Lauren FitzPatrick

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Lauren FitzPatrick

They were hailed as “Living Legends” as they returned to their high school’s stage for the first time since graduating half a century or more ago. Ten singers from the Wendell Phillips High School alumni a capella choir — whose talents were honed in the 1960s and 1970s under beloved director Andrew Duncan — came back to the Bronzeville high school as honored guests at a musical assembly capping Black History Month.

2 months ago | wbez.org | David Struett |Mariah Rush |Lauren FitzPatrick |Amy Yee

Illinois’ legal weed business reached an all-time high in 2024, with the state reaping more than $2 billion in sales and nearly a half-billion dollars in sales tax. But the state’s legal pot business continues to operate in the shadow of an unregulated hemp and Delta-9 market that is siphoning an untold amount of taxes from state coffers. Despite that, the signs are mostly bright for the state’s legal pot business, which has been growing since the drug was legalized in Illinois in 2020.

2 months ago | wbez.org | Emmanuel Camarillo |Lauren FitzPatrick |Micah Yason |Mary Hall

Five-year-old Phoenix McCoy marveled at the slithering dragons, and she bounced along to the drumbeats echoing through Chinatown on Sunday afternoon. It was Phoenix and her mother’s first time attending the neighborhood’s Lunar New Year Parade. They joined hundreds along Wentworth Avenue for several blocks to cheer on the steady stream of marchers. “My favorite part of the parade was the dragons” and the traditional dancers, Phoenix said. “It was a lot of fun,” added Jen Martin, her mother.

2 months ago | wbez.org | Mariah Rush |Lauren FitzPatrick |Amy Yee |Emmanuel Camarillo

Since its highly anticipated reopening in September, the renovated Save A Lot grocery store in West Garfield Park has angered neighbors because of its overflowing dumpsters and insufficient rodent prevention measures — problems that have resulted in new city citations and fines. Meanwhile, expired produce and jugs of milk a week past their sell-by date sit on the shelves. The Save A Lot, at 420 S.

2 months ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mariah Rush |Lauren FitzPatrick

Since its highly anticipated reopening in September, the renovated Save A Lot grocery store in West Garfield Park has angered neighbors because of its overflowing dumpsters and insufficient rodent prevention measures — problems that have resulted in new city citations and fines. Meanwhile, expired produce and jugs of milk a week past their sell-by date sit on the shelves. The Save A Lot, at 420 S.