Steve Johnson

Mark Witteveen, owner of The Chicago Flyhouse, places a city of Chicago flag mask on one of the lions outside the Art Institute on April 30, 2020.

No buildings and new rules, but Morton Arboretum becomes first to re-open after coronavirus closure

June 1, 2020 at 2:06 p.m.

The morning did not seem extraordinary. People on their own or in pairs walked around Morton Arboretum's Meadow Lake. A worker on a large mower cut grass, the machine's noise...

Exterior of the Kovler Lion House at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018.

No, Lincoln Park Zoo animals were not set loose in Sunday’s looting

May 22, 2026 at 8:03 p.m.

The animals are all right. "All animals at Lincoln Park Zoo are accounted for and safe," the North Side Chicago zoo found it necessary to announce Monday. "There were no...

Yair Bernstein, seen outside his Chicago apartment on Thursday, May 21, 2020, writes out a dad joke each morning and tapes it up in his window for passersby to see. "They can't be too funny," he says. He's doing his bit to cheer people up in the midst of the COVID-19 virus pandemic. (Terrence Antonio James/baiduhai)

His daily ‘Dad jokes’ in Edgewater have become followed, demanded by neighbors, and pandemic therapy for him

May 25, 2020 at 1:30 a.m.

The morning this story was reported, a sign appeared in an Edgewater window. "The future, the present and the past walked into a bar," it said. "Things got a little...

Comedian and podcaster Ron Funches spent his childhood in Chicago.

Bob Odenkirk, Michael Shannon, Beck Bennett, Ron Funches, Lili Trifilio and 19 other Chicago celebrities offer advice, congrats to 2020 high school graduates

May 22, 2020 at 12:19 p.m.

A pandemic is underway, but that won't stop the class of 2020. As high school seniors across Chicagoland prepare to celebrate under the strangest of circumstances, we asked 24 notable...

Chicago artist Nate Young was supposed to have a big spring, including a gallery show at Monique Meloche Gallery.

Dislocation and silver linings: Chicago artist Nate Young on showing new work during a pandemic

May 22, 2020 at 11:17 a.m.

This was going to be a big spring for Nate Young. The Chicago artist, whose elegant sculptures merge refined woodworking with more visceral references to his family's and the nation's...

Songwriter Steve Dawson and his wife and bandmate Diane Christiansen in their Chicago backyard May 19. Dawson's new album with Funeral Bonsai Wedding is "Last Flight Out."

Chicago songwriter Steve Dawson has a new album out during a pandemic — ‘Last Flight Out’ is both poorly timed and timely

May 22, 2020 at 10:51 a.m.

Steve Dawson didn't think he was making an album about a pandemic, and he certainly didn't think he'd be releasing it in the midst of one. But like artists everywhere...

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No buildings and new rules, but Morton Arboretum becomes first to re-open after coronavirus closure

No, Lincoln Park Zoo animals were not set loose in Sunday’s looting

His daily ‘Dad jokes’ in Edgewater have become followed, demanded by neighbors, and pandemic therapy for him

Bob Odenkirk, Michael Shannon, Beck Bennett, Ron Funches, Lili Trifilio and 19 other Chicago celebrities offer advice, congrats to 2020 high school graduates

Dislocation and silver linings: Chicago artist Nate Young on showing new work during a pandemic

Chicago songwriter Steve Dawson has a new album out during a pandemic — ‘Last Flight Out’ is both poorly timed and timely

Oprah Winfrey provides $5 million to start COVID-19 relief network in ‘home city’ of Chicago

How to reopen an art museum: James Rondeau, Art Institute director, on the plans for, perhaps, July 1st

Adler Planetarium lays off 120 staffers during coronavirus closure

Morton Arboretum to reopen for members June 1 after coronavirus closure