Photos: First day of school for CPS students
Chicago Public Schools students return to classes for the first day of school across the district on Aug. 20, 2025.
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Photos: Chicago Air and Water Show 2025
The City of Chicago claims The Chicago Air and Water Show is the largest free show of its kind in the United States.
Route 66 road trip: The last — or first — 300 miles in Illinois
Route 66 often conjures images of quaint small towns, but its foundation has always been rooted in Chicago.
Route 66 road trip: A deadly twister crosses a long-standing divide in St. Louis, Missouri
A month after a deadly tornado ripped through St. Louis, the extensive damage and slow pace of recovery expose the city's long-standing racial and socioeconomic divide.
Route 66 road trip: Print day at a 145-year-old newspaper in Galena, Kansas
Kansas has by far the shortest segment of Route 66 of all eight states. Along the 13.2-mile stretch, we found one town that hasn’t stopped the presses.
Route 66 road trip: Hamburgers so savory, they can make you cry in El Reno, Oklahoma
Plenty of places put onions on burgers. Few have been doing it as long, or as well, as the hamburger joints in El Reno, Okla.
Route 66 road trip: Feeling less alone at a ‘No Kings’ protest in Elk City, Oklahoma
In Beckham County, Oklahoma, Donald Trump won 84% of the vote in the 2024 election. The No Kings Day movement was still evident there.
Route 66 road trip: Devil’s rope, an infamous gap and a Panhandle-sized challenge in Amarillo, Texas
Route 66 extends nearly 180 miles across the Texas Panhandle. About 20 miles east of the border, the town of Adrian advertises itself as the route’s midpoint, equidistant to Chicago...
Photos: Our Route 66 road trip
As the 100th anniversary of Route 66 approaches in 2026, join us as we spotlight the stops and people who live along America's highway.
Route 66 road trip: $13M visitors center and a neighborhood in peril in Albuquerque, New Mexico
This isn't how most people picture Route 66. No diners or Art Deco gas stations on this stretch through Albuquerque. Just a $13 million unused visitors center and a neighborhood...