid all of the possible potholes and showcase Chicago in all of its summertime glory for a national audience.

Hundreds of acres of land in Sugar Grove are targeted for redevelopment. (WTTW News)

Hundreds of acres of vacant land in Sugar Grove has a developer looking to build housing, civic space, retail – and distribution warehouses. Some residents are uneasy the project would change the village’s small town feel. 

A news conference by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is displayed on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 3, 2023. (AP Photo / Seth Wenig, File)

The Fed’s move to leave its benchmark rate at about 5.1%, its highest level in 16 years, suggests that it believes the much higher borrowing rates it’s engineered have made some progress in taming inflation. 

(Courtesy of NASCAR)
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City officials shared the latest plans for road closures, detours and alternate routes in advance of the upcoming NASCAR Street Race, and it’s going to be a bumpy ride for commuters.

Travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on the Thursday before 2023’s Memorial Day weekend. (Elijah Nouvelage / Bloomberg / Getty Images via CNN)

There are also mounting requests to more aggressively and comprehensively address the air travel system’s bottlenecks, including obsolete technology and staffing issues.

(Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Last week, the location reopened with a dramatically pared back look. Why? Walgreens says it’s a digital-first experimental store to benefit customers. It’s not designed to deter theft, Walgreens says.

A rendering of an aerial view of the Chicago Bears property in Arlington Heights. (Courtesy of Hart Howerton / Chicago Bears)
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Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren met Wednesday, a clear sign that relations between the city and the Monsters of the Midway have thawed, which may set the stage for talks to keep the team in Chicago, if not at Soldier Field.

(WTTW News)

DaJuan Martin, 36, was charged in Chicago’s federal court Monday with 12 counts of wire fraud stemming from the alleged fraud scheme. A second man, 46-year-old Ned Brooks, was also charged with four counts of wire fraud after he allegedly purchased several of these fraudulent vouchers.

A rendering of an aerial view of the Chicago Bears property in Arlington Heights. (Courtesy of Hart Howerton / Chicago Bears)
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Building a stadium on the former Arlington Heights racetrack “is no longer our singular focus,” said Scott Hagel, the Bears senior vice president of marketing and communications.

Women work in a restaurant kitchen in Chicago, Thursday, March 23, 2023. On Friday, the U.S. government issues the May jobs report. The labor market has added jobs at a steady clip in the past year, despite efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and bring down inflation. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

The nation’s employers stepped up their hiring in May, adding a robust 339,000 jobs, well above expectations and evidence of enduring strength in an economy that the Federal Reserve is desperately trying to cool.