Chicago Sun-Times
CAN ILLINOIS REIN IN AI?
With Congress yet to act on reining in artificial intelligence, that obligation has fallen into the laps of individual states. And as the 2026 spring session of the General Assembly in Springfield nears an end date of May 31, Illinois lawmakers are...
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MURDER TRIAL BEGINS IN 2021 LOOP STABBING
Aman who ran to help visiting graduate student Anat Kimchi after she was fatally stabbed in a random attack Downtown in June 2021 testified Monday that he saw defendant Tony Robinson attack her and that Robinson later threatened him with a knife. The...
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THEFTS INFLATING
In March, Kieran Degenaars woke up on a Saturday morning, glanced out the window and noticed a car parked on his street had been broken into the night before. “I saw a car with a smashed window and glass all over the ground,” he recalled. “I was like,...
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‘HIS HEART WAS PURE’
Slain Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew was remembered Friday as a man who was “truly loved by all” and whose “heart was pure.” Hundreds of mourners, among them police, officials and loved ones, gathered at St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church in...
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CHICAGO’S HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
In the year since Cardinal Robert Prevost was named Pope Leo XIV, what used to be a typical block in Dolton has become a landmark drawing tourists from all over the world to his childhood home. “It’s definitely been a blessing,” said Donna Sagna...
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GROWING TREND
Renee Costanzo cranked on the rusty pulley with both hands, watching the greenhouse roof creak open in sections. A breeze of spring air swept over 12,000 seedlings lined up in plastic trays in the Kilbourn Park greenhouse. Costanzo, the Chicago Park...
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WHY, ROBOT?
Delivery robots have some growing up to do. That’s the consensus among scientists and engineers who were analyzing the safety and efficiency of this developing technology before two of the robots crashed into CTA bus shelters in March. A 2025 study...
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THE FRUIT OF HIS LABOR
Shaka Rawls, the principal at Leo Catholic High School in Auburn Gresham, knew something was up on Monday when he saw all the cars in the school’s parking lot. What he didn’t know was that all those visitors, including friends, family and elected...
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HELPING THOSE IN FEAR
When videos emerged of immigrant men running from federal immigration agents last fall, Patricia Gamboa was flooded with memories of fleeing agents herself as a little girl. Gamboa was 6 when she and her family crossed the border from Tijuana into...
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CPS STUDENTS TAKE CIVICS TO THE STREETS
Eleven-year-old Ricardo Juarez stepped up to the people manning each table in the park across the street from his school and asked in a confident voice: “What do you do for the community?” “I just want to listen and see how they can help us,” said...
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GAS PAINS
Gas prices in Chicago have jumped to over $5 a gallon for the first time in four years — squeezing drivers who likely will see even higher prices in the coming months. Austin resident Malik Allen was gassing up at a BP station Thursday at North Wells...
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HERBIE BRINGS JAZZ HOME TO CHICAGO
Legendary piano man plays International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert — streaming to millions across the world — today at Lyric Opera House
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IDOT’S WILD ABANDON?
In the creeks and rivers of southern Illinois, a school of bigeye shiners darting along the edge of a stream is a sign of healthy water. The freshwater fish, which is on the state’s endangered species list, has managed to survive despite habitat loss...
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SHOOTER PULLED GUN FROM BLANKET: PROSECUTORS
Prosecutors on Monday said a convicted felon somehow took a gun into Swedish Hospital after he was arrested this weekend, then pulled it from under a blanket after he undressed and shot two Chicago cops, killing Officer John Bartholomew. Alphanso...
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SHOULD YOU BE WORRIED ABOUT CHICAGO’S BRIDGES?
As Downtown Chicago enters its annual bridge-lifting season, raising its historic bascule bridges to allow recreational boats to pass underneath, questions remain about the city’s ability to repair several of them without worsening traffic. When the...
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HURRY-UP OFFENSE?
Property tax incentive legislation approved by the Illinois House this week needs serious changes to keep the Bears from jumping the border to Indiana, and state senators need to move quickly to keep that from happening, Gov. JB Pritzker urged on...
