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A coyote. (skeeze / Pixabay)

Captive Coyote at Center of ‘Ambassador’ Animal Controversy Will Remain at Cook County Forest Preserve But Get Bigger Digs

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.

Tchami (Photo by Roger Ho for Lollapalooza 2021)

10 Things to Do This Weekend: July 28-31

A massive music festival, cultural celebrations, vintage goods and a book fair usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in Chicago.

(WTTW News)

Ousted CPS Board Member Calls for Probe of New Near South High School Plan

Former board member DwayneTruss called for the inspector general of the Chicago Public Schools to probe the deal that would allow the high school to be built at 24th and State streets, once home to the demolished CHA Harold L. Ickes homes. 

The Eugene Williams memorial marker at 31st Street beach. (WTTW News)

Lookingglass Theatre Company to Host Free Performance Marking 1919 Race Riots

This Wednesday, the Lookingglass Theatre Company will honor Eugene Williams at 31st Street Beach with an artistic ritual. On July 27, 1919, 17-year old Eugene Williams was stoned to death after unintentionally swimming over to the “Whites only” section of Lake Michigan. 

FBI investigators examine the scene in downtown Highland Park on July 5, 2022, a day after a mass shooting occurred at the Fourth of July parade. (WTTW News)

21-Year-Old Man Charged in Highland Park Parade Shooting Indicted on 117 Counts

The man charged with killing seven people at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade has been charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder, three counts for each of the seven people killed in the shooting.

This electron microscope image shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, from a human skin sample associated with a 2003 prairie dog outbreak. (Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regnery / CDC)

As Chicago Surpasses 300 Monkeypox Cases, Officials Urge Testing

In Chicago, 326 people have tested positive for monkeypox, according to city officials who are urging residents to educate themselves about the virus and to get tested if they have symptoms. 

Chicago police Officer Ella French and two male officers pulled over an SUV on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021 near the intersection of 63rd Street and Bell Avenue, shown here on Monday, Aug. 9. (WTTW News)

Indiana Man Pleads Guilty to Buying Gun Used to Kill Chicago Police Officer Ella French

“While this will never heal the painful wounds of losing Ella, this is a small step toward justice for her family and all those who love her,” Chicago Police Supt. David Brown tweeted Wednesday.

(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership Awarded $24M to Lead Community Health Response Team

City officials announced Wednesday that they have awarded $24 million to the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership to serve as the lead organization for a new initiative to promote overall health and wellness.

File photo. (WTTW News)

Joliet Amazon Workers Allege Racist Death Threats, Hostile Work Environment in Federal Complaint

Current and former employees at an Amazon warehouse in Joliet say the mega-retailer has allowed a racially hostile work environment, including death threats against Black employees and workers who are allowed to wear Confederate flag clothing, according to a complaint filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

AR-15-style rifles are on display at Burbank Ammo & Guns in Burbank, Calif., June 23, 2022. (AP Photo / Jae C. Hong, File)

AR-15 Style Guns Have Brought in Over $1 Billion in 10 Years

The profits have come as the weapons have been used in mass shootings that have horrified the nation, including one that left 10 people dead at a grocery store in Buffalo and another where 19 children were shot to death in Uvalde, Texas.

R. Kelly’s manager Donnell Russell leaves federal court, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer, File)

Self-Described R. Kelly Manager Pleads Guilty to Stalking

Donnell Russell, 47, of Chicago, entered the plea in Brooklyn federal court. U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said Russell used threats, harassment and intimidation to silence one of R. Kelly’s sexual abuse victims.

President Joe Biden speaks to reporters after meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Waldorf Astoria Jeddah Qasr Al Sharq hotel, Friday, July 15, 2022, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci, File)

President Joe Biden Tests Negative for COVID-19, Ends ‘Strict Isolation’

“Back to the Oval,” President Joe Biden tweeted after the White House released the latest daily update from his doctor confirming that he was clear to end the isolation period that is required after someone tests positive for the coronavirus. Biden, 79, tested positive last week.

(WTTW News)

Walt Whitman and the Soul Children of Chicago Celebrate 40th Anniversary

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

(WTTW News)

July 26, 2022 - Full Show

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.

