Schools CEO, teachers union head discuss longer school day

Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard and Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis met Tuesday, and one of the topics on the...

Man shot on State Street remains hospitalized

Todd Brown was starting his everyday routine Monday afternoon, boarding a CTA bus down the street from his mother's South Shore apartment...

Building gives out in St. Charles, closing area

Structural problems in a downtown building in St. Charles have closed several businesses and a lane of traffic on Route 64.

Schools strong-arm parents to pay fees

Battling cancer and struggling to pay bills after her husband's layoff, Dianne Good can't afford $290 in school fees at Morton West High...

Sobbing mom testifies to crushing son's rival with car

A Streamwood woman broke down on the witness stand Tuesday as she tried to explain why she ran down her son's rival with her car, crushing...

Nothing brings out donkey noise like a blame game

As President Barack Obama's mouthpieces panicked and blamed the tea party for the nation's economic downgrade, I closed my eyes and...

People all over the world use International Tracing Service

Skokie's Howard Bergman is among more than 14,000 people from 60 countries who have used the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's...

Ask Tom why: Why do gusty winds during a warm summer day die down to nothing after the sun sets?

Dear Tom,

Pilots flying through security

Airline pilots passed through security checkpoints at O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday without being scanned for explosives and other...

Lake Zurich ex-teacher pleads guilty to sex abuse

A former Lake Zurich High School teacher glanced at his small group of supporters in a Lake County courtroom Tuesday before being taken away...

State's attorney: Law shielding reporters doesn't protect Medill students

More than 500 emails between beleaguered Northwestern University journalism professor David Protess and his students detailing their...

Holocaust survivors, relatives unlock wartime secrets through International Tracing Service database

For decades, Howard Bergman has clung to the "absolutely atrocious" memories of his boyhood in Poland, when his family was herded into...

Emanuel defends tax hike for schools

After promising not to nickel-and-dime Chicagoans with tax increases to plug a budget hole at City Hall, Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday...

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  CPS elicits online feedback on the budget

Calls to ban gel fuel heat up

Jeff Sipple remembers seeing a fireball fly toward him. He tried to shield his face and turn his body, but flaming gel covered his face, arm...

Chase plans Chicago growth

Chase bank plans to add 400 jobs in Chicago and open four new branches by the end of next year.

3 teens targeting gang rival kill counselor, prosecutors say

A counselor to at-risk high school students was gunned down in the Rogers Park neighborhood over the weekend by three teenagers who had...

Residents decry spending of Country Club Hills aldermen

Frustrated with recent reports about their highly paid mayor and City Council, several dozen Country Club Hills residents packed this week's...

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  Country Club Hills residents spar with officials over spending

Doctors' detailed histories to go online

Patients will have access to detailed histories of Illinois doctors — including whether the physician has been fired, convicted of a...

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  Doctor? Sexual abuser? Or both.

Soldier Field turf becomes a team effort

The Chicago Bears and the company charged with tending the grass at Soldier...

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  Park District, company pronounce Soldier Field ready for Saturday game

Pop quiz: What's your summer personality?

When you hear someone talk about the great time he or she just spent at the summer house or the lake house or the beach house, how do you...

Food vendor passes follow-up inspection

After the Tribune reported that a business that serves food at street festivals was preparing food outdoors in the summer heat, the city...

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  Business halted from providing food to festivals

Quinn renews call to cut questionable scholarships

Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday renewed his call to eliminate a program that lets lawmakers grant scholarships to state schools as federal...

Money seen flying from car before fatal crash

Cash flew from the windows of a red Porsche on the Reagan Memorial Tollway before a fatal wrong-way accident, a witness said Tuesday.

Colette Kirchner, 1927-2011: Former Tribune secretary loved the paper

Colette Kirchner provided a steady hand to a succession of Chicago Tribune editors who came to rely on her solid judgments about people...

Family's four-year separation, legal battle ends tearfully at O'Hare

Tears flowed, again, as Janina Wasilewski and her son, Brian, walked through O'Hare International Airport on Monday.