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CPS’ LUNCHROOM WORKERS FED UP
Sixty-one-year-old Kimberly Penson gets on the bus by 4:45 a.m. so she can make eggs, bagels or biscuits before the first bell rings for the elementary students she calls “her babies.” And then, as the sole cook at her school, she turns to preparing...
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DRIVE TO KEEP BEARS IN ILLINOIS NEARS THE RED ZONE
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers inched closer to the red zone in keeping the Chicago Bears from crossing state lines into Indiana, with the Illinois House on Wednesday green-lighting a measure that would give the NFL team property tax certainty while...
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TOO FRIENDLY WITH FEDS?
Emails show State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke wouldn’t denounce Trump as he threatened to send in the National Guard because she wanted to keep ‘excellent working relationships’ with the feds. That’s fueling a push for a special prosecutor to probe...
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GOV’S PLAN TO SHUFFLE GAMBLING OVERSIGHT
ROBERT HERGUTH & MITCHELL ARMENTROUT REPORT,
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WHY DID EX-MORMON FIGURE’S PLANE PLUNGE NEAR ROCKFORD?
Richard McClung died in a plane crash Feb. 14 when the small aircraft he was piloting plummeted into a residential neighborhood between McHenry County and Rockford, narrowly missing homes, severing a gas line and horrifying locals. McClung’s online...
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HE SAID HE WOULD ‘DIE FOR HER’
After Officer Carlos Baker fatally shot his partner, Krystal Rivera, the Chicago cop told investigators he would “die for her.” But newly released body-camera footage shows Baker ran for cover after he fired the deadly gunshot and took more than 90...
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OWE, NO!
A cash-strapped City Hall has missed out on more than $8 billion in sorely needed revenue because it “lacks foundational management tools” to chip away at the mountain of delinquent debt it’s owed dating back three decades, Chicago’s top government...
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POURING PAIN
Hundreds of residents reported flooding in their homes after record-breaking rainfall levels hit Chicagoland on Tuesday. Sadie Douglas, 27, who lives on the garden level of a Rogers Park building, said the rainfall brought the worst flooding she’s...
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SEEKING SAFETY FOR CHICAGO’S SERVERS
Already this year, a pair of tectonic restaurant industry news reports have exposed years of alleged staff abuses by Trevor Fleming, the chef and former co-owner of Warlord, and Rene Redzepi, founding chef of Michelinstarred Copenhagen restaurant...
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PREZ VS. POPE
Backlash builds against Trump for bashing Leo XIV and posting AI image of himself as Jesus. Says one Chicago Catholic leader, ‘[He’s] waking up a sleeping giant.’
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ICE’S ECHOES OF LATIN AMERICAN REGIMES
In December 1979, Neris González was leaving the market in her farm town in central El Salvador when Salvadoran national guardsmen suddenly grabbed her and took her captive. González, who was eight months pregnant and in her late teens, was taken to a...
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COLLECTOR CREW’S BLACK ART BOND
For one group of collectors, Expo Chicago is not just an art fair but a family reunion. On Thursday afternoon, they trickled into Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, offering enthusiastic hugs and handshakes. The cohort included everyone from health care...
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CHICAGO’S FED ON ROCKY FIRST YEAR
When Chicago’s top federal prosecutor is asked if his office takes marching orders from Washington, he doesn’t mince words. “You should write this down,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros recently told a Chicago Sun-Times reporter. “[There is] not a...
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Holy Name parishioners reflect on calls for peace, Leo’s Easter message
A line stretched out of Holy Name Cathedral, down the sidewalks from State Street and around the corner onto Chicago Avenue ahead of Easter morning Mass Sunday. Rev. Gregory Sakowicz reflected on “the violence in our city, nation and wars throughout...
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SALUTE TO A HERO
Friends and loved ones of fallen Chicago firefighter Michael Altman said their final goodbyes during a funeral Tuesday morning in southwest suburban Oak Lawn. The private funeral service was held at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home at 4727 W. 103rd St. after...
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CHICAGO NEEDS NEWS THAT’S FOR CHICAGO
The stories shaping our city deserve to be told right. The Chicago Sun-Times covers every corner of Chicago with fact-based, independent reporting. We help you understand our city, care for our neighborhoods and make the most of life here.