Chicago City Hall. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

As Election Season Looms in Chicago, List of Alderpeople Not Running for Re-election Grows

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. 

Democratic National Committee Chair Jamie Harrison said the city picked to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention will offer a “turn-key” operation. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

Chicago Makes Its Pitch to Host 2024 Democratic National Convention, Shadowed by Party Chair Fight

Chicago is battling New York City, Atlanta and Houston for the right to celebrate the party’s nominees for president and vice president in August 2024, while showcasing the Democratic Party’s pitch to voters.

(WTTW News)

A Closer Look at Mayor Lightfoot’s Soldier Field Renovation Project

The mayor has a new proposal to upgrade Soldier Field, but can it really sway the Bears to stay? 

From left to right, Shaun White as Adam, Josh Houghton as Tick, and Honey West as Bernadette in “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” at Mercury Theater. (Credit: Brett Beiner)

Love Conquers All in Mercury Theater’s Exuberant Rendering of ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’

A wildly exuberant, ideally performed, fabulously designed production of “Priscilla Queen of the Desert”  — superbly directed and choreographed by the ever formidable Christopher Chase Carter — has come to the stage of Chicago’s Mercury Theater.

Steven Bertke and his dog Roscoe are taken to dry land by St. Louis firefighters who used a boat to rescue people from their flooded homes on Hermitage Avenue in St. Louis on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (David Carson / St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

Record Rainfall of More Than 10 Inches Causes Widespread Flooding in St. Louis Area

Damage across the St. Louis region was widespread after a massive downpour dropped more than 11 inches of rain in parts of St. Charles County and up to 10 inches elsewhere in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

(WTTW News)

‘Voices’ Community Conversation: Gun Violence in America

On Monday, “Chicago Tonight” correspondent Joanna Hernandez hosted the latest edition of our “Chicago Tonight: Voices” community conversation series, moderating a discussion focused on gun violence in America.

Chicago police Officer Ella French (Chicago Police Department)

New Bill Named for Fallen Chicago Officer Ella French Would Help Fund Straw Purchase Investigations

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Tuesday new federal legislation targeting the straw purchasing of firearms, nearly a year after a Chicago police officer was fatally shot with such a weapon during a traffic stop in Englewood.

Pedestrians pass the New York Stock Exchange on July 14, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo / John Minchillo, File)

US Economy Sending Mixed Signals: Here’s What It All Means

Growth appears to be sputtering, home sales are tumbling and economists warn of a potential recession ahead. But consumers are still spending, businesses keep posting profits and the economy keeps adding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month.

From left, Rebecca Kleefisch, Tim Michels and Timothy Ramthun participate in a televised Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial debate, July 24, 2022, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo / Morry Gash, File)

Explainer: What’s Behind Continued Efforts to Decertify 2020 Election?

Legal experts, including Republican attorneys, say there is no legal means to decertify the past election and no evidence to support such action. Nevertheless, decertification continues to be a rallying cry among many Republicans in Wisconsin and elsewhere.

Abortion-rights protestors march between the Indiana Statehouse and the Indiana State Library where Vice President Kamala Harris was meeting with Indiana legislators to discuss reproductive right in Indianapolis, Monday, July 25, 2022. (AP Photo / Michael Conroy)

Indiana Abortion Debate Draws Protest Crowds, Vice President

Indiana is one of the first Republican-run state legislatures to debate tighter abortion laws following the U.S. Supreme Court decision last month overturning Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

(WTTW News)

July 25, 2022 - Full Show

The mayor unveils her Hail Mary plan to keep the Bears at Soldier Field. The owner of a bakery vandalized with hate speech. A Chicagoan on his painful bout with monkeypox.  And inside the new musical based on a cult sci-fi comedy.

A rendering of the proposed renovation of Soldier Field. (Provided: Landmark Development)

Lightfoot Makes Pitch to Keep Bears in Chicago With Soldier Field Dome

Mayor Lightfoot unveiled three options to renovate Soldier Field, ranging in price from $900 million to $2.2 billion. The mayor, who is running for a second term, declined to say how much public funding she was prepared to spend to prevent the Bears from leaving the city and moving to Arlington Heights.