Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates says the CTU won’t rule out a strike as it begins talks on a new contract. Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times file The Chicago Teachers Union is demanding an annual pay raise of 9% or the Consumer Price Index — whichever is less — and won’t rule out a strike, even with one of their own in the mayor’s office, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said Thursday. “We’re a labor union. We’re not a political party [even though] people … want to redefine the Chicago Teachers Union in all types of ways,” Davis Gates told the Sun-Times. “We don’t get to a strik ..read more

Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III sits with Rev. Jesse Jackson at the Rainbow PUSH Convention Faith Leaders Luncheon at the David Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago on the South Side, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times The abrupt resignation of a Dallas pastor after less than three months as head of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition underscores just how daunting a task it’ll be for anyone to carry the mantle of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, longtime confidants of the civil rights standardbearer told the Sun-Times. It’s still not clear why the Rev. Frederick Haynes III suddenly ..read more

Taylor Hall missed all but 10 games of the Blackhawks’ season. Michael Reaves/Getty Images LOS ANGELES — As the Blackhawks trickled onto the ice for their final morning skate of the season Thursday at Crypto.com Arena, Taylor Hall appeared seemingly out of thin air. The veteran forward, sidelined since November while recovering from ACL surgery in his right knee, reached the stage of his recovery where he could safely participate in light, non-contact drills with the team just in time. "For me to come on this road trip at the end of the year [and] get some sun, it’s a little reward ..read more

Minyon Moore, chair of the Democratic National Convention Committee, discusses the 2024 Democratic National Convention during a news conference at the Hilton Chicago, Thursday. Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times Top state Democratic Party leaders on Thursday vowed “Blue Wall” unity ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago despite party fissures over the war in Gaza and the ongoing migrant crisis — and polls that show President Joe Biden still must gain ground to win key battleground states. Democrats are deeply focused on Wisconsin and Michigan to help bolster Biden’s re-election chanc ..read more

4/20 falls on Saturday this year. Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file Recreational weed has boomed to a $1.5 billion a year industry in Illinois, but the drug is still highly regulated, and consumption is still prohibited in Chicago pot shops. As a result, many celebrations of weed's high holiday of 4/20, or April 20, this year are being held in more intimate, private settings, said Lisa Solomon Mann, co-founder of the weed advocacy group Acannability. “It’s great to see how many events there are,” Mann said. “These events in private spaces are giving people an opportunity to consume in a fun, s ..read more

The Cubs and Marlins’ game Thursday was postponed due to rain in the forecast. File photo. Griffin Quinn/Getty The Cubs game against the Marlins on Thursday at Wrigley Field was postponed due to rain in the forecast. The teams are instead set to play a split doubleheader on Saturday, with the first game starting at 1:20 and the second at 6:40. The Cubs did not immediately announce how the rain-out would affect their starting pitcher plans. But right-hander Jameson Taillon, who was originally set to be activated off the 15-day IL (strained back) to start Thursday, will likely be pushed ba ..read more

La nueva jefa del Departamento de Edificios de Chicago y otros funcionarios municipales fueron advertidos de los peligros posibles meses antes de la fallida implosión en 2020 de la chimenea Crawford en La Villita. Alejandro Reyes El Ayuntamiento aprobó el miércoles la elección del alcalde Brandon Johnson para dirigir el Departamento de Edificios, una funcionaria que anteriormente fue declarada negligente por su papel en la supervisión de la implosión fallida que cubrió de polvo al vecindario de La Villita hace cuatro años. Marlene Hopkins, una veterana de 25 años en el Ayuntamiento, fue ..read more

El Apollo’s 2000, ubicado en el 2875 W. Cermak Rd., fue declarado monumento histórico el miércoles. | Paul Beaty/Para el Sun-Times Después de más de 35 años como propietarios y administradores del Apollo's 2000, sus dueños, Javier y Lidia Galindo, pueden celebrar oficialmente la designación del local como monumento histórico. El Concejo Municipal la aprobó el miércoles. La familia Galindo, de la que son parte sus hijas Isis, Naomi y Evelyn Stell, no pensó seriamente en solicitar la declaración de monumento hasta hace unos años. Cuando la familia comenzó las conversaciones con la Municipali ..read more

Walter “Slim” Coleman (centro) habla en una manifestación en el Loop convocada para protestar por una redada de inmigración en La Villita en 2007. Al Podgorski/Chicago Sun-Times Walter “Slim” Coleman, activista radical de los años sesenta que durante décadas impulsó el poder de los pobres de la ciudad para desafiar la estructura de poder y alcanzar objetivos de justicia social, falleció el martes tras una larga enfermedad. Tenía 80 años. Uno de sus mayores logros fue ayudar a organizar una campaña electoral en las comunidades blancas y pobres de Chicago que contribuyó a la elección del a ..read more

Students from the Catherine Cook School march in the annual Chicago Pride Parade in June 2018. Sun-Times file Pride Parade organizers have reversed their earlier decision, now allowing some school participation in the June 30 festivities after originally cutting all schools that had previously joined the popular event. The change came a day after the Sun-Times reported parade organizers denied entry to six Chicago schools that had a history of participating in the parade. Nettelhorst School will now coordinate with the five other previously denied schools, said Francis W. Parker School t ..read more