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MINIMUM WAGE BATTLE AT TIPPING POINT
Some restaurant owners and servers say Chicago’s hotly debated law to increase the tipped minimum wage harms workers and the industry, after Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of the City Council’s vote to freeze tipped workers’ hourly pay. Supporters of the...
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CHEER LEADERS
Not long ago, Naliyah Saintil was cheering her brothers on from the sidelines. Now, her dad shows up to cheer for her. The 13-year-old from Greater Grand Crossing dances and tumbles with the South Side cheer team Black Onyx Allstars, where her rapid...
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BETTOR UP
Logan Reilly’s group chat with his friends was lighting up Thursday, the same as every year, for Major League Baseball’s Opening Day. But this time, the chatter was about which bets to place. “Three years ago, we’re just talking about who we think’s...
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MEDICAL EMERGENCY
West Suburban Medical Center is temporarily shutting its doors and furloughing “many” employees as it struggles to pay staff, according to the Oak Park hospital’s owner, Manoj Prasad. Prasad, the CEO of Resilience Healthcare, said in an email...
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HIGHER GAS PRICES ARE JUST THE BEGINNING
Chicagoans are feeling squeezed by rising gas prices, following the U.S. and Israel’s attack on Iran last month. And experts say the financial pain on consumers from the Iran war won’t stop at the pump. “It’s going to be like a snake that swallowed a...
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PROSECUTORS: FIGHT WITH FRIENDS LED ‘SUICIDAL’ MAN TO START FATAL FIRE
A man with a history of burning tents in Chicago parks was feeling “suicidal” when he ignited a mattress at a Rogers Park apartment last week and sparked a blaze that led to the death of a Chicago firefighter, Cook County prosecutors said...
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With ICE headed to airports, TSA union demands pay
After President Donald Trump threatened to deploy federal immigration agents to airports amid a Department of Homeland Security funding fight in Congress, union members in the Midwest are expressing concern about agents’ lack of training and their own...
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Marking Eid on South Side
Muslims around Chicago celebrated Eid al-Fitr Friday as they brought the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to a close. Eid is a time of celebration typically marked with prayer, food, sweets and family gatherings. The holiday comes after Muslims spent...
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LOYOLA MOURNS STUDENT GUNNED DOWN AT BEACH
A Loyola University freshman was shot to death early Thursday while she was walking with friends at a Rogers Park beach. Sheridan Gorman, 18, was walking with the friends in the 1000 block of West Pratt Boulevard around 1:30 a.m. when a gunman —...
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Recording Artist and DePaul Alumna Expands Her Reach Using Business Acumen
Coming soon for Chinatown-Bridgeport (she claims both) native Gayun Cannon, an up-and-coming musician, producer and performing artist, are T-shirts and stickers featuring Cannon as her friend’s version of her as an animated character. The...
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JUBILANT JULIANA
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has won the competitive Democratic primary race to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin — on the heels of a late campaign surge and millions in support from longtime running mate Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Stratton’s momentum was...
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STATE OF CHANGE
Illinois’ representation in Washington will look vastly different this time next year — and for many years to come — all based on what voters decide today. The state’s most pivotal primary election in a generation comes to a head Tuesday after a...
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CTA’S MONTHLY PLATFORM PERIL
A59-year-old River Forest man walked from his home to the Harlem Avenue L stop on the morning of Dec. 1 to take the train to Rush University Medical Center, where he volunteered when not working his regular job as a grocery clerk at...
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GUST ANOTHER DAY IN CHICAGO
Cole Rapp and Joey Cleary were on board a Frontier Airlines flight from Austin, Texas, to Chicago when the strong winds buffeting the city turned their four-hour trip for St. Patrick’s Day festivities into a 12-hour adventure. “That was probably the...
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PAC-ING A $26.9M PUNCH
National special-interest groups, which now include deep-pocketed cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence interests, have spent tens of millions of dollars to influence four hotly contested Democratic congressional primaries in the Chicago...
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TORNADOES’ TOLL
Nick Cronin rummaged through the remnants of his mother’s home, where she was found in a bathtub hours earlier after a tornado ripped through a small neighborhood in Kankakee. Cronin picked up a license plate and tossed it back down as he stepped...
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SAFER TRAVELS?
