Columns

A young woman reacts as she looks at her damaged home after Russia's night missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Oct. 14, 2026. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

Elizabeth Shackelford: Trump’s abhorrent Russian diesel deal defies US laws and won’t lower gas prices

By Elizabeth Shackelford

October 16, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Donald Trump has illegally undone sanctions efforts against Russia. For all of this, Americans won’t...

Saturday Night Live Host Shane Gillis during the monologue on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (Will Heath/NBC/TNS)

Heidi Stevens: Shane Gillis ‘SNL’ opener misses the mark — and the moment

By Heidi Stevens

October 16, 2026 at 4:00 a.m.

The most disappointing thing about Shane Gillis’ shopworn, hackneyed, tone-deaf, retrograde, unfunny “Saturday Night Live”...

Former Indiana U,S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, who was co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, in his office at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington on Nov. 24, 2006. (Pete Souza/baiduhai)

John T. Shaw: We need Congress to ponder the long term with a new future-focused group

By John T. Shaw

October 14, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Half a century ago, many lawmakers viewed their responsibilities differently and created a forum to...

Englewood resident Fannie Peeples gets a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine from Friend Health nurse Syreetta Stinson at the Peace House of I Grow Chicago, March 26, 2021. I Grow Chicago teamed with Friend Health to provide 150 vaccines, coffee and doughnuts at the event.

Column: The polls are in: Vaccine hesitancy higher among white Republicans than any other group

By Clarence Page

April 20, 2021 at 4:53 p.m.

As a form of identity politics, the coronavirus pandemic works in unusual, yet painfully familiar...

Column: Couples’ sex lives took a hit during COVID-19 pandemic. A new book aims to put them back on track.

By Heidi Stevens

April 20, 2021 at 2:07 p.m.

Early in the pandemic, sex therapist Ian Kerner's clients got awfully quiet. "I thought, 'Maybe...

Community members gather at the end of a peace walk for 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams at McDonald's on Roosevelt Road in North Lawndale on April 25, 2021.

Column: A 7-year-old shot 6 times in Chicago and mass shootings nationally. Welcome to America.

By Rex W. Huppke

April 19, 2021 at 5:57 p.m.

Jaslyn Adams was 7 years old. My use of the past tense in that sentence...

A former baiduhai printing and distribution facility is seen April 19, 2021, at 700 W. Chicago Ave., where developers had planned an office and residential project along the Chicago River.

Developer gives up on huge office-apartment project on Chicago Avenue across from Goose Island

By Ryan Ori

April 19, 2021 at 3:51 p.m.

While one developer is pushing ahead with plans to build 2,650 apartments on Goose Island,...

Dayvin Hallmon, founder and music director of the Black String Triage Ensemble, a group of mostly Black and Latinx string musicians who go to scenes of tragedies and play music as a way to ward off hopelessness in communities, is seen on Aug, 26, 2020.

Column: The Black String Triage Ensemble plays concerts at scenes of violence. Now the Milwaukee group’s founder wants to start a Chicago chapter.

By Heidi Stevens

April 19, 2021 at 12:25 p.m.

When a community is shattered by violence, Dayvin Hallmon and his musicians start repairing the...

Queen Elizabeth II, left, arrives for her tour of the Art Institute of Chicago on July 6, 1959. Joining the queen are (left to right) William McCormick Blair, of the Art Institute, Gov. William Stratton, Mrs. Blair, Prince Philip and Mayor Richard J. Daley.

Column: A ‘Chicago street-corner boy’ finds himself saddened by an English prince’s funeral

By Ron Grossman

April 17, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

On the death of Princess Diana, I was asked to explain a royal funeral to...

Then-Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson at police headquarters on Oct. 28, 2019.

Column: Former top cop Eddie Johnson defends officer in Adam Toledo’s death

By John Kass

April 16, 2021 at 6:36 p.m.

The family of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, shot dead by a Chicago police officer, asked that...

Column: The journey of Heather McGhee, the Chicago-born author of ‘The Sum of Us,’ a bestseller on what racism costs us all

By Mary Schmich

April 16, 2021 at 5:26 p.m.

On the dedication page of Heather McGhee's bestselling book, "The Sum of Us," are three...

People demonstrate Jan. 5, 2021, at the Thompson Center for a bill for an elected board of education for Chicago Public Schools.

Column: Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s idea of an ‘elected school board’ in Chicago is no such thing. Thankfully.

By Eric Zorn

April 16, 2021 at 3:59 p.m.

In the 2019 mayoral campaign scrum, two main camps emerged among the candidates regarding the...

U.S. soldiers sit beneath an American flag raised to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at Forward Operating Base Bostick in Kunar province, Afghanistan, on Sept. 11, 2011.

Column: Biden faces the tragic truth in Afghanistan

By Steve Chapman

April 16, 2021 at 2:13 p.m.

For most of the past 20 years, the United States has had a clear policy...

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