Audrey Pachuta

Audrey Pachuta is a former intern for the Chicago Tribune and a journalism student at Northwestern University.

Kamryn McPhaul, 22, of Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, browses inside Women & Children First bookstore in Andersonville on May, 31, 2026. McPhaul has been limiting herself to an hour a day of phone usage since February and is spending more time exploring on solo trips or with friends. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)

In nightlife venues and college classrooms alike, young people search for new ways to stay ‘phone-free’

June 12, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

In Chicago, phone-free events have ranged from unplugged creative spaces to digital detoxing dance parties.

People run to catch the Green Line train at the Indiana CTA station in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood on June 7, 2026. Charlie Clerk’s (aka "Tre") TikTok videos, which show him and other people decked out in costume catching CTA trains in the city, are branded “Catch The Train” and have garnered millions of views. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Dressed as bananas and dinosaurs, these costume-clad Chicagoans have gone viral for chasing CTA trains

June 11, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

As a lifelong public transit rider, Charlie Clerk is no stranger to the age-old dilemma his social media account satirizes: being late for the train.

Several CTA train lines are experiencing weather-related delays

June 10, 2026 at 6:44 p.m.

The CTA temporarily suspended Pink Line service between Polk and The Loop due to signal outages near the Ashland station.

Judge detains Chicago man accused of strangling estranged wife to death in November

June 11, 2026 at 4:39 p.m.

Brandon Jones, 37, is charged with one count of first-degree murder and issuance of a warrant

Man, 32, found stabbed to death in Auburn Gresham home

June 8, 2026 at 12:45 p.m.

At around 9:30 p.m., police found the man with a stab wound to the abdomen inside a residence on the 8100 block of South Paulina Street.

13-year-old charged in Grand Boulevard shooting that injured 4 boys

June 8, 2026 at 5:12 p.m.

A 13-year-old boy faces felony charges after a shooting that injured four boys in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood Saturday night, Chicago police said.

Boy, 2, among 5 injured after car hits West Elsdon Chipotle

June 7, 2026 at 11:03 a.m.

The driver suffered a medical emergency that prevented him from stopping the vehicle before crashing, police said.

Ray and Shelly Romolt stand at the property line near where a nest with four killdeer bird eggs lay in an empty lot next to their home on June 2, 2026, in Lockport. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Inspired by piping plover enthusiasts, a Lockport couple protects killdeer eggs at construction site

June 4, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

After spotting four speckled killdeer eggs in an empty lot next door, a couple is working to delay a housing construction project until the birds hatch.

Spencer Leak Jr., president of Leak & Sons Funeral Home, works at the location in Country Club Hills on May 6, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago remembers Spencer Leak Jr.’s commitment to its communities and families

June 2, 2026 at 3:28 p.m.

Spencer Leak Jr. spent four decades working at his family business, Leak & Sons Funeral Homes. He died Sunday at age 56.

Spencer Leak Jr., vice president of Leak & Sons Funeral Homes, works at its Country Club Hills location on May 6, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)

Spencer Leak Jr., of longtime family funeral home Leak & Sons, dies at 56

May 31, 2026 at 8:16 p.m.

Spencer Leak Jr., the vice president of prominent Chicago funeral home Leak & Sons has died at 56, his family confirmed in a Sunday statement.

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