The Chicago Transit Authority is deploying sheriff’s deputies on its trains, installing high-barrier entry gates to deter fare evasion, and starting “farecard inspection missions” after the agency’s federal funding was threatened. The CTA presented...
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SERIOUS SHORTAGE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Chicago’s affordable housing shortage is placing severe financial strain on low-income renters, according to a new report released by Housing Action Illinois and the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The study found only 31 affordable homes are...
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HE WAS FAMILY
The Rev. Jesse Jackson was the family member who always showed up — and on Friday, Chicago and much of the country showed up for him. Thousands came to the South Side’s House of Hope to say goodbye to the civil rights leader and twotime presidential...
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FIRED AND ICE
Illinois Democrats are celebrating the ouster of controversial Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem — months after she led aggressive immigration operations in the Chicago area that left one person dead and another surviving being shot five...
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A HOLY HOME FOR LATINO MUSLIMS
In the basement of one of the Chicago area’s newest places of worship, all the fixings of a traditional Mexican meal were laid out to enjoy. “We have mole, birria, spaghetti verde, arroz. We even have flautas,” Cesar Cortina, 39, told the SunTimes...
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THE NEED FOR SEED
Under the warm light of a hanging lamp, Marty Landorf carefully crumbled the dried flower head of a black-eyed Susan between her fingers, teasing apart the chaff to uncover its puny black seeds. Each one was destined for long-term cold storage...
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JESSE’S GRAND HOMECOMING
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Back in 1960, the story goes, a teenaged Jesse Jackson entered the whitesonly branch of his hometown library with seven comrades-in-arms who’d be christened the Greenville Eight after getting arrested for their civil...
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ROLE OF A LIFETIME
Acold night with temps plunging below zero in Chicago can’t stop Buddy Guy. A standing-room-only crowd packed into his Legends club on a frigid January night, waiting in anticipation for not just the master of the blues, but the genre’s protector and...
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IT’S PAYBACK TIME
Thousands of Chicago motorists ticketed and overcharged for more than a decade for parking, city sticker and other compliance violations could be in line for nearly $104 million in refunds at City Hall’s expense. Circuit Judge William Sullivan put...
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PRESSURE & PROGRESS
For the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, social justice was also entwined with economic justice and labor organizing, including organizing boycotts, pushing for job opportunities and supporting unions to pressure businesses. “Like the entire generation that...
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HER FIGHTS ‘LEFT US WITH A LOT OF LIGHT’
The blue Ford Mustang that Ofelia Giselle Torres Hidalgo’s father gifted her helped escort the 16-year-old’s ivory coffin to St. William Parish on Friday morning in the Northwest Side’s Montclare neighborhood. Dozens of mourners hugged as they left...
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INDIANA’S FIRST DOWN
The Hammond Bears? Indiana state legislators sure seem to think that’s where Chicago’s football team is headed after taking another legislative step toward the state border Thursday, though the Bears stopped short of committing to pulling up stakes...
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CHICAGO EMBRACED JACKSON — AND HE DID IN RETURN
In 1964, Jesse and Jacqueline Jackson drove into Chicago from North Carolina, where they had met, married and had their first child. In the car, with 1-year-old Santita in tow, a pregnant Jacqueline looked around at the tall buildings Downtown and...
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CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND A CHICAGO ICON
“I may be poor ...” began the calland-response Rev. Jesse Jackson led in various forms before rapt audiences for more than half a century. “But I am ... somebody! I may be on welfare. But I am ... somebody! I may be in jail. But I am ... somebody! I...
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WARM WASHES
The temperature hits a record high in February, and where’s your first stop? The obvious answer: The car wash. People all over Chicago used Monday’s warm weather to turn their cars from salty reminders of winter to shiny and springready vehicles....
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BRAND OF LINCOLN
You can believe something all your life and then, confronted with new evidence, suddenly realize how ridiculous your thinking was. Well, I can anyway. Many people cling to error as if their lives depend on it. Maybe they do. To me, the ability to...
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THEY WERE SUPER MODELERS
For 35 years, Columbian Model & Exhibit Works has given the city glimpses of the future. The West Loop company designed and built architectural models for developers and architects that provided an advance look — often with astonishing accuracy and...
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