Commentary: Despite the evidence saying AI is killing students’ critical thinking skills, schools have signed contracts with Big Tech companies, allowing the technology to alter the educational landscape and shape what schools expect from students and educators, who have little say on the matter.

Commentary: In our new study, we examine fatal and nonfatal shootings across 77 Chicago neighborhoods from 2010 to 2021 and assess whether changes in immigration are followed by changes in serious violence. trib.al/KNcn2np

“Just know that your big brother in Chicago will have your back, whoever you are — big city, small city — wherever you are, you have a partner in Chicago.” Think you know who said it? Test your knowledge with the Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz.

Commentary: As we continue to grapple with gun rights, public safety and political expression in the wake of Pretti’s horrific killing, the intersection of First and Second Amendment protections at protests isn’t just contentious — it can be lethal.

From the Editorial Board: We had a good chat with its founder, Jimmy Wales. We found him to be an interesting thinker when it comes to the alleged AI revolution soaking up attention, and also on the matter of how and why so much of academia is abandoning neutrality in favor of loaded language.

Letter to the Editor: In thinking about what can give hope in 2026, I think of what has provided hope already: Those who took a stand this year for those in need.

Our op-ed contributors wrote thoughtfully this year on how Chicago can develop the amount of housing it needs.

The biggest and maybe the hardest news quiz of the year is here for your seasonal pleasure!

Donald Trump hasn’t even bothered to make a case about why military action off Venezuela’s coast is in our national interest, writes Daniel DePetris.

Truly heinous: A Border Patrol agent has been indicted for violent crimes including sexual assaults, and attempted sexual assaults that occurred in 2022 in Schaumburg, Ill., and Naperville, Ill., according to the U.S. Attorney’s office

My latest, paywall-free, for the @chicagotribune.com: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/o...

"The bottom line is that the agreement, strongly opposed by many faculty members, chips away at the values and rights that have made universities such as Northwestern the envy of the world," a Northwestern professor writes on @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/o...

The world order established in the wake of World War II reflects a Giving Tuesday take on foreign policy, but Donald Trump‘s is the Black Friday kind: selfish and transactional, writes @lizzyshack.bsky.social on @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/28/c...

"If President Donald Trump isn’t careful, he could run the risk of giving more to his Saudi friend than is warranted," @dandepetris.bsky.social writes on @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/18/o...

(waves arms around) everything is mostly awful, yes. but! the @chicagotribune.com's tiktok is 2 followers away from 5K and we'd sure appreciate the support because we have some cool ideas in the works 👀 www.tiktok.com/@chicagotrib...

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is facing drunken driving charges after police said his car jumped a curb and crashed into a hedgerow in the west suburbs.

Operation Midway Blitz is entering its third month in the Chicago area. State Sen. Guzman and a community organizer write on @chicagotribune.com that this moment is more than just "residents blowing whistles." It is a larger community-led movement. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/05/o...

Reports say that the executive branch’s legal office is claiming that Trump's campaign in the Caribbean does not technically meet the definition of "hostilities" in the 1973 War Powers Resolution, @dandepetris.bsky.social writes on @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/04/c...

QUESTIONS CONCERNS COMPLAINTS 🐥 ICE detention facility, Broadview coverage: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/24/c...

"The Department of Homeland Security said its immigration enforcement operation in Chicago is named in Katie’s honor. But Katie would not have wanted this," Denise Lorence, Katie Abraham's mom, writes on @chicagotribune.com . www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/21/o...

Lawmakers must ensure Illinois consumers get insurance worth their payments www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/16/o...

What’s in a famous name? The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. One of the famed names of our time. His son, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., shares that name and all that it connotes, as he mounts a comeback to regain his seat in Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District.

Immigration raids and the federal government shutdown together add up to a direct attack on mobility — the very ladder that has long defined America’s promise, a professor from the University of Wisconsin Madison writes on @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/08/o...

The director of Americans for Prosperity-Illinois writes on @chicagotribune.com that a proposed megaprojects bill will shift property tax burdens onto residents while giving tax breaks to developers. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/07/o...

🚨 The Texas National Guard has arrived in the Chicago area. Tribune journalists saw several military members, dressed in camouflage and carrying long guns, on federal property in the far southwest suburbs this morning. Soldiers could be seen walking in and out of mobile sleeping units on the site.

