Angie Leventis Lourgos

People walks past signs for hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was killed by Hamas in August, at the Nova festival memorial site on Oct. 4, 2024 in Israel. Over the last few months the grounds around the park have been turned into a memorial for the victims, and hostages from the Nova music festival which was attacked by Hamas on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Oct. 7 attacks, one year later: Locals mourn slain hostages, victims of Israel-Hamas war — and fear escalation in the Middle East

October 6, 2024 at 4:54 p.m.

The pain of the conflict sparked by the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel has touched the Chicago area in so many ways.

President Donald Trump listens as Russ Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, speaks during an event on "transparency in federal guidance and enforcement" at the White House on Oct. 9, 2019, in Washington. Vought, an alumnus of Wheaton College, is a chief architect of Project 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP)

From Project 2025 to Evangelicals for Harris: How Wheaton College grads are involved in presidential politics

September 22, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

With the high-stakes 2024 presidential election looming, alumni and former faculty of Wheaton College are playing an outsized role in the race.

Rabbi Doved Tiechtel, center, leads students in singing while observing Shabbat on Friday evening at the Illini Chabad on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Chapaign campus on Sept. 6, 2024. U. of I. recently entered into a resolution agreement to address antisemitism and discrimination on campus following a four-year investigation, according to the Department of Education. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)

University of Illinois campus welcomes new policies to combat antisemitism in wake of federal civil rights complaint

September 9, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

In the wake of a federal complaint, the school will overhaul its anti-discrimination policies and work with Jewish groups.

Ukrainian asylum-seekers Olha and Oleksandr Korobov hold hands on the patio of their apartment in Highland Park on Aug. 28, 2024 The couple is from Makiivka, Ukraine. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Detention in brutal Russian prison years ago still haunts Ukrainian now living in Highland Park

September 3, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Oleksandr Korobov, who lives in Highland Park, says the psychological scars remain from his 26 days in captivity years ago.

Jonathan Polin, second from left, and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, right, parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, attend his funeral in Jerusalem on Sept. 2, 2024. Goldberg-Polin, a dual Israeli American citizen, was one of six hostages who were found dead in a tunnel in southern Gaza on Sept. 1, 2024. (Avishag Shaar-Yashuv/The New York Times)

Chicago native mourns at funeral of son killed as Hamas hostage: ‘Forever my sweet boy’

September 2, 2024 at 4:34 p.m.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who had been kidnapped from a music festival in Israel on Oct. 7, was one of six hostages confirmed dead by the Israeli military Saturday.

Marcus Aguinaga exits the Planned Parenthood Mobile Health Clinic after getting a vasectomy on Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. His procedure was free. The mobile health clinic was set up less than a mile from the Democratic National Convention at the United Center where reproductive rights are an important topic in this year’s election. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Planned Parenthood offers free abortions and vasectomies at mobile clinic near DNC to ‘show what is possible’

August 20, 2024 at 11:39 a.m.

A mobile clinic can demonstrate “what is possible when policies truly support accessible reproductive health care,” according to Planned Parenthood.

Democratic National Convention Chairman Don Fowler and CEO Debra DeLee give reporters an internet demonstration during the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (C-SPAN)

New-fangled internet dazzled 1996 DNC in Chicago. Today, experts debate the benefits — and dangers — of online influence.

August 19, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

The 1996 gathering in Chicago allowed everyday Americans to experience a political convention like never before.

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