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  A family divided, reunited

Elmhurst woman dies after New York triathlon

Amy Martich hit the water about 7 a.m. Sunday with 10 to 15 other swimmers ready to take on the Hudson River in the first leg of a popular...

Elmhurst woman who died after NYC triathlon was a 'strong swimmer, strong person'

A photo taken of Amy Martich shortly before she was fatally stricken during the swimming event in a New York triathlon captured the...

Parole officer testifies that Timera Branch, the woman on trial, admitted to ramming Elgin boy with her car

Moments after she allegedly rammed an Elgin teen with her car, a Streamwood woman admitted that she went after the boy because he had...

Margaret Westbrook, 1943-2011

Margaret Westbrook was like family to many of the thousands of kidney patients she helped during 30 years as a social worker at DaVita...

Remap took aim at Obama a decade ago

Playing around with district borders offers politicians a way to get a little payback.

CTU president says property tax hike is a "Band-Aid" approach

As budget hearings begin this week, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis says the district's proposed property tax increase is a...

Police have 'strong lead' in fatal shooting of 6-year-old

Chicago police are questioning a 19-year-old man in the slaying of a 6-year-old girl early Sunday, a source said.

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  Shooting death of 6-year-old rattles Englewood neighborhood

Man shot on State Street Bridge

A 29-year-old man was shot and wounded on the State Street Bridge over the Chicago River at the height of Monday evening's rush hour.

Paul Donald Maca, 1931-2011

When Paul Donald Maca retired as president of Sommer & Maca Industries in 1986, he had the means, friends and golf game for a relaxing...

Democrats protect their own in state legislative remap

Jonathan Goldman was encouraged when Democrats first unveiled new state legislative boundaries in mid-May. The Bucktown resident's house...

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  GRAPHIC: Legislative remap helping Democrats

McCarthy shakes up police command structure

Shortly after his appointment in May, Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said the department's command structure was too confusing...

Federal torture suit against Rumsfeld clears hurdle in Chicago appeals court

A federal appeals court in Chicago on Monday upheld a lower court ruling that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld can be held...

Ask Tom why: Why does wet skin feel cold?

Dear Tom,

CPS promises longer school day this year

As more than 115,000 Chicago public school students began classes Monday, officials said they remain committed to the idea of a longer...

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  Video: First day of E-Track classes

Pet obesity rates growing

Even before Eric Pihl pulls into TheraPET Wellness Center parking lot, his dog, Bonnie, climbs up from her lounging position in the back...

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  Pets and your health: the good and the bad

Chicagoan adds personal touch to dog tales

Is there anyone who doesn't like funny animal videos and pictures?

For infertile couples, help and support

Katie Davis, 24, lost her ovaries to cancer when she was 12. Doctors told her that if she wanted to have a baby one day, she would have to...

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  Plainfield mom raises awareness about Fragile X

Judge urged to block prosecutor from reporters' notes

An attorney representing the Chicago Tribune went to court Monday to try to prevent the DeKalb County state's attorney from obtaining...

Former state Rep. Robert Molaro faces criminal investigation

Former state Rep. Robert Molaro is facing an investigation into legislative scholarships he awarded to a longtime supporter's family...

Hospitals adding R & R to treatment plan

Susan Thomas would rather have been home with her cat, but the Bensenville resident instead was at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital for about a...

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  Hospitals take cultural sensitivity seriously

School's in for summer

The usually boisterous halls of schools are eerily quiet over the summer. No clatter of silverware in the cafeteria or squeaking instruments...

Soldier has exit strategy for dog he adopted in Afghanistan

There is much about his deployment in Afghanistan that Army Sgt. Tim Johannsen can't discuss, including where he's stationed and why a...

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  Rules for importing a pet

Chicago's 1-man barometer

The storm was hours away from hitting Chicago when Frank Wachowski marched into his backyard on a recent morning to ready his weather...

The house that Lizzy built

As Lizzy Seeberg's family planted shrubs and laid sod outside a three-flat on the West Side last weekend, the conversation frequently &#...

Police investigate fatal wrong-way crash

The text message came to her phone, and Afrose Merchant looked down.