Chicago Sun-Times

2 days ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Frank Main

Federal prosecutors are expanding Project Safe Neighborhoods in Chicago, announcing Wednesday that the city’s trains and downtown areas will now be covered by the anti-violence program for the first time. Project Safe Neighborhoods was launched in 2001 under President George W. Bush to crack down on shootings. At the time, the program paid for the hiring of scores of new federal prosecutors and hundreds of state and local prosecutors to concentrate on gun cases across the country.

2 days ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Stefano Esposito

The actor and stand-up comedian Jeremy Piven has stood in front of a live audience hundreds, if not thousands, of times — but no performance was tougher than the one he gave in late January. The Evanston native bid farewell to his 94-year-old mother, the legendary acting teacher Joyce Piven. “When I got up and spoke about her at her funeral, it was the toughest day of my life, but stand-up allowed me to figure out how to navigate that space,” Piven told the Chicago Sun-Times in late May.

2 days ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Violet Miller |Pat Nabong |Kade Heather

URBANA, Ill. — Agus came to the U.S. from Indonesia last August to study computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The 20-year-old, who is one of the more than 100 Indonesian students enrolled at UIUC, chose the central Illinois school for its highly rated programs and connections to companies he dreams of working for. He chose to remain downstate between semesters to live in the area’s welcoming community.

3 days ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mitch Dudek

It can be hard to wrap your head around the influence Gary Deeb had on the media industry — locally and nationally — when he was a columnist in Chicago from 1973 to 1983. Newspapers, radio and network television reigned supreme prior to the rise of cable TV and the advent of the internet. And Mr. Deeb offered readers something novel. He lifted the industry’s veil and showed readers the inner workings of the industry, introduced its executives and gatekeepers and pointed out their blunders.

3 days ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Patrick Finley

D’Andre Swift was just as disappointed with his first season as a Bear as many of the team’s fans were. “A lot of stuff didn’t end how I wanted to — selfishly for me, how I played,” Swift said Tuesday after the team’s first mandatory minicamp practice. “As a team, it was kind of the same thing. We won [five] games last year. So everything is under a microscope when you don’t have no team success.”Swift started slow last season.