Cindy Dampier

Chicago Teachers Union members and supporters sit on the road in the 300 block of North Damen Avenue during a civil disobedience training outside the CTU Center on Oct. 24, 2019, in Chicago.

Chicago’s striking teachers helped spark a new wave of teacher activists. Here’s why teacher activism is on the rise.

October 26, 2019 at 1:01 p.m.

On Thursday afternoon as the Chicago Teachers Union strike slogged through its sixth day of picket lines, negotiations and missed classes, teachers took part in a different kind of teacher...

Kristin Cavallari at this year's Emmy awards.

Kristin Cavallari set to open Uncommon James store in Chicago’s West Loop on Saturday

October 25, 2019 at 7:46 p.m.

Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler, a celebrity dynamic duo known for their rocky relationship with Chicago (he was a love-to-hate Bears QB, and she once commented to Elle magazine that...

A great crested flycatcher is one of the birds you might see in Harms Woods, our newest Illinois Nature Preserve.

Surrounded by homes, roads and a golf course, Harms Woods in Glenview is state’s newest Nature Preserve

October 21, 2019 at 3:35 p.m.

Woven through the landscape of the second most populous county in the United States, the green patchwork of the Cook County forest preserves represents not only a place to fish,...

The former home of California lifestyle blogger SF Girl By Bay, Victoria Smith, painted black.

Taking your house to the dark side: How to jump on the dark exteriors trend that’s showing up in Chicago neighborhoods

October 16, 2019 at 5:11 p.m.

A few years ago, if you painted your house black, the neighbors might have thought that you were ... a little creepy. They might have asked themselves (or you) why...

Charcoal gray with black trim in Chicago.

Going to the dark side: Houses with deep, moody colors

October 18, 2019 at 7:46 p.m.

In Chicago and around the country, home exteriors have been going darker — even black. (Cindy Dampier, Chicago Tribune)

Climate change threatens two-thirds of bird species, a new report says. Find out what that looks like in your ZIP code

October 11, 2019 at 5:54 p.m.

It's been a rough few weeks for the birds. Hard on the heels of a study that documented an epic avian population loss in North America over the past 50...

Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol in McAllen, Texas, after they entered the United States in May.

How do Chicago’s laws protect immigrants against discrimination?

March 11, 2024 at 2:08 p.m.

When New York City's Commission on Human Rights issued new enforcement guidance to the city's anti-discrimination laws late last week, the goal was clear: cracking down on — and publicly...

Lane Tech College Prep, una de las escuelas de inscripción selectiva de CPS.

¿Qué es más difícil: entrar a una secundaria selectiva de CPS o a la universidad?

October 4, 2019 at 9:45 p.m.

Si eres padre de un estudiante de secundaria de CPS, ya habrás escuchado el rumor de que: es más difícil que tus hijos entren a una secundaria pública de inscripción...

Payton College Prep High School on March 8, 2018.

Which admissions process is tougher: CPS selective enrollment high school, or college?

September 28, 2019 at 10:40 p.m.

If you're the parent of a CPS middle school student, you've already heard the rumor: It's tougher to get your kids into a public selective enrollment high school than it...

Pam Linge, center, who said she's a beginner birder, looks for birds with a group participating in a North Pond Bird Walk by the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum on Sept. 18, 2019.

3 billion fewer birds than we had in 1970: Birds are disappearing at alarming rates in Illinois and across North America, new science reveals

September 20, 2019 at 12:20 p.m.

When Geoff Williamson moved to Chicago in 1989, he looked around for the best places to watch birds, and discovered the hybrid of heavy industry and wilderness around Lake Calumet....

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