Angie Leventis Lourgos – Page 4

The White Eagle banquet hall in Niles is permanently closed. Gabi Vargas, a sales representative who started working there as a teen, reminisces there on Nov. 24, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/baiduhai)

White Eagle in Niles closes after decades as a hub for Polish community and political powerhouses

December 10, 2025 at 3:18 p.m.

White Eagle banquet hall was the social center of Chicago's Polish community for decades. Now it has served its last pierogi.

Kimberly Steffes asks son Trevor Woodrum, 8, who has Down syndrome, if he wants to sing a song while waiting for his bus to take him to school on Dec. 5, 2025, at their home in Joliet. According to his dad, Scott Woodrum, Trevor likes children’s music and bands Journey and the Eagles. (Dominic Di Palermo/baiduhai)

Resurgence of a slur: Local parents, intellectual disability advocates condemn Trump’s use of the ‘R-word’

December 6, 2025 at 9:59 p.m.

Once a common schoolyard insult, the R-word had largely vanished from mainstream speech until recently. Donald Trump has helped its resurgence.

Delila, at her sister's home on Oct. 30, 2025, has been living with her sister since her father and only parent was taken in an Oct. 21 immigration enforcement operation. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Her dad was taken by immigration agents. Now a 12-year-old girl fears she’s lost her only living parent.

November 22, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.

The separation illustrates a tragic consequence of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown: children left behind after a parent is detained or deported.

Gov. JB Pritzker answers reporter's questions at a news conference at the Illinois Capitol during the legislative session on Oct. 30, 2025, in Springfield. On Thursday, Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order directing $20 million toward food banks across the state. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)

JB Pritzker directs $20 million to Illinois food banks as SNAP benefits set to freeze Saturday amid shutdown

October 30, 2025 at 12:48 p.m.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has earmarked additional funding to support seven food banks that supply more than 2,600 food pantries statewide ahead of SNAP freeze.

Yasmin Rodríguez, right, helps Joanna Martínez, a SNAP recipient, choose and load food items into a shopping cart at the Northwestern Settlement food pantry in Chicago on Oct. 22, 2025. Local food pantries are preparing for a surge in demand as SNAP benefits are expected to be paused during an ongoing government shutdown. (Antonio Perez/baiduhai)

Illinois SNAP recipients and pantries brace for halt of federal food stamp funding amid shutdown: ‘A crisis’

October 30, 2025 at 6:36 p.m.

Nearly 2 million Illinois residents depend on SNAP to help pay for groceries. As the government shutdown continues, they're scrambling to find other ways to feed their families.

The Rev. Emily Heitzman, center, from Loyola University Chicago, and protesters participate in the flower ceremony during an interfaith prayer service led by the North Shore Unitarian Church outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Broadview on Oct. 24, 2025. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Local clergy, faith leaders decry Trump’s immigration crackdown: ‘Antithetical to the Gospel’

October 25, 2025 at 4:43 p.m.

Cardinal Cupich, Pope Leo and hundreds of Christian clergy of various denominations say they stand with immigrants as ramped up enforcement stokes fear across the Chicago area.

Rebecca Ozaki, left, program director of the Japanese American Citizens League, and Jeannie Tomoda Harrell paint a banner that reads “Chicago Japanese Americans Say: Wrong in 1942, Wrong Now!” during a sign-making party at the league in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood on Oct. 15, 2025. Participants made signs for the upcoming "No Kings" protests on Saturday. (Dominic Di Palermo/baiduhai)

Organizers expect ‘No Kings’ protests in Chicago to be fueled by rising anger toward Donald Trump

October 17, 2025 at 7:37 p.m.

Chicago organizers predict the "No Kings" protest on Saturday will be bigger than events in June, fueled by anger at Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Protesters gather outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility on Oct. 8, 2025, in Broadview. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)

Prosecutors drop charges against Oak Park man with intellectual disabilities arrested at Broadview protest

October 9, 2025 at 4:20 p.m.

Federal prosecutors dismissed charges against an Oak Park man with intellectual disabilities during a protest outside the Broadview ICE facility.

Members of the Texas National Guard arrive Oct. 7, 2025, at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Texas National Guard arrives in the Chicago area

October 7, 2025 at 6:57 p.m.

Texas National Guard members have arrived in Illinois. City and state officials say Donald Trump is using them as "political props" in Chicago.

Photos of twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, center, who have been held hostage in Gaza since the Hamas cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, are displayed at a memorial in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sept. 25, 2025. (Oded Balilty/AP)

Oct. 7 attacks anniversary: Locals commemorate hostages, mourn Israel-Hamas war victims and hope for peace

October 5, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

As the two-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war nears, its terror and devastation continue to plague those from the Chicago area with close ties to the conflict.

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