"Past presidents have sometimes employed fierce martial rhetoric to deter foreign adversaries. Trump directs it at American cities and citizens, treating opposition as insurrection," @stevechapman.bsky.social writes on @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/01/c...

The Broadview Police Department has opened a criminal investigation after an ICE agent allegedly shot a pepper ball at a WBBM-Ch. 2 reporter’s truck Sunday morning outside the agency’s holding facility, which has been at the center of heated protests from concerned citizens and politicians.

Another charter school, EPIC, is set to close in Chicago. This is the latest example of the "chaos" caused by the charter model, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates writes on @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/24/o...

Commentary: Countries can formally recognize Palestine all they want, but it’s the facts on the ground that will determine success or failure.

The costs associated with owning a home — insurance, property taxes, maintenance, utilities — are surging, causing younger adults to feel further disconnected from the lives they envisioned.

"The war on Black women has been greeted with applause from Trump’s MAGA followers and silence from the rest of the Republican Party establishment," columnist Laura Washington writes on @chicagotribune.com. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/17/c...

NATO responded to Russian drones entering Poland’s airspace in the way we would want it to, @dandepetris.bsky.social writes on @chicagotribune.com. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/16/c...

"If you took a secret poll of lower-court federal judges, I’d bet 90% would rate most or all of these rulings as wrong, if not lawless," a Chicago lawyer writes on @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/15/o...

"The outstanding question looms: What exactly does the Trump administration want to achieve in Venezuela?" @dandepetris.bsky.social asks in his column on @chicagotribune.com. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/09/c...

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho was released in theaters on this day 65 years ago 🔪 🚿

"China’s state-controlled capitalism, once reason for skepticism and distrust, has become a preferable alternative to Trump’s erratic trade war, even for traditional U.S. allies," @lizzyshack.bsky.social writes on @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/05/c...

Laura Washington suspects that Trump is bluffing on his threats, but if he does send the National Guard in, she urges Chicagoans to politely ignore them. "Let them loiter and languish on our street corners," she writes on @chicagotribune.com. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/03/c...

Commentary: The case of Jamie Snow is a shocking example of how the criminal justice system in Bloomington was abused by the very authorities entrusted to uphold the law.

Commentary: The inconvenient truth for Trump is that violent crime in Chicago is falling dramatically, from recent spikes during the pandemic.

The Beaches put on a great show last night at The Salt Shed.

Commentary: Every year, families like mine are expected to scramble — taking off work, coordinating carpools and burning through gas, time and patience — to patch together a system that CPS should have had in place months ago.

After his discussions with Putin, Trump climbed aboard Air Force One essentially having changed his mind about how to go about striking a peace accord," @dandepetris.bsky.social writes on @chicagotribune.com. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/18/c...

The left gets a new publication www.semafor.com/article/08/1...

"Our schools have been cut to the bone and constantly asked to do more with less. But this isn’t just underinvestment. It is also extraction," CTU President Stacy Davis Gates writes on @chicagotribune.com. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/17/o...

"For disabled residents, especially those who can’t drive or afford their own wheelchair-accessible vehicle, public transit is the foundation of daily life," the CEO of Access Living writes on @chicagotribune.com. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/13/o...

For many in the IDF, Benjamin Netanyahu’s new plan runs the risk of plunging Israeli troops into an occupation of the Palestinian enclave that the Israeli prime minister’s predecessors came to regret, @dandepetris.bsky.social writes on @chicagotribune.com. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/12/c...

NEWS: Mayor Johnson’s CPS chief resists City Hall borrowing plan, pension payment as budget deadline looms. The financial and political drama is strong now, with the fate of hundreds of thousands of Chicago families up in the air, w/ @nellsalzman.bsky.social www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/12/c...

"If they don’t pay their share in Arlington Heights, the gap doesn’t vanish, it gets passed on to someone else, and that someone will be the state of Illinois," State Rep. Kam Buckner writes on @chicagotribune.com. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/12/o...

One particularly haunting stat in this piece on domestic violence from a Cook County Commissioner: 75% of protective orders in Cook County go unserved. @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/01/o...

Commentary: When Black women rapidly disappear from the workforce, we are faced with more than a concerning statistic; their loss is a warning for where the country is headed.