Columns

The new Cragin Park Fieldhouse stands Oct. 15, 2026, in Chicago’s Belmont Cragin neighborhood. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Edward Keegan: Is the minimalist fieldhouse in Chicago’s Cragin Park architecture or just a building??

By Edward Keegan

October 18, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The Cragin Park Fieldhouse expresses a clear architectural character with its exposed steel structure. I...

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”...

Chrissy Teigen, seen at the Grammy Awards on Jan. 26, 2020, has referenced her sobriety on recent Instagram posts.

Column: Why Chrissy Teigen giving up alcohol has one sober mom supporter feeling optimistic

By Heidi Stevens

January 5, 2021 at 6:17 p.m.

Chrissy Teigen's no-frills announcement that she gave up drinking was music to the ears of...

President Donald Trump speaks on South Lawn of the White House in Washington in September.

Column: After the Trump era, this country needs a different kind of truth commission

By Ron Grossman

January 5, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

If a child of mine echoed some of the bizarre things Donald Trump has said...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, greets a crowd at a campaign rally for Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., on Jan. 2, 2021, in Cumming, Georgia.

Column: Ted Cruz, other GOP senators fight for Trump over ‘voter fraud,’ but what about ghost and demon voters?

By Rex W. Huppke

January 4, 2021 at 3:19 p.m.

I applaud the brave cadre of Senate Republicans who plan to use evidence-free conjecture this...

Mayra Jackson smiles with her son Jordan Jackson, 9, on Dec. 29, 2020, at her sister's home where the Jacksons are staying in Evanston.

Column: After reading about fire that destroyed Evanston family’s home, he gave them his paycheck

By Heidi Stevens

January 4, 2021 at 1:46 p.m.

When a fire destroyed the Jackson family's apartment two days before Christmas, Jeron Dorsey learned...

Passengers wait on the Roosevelt CTA "L" train platform at rush hour, on Dec. 4, 2020.

COVID-19 vaccines move back-to-the-office plans closer to reality. Here are some key challenges for 2021.

By Ryan Ori

January 4, 2021 at 5:25 p.m.

COVID-19 vaccines are only a first step toward a return to the office, but they...

US President Donald Trump boards Airforce One while departing from Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida on Dec. 31, 2020, as he travels back to Washington, DC after his Christmas holiday break in Mar-a-Lago.

Column: 2021 New Year Predictions: Trump forms his own country (Scamsylvania) and pants are outlawed.

By Rex W. Huppke

January 1, 2021 at 3:05 p.m.

Greetings, fellow Americans, and welcome to the sixth-annual edition of Rex Huppke's 100%-Solid-As-A-Rock-No-Doubt-Guaranteed New Year's...

Teacher Lucy Baldwin communicates with her middle school students by way of remote learning during the first day of school at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy of Social Justice on Sept. 8, 2020.

Column: Remote learning takes a toll on students’ mental health. But returning to classrooms won’t be easy either.

By Heidi Stevens

December 31, 2020 at 2:28 p.m.

One of the loudest arguments for sending kids back inside their classrooms despite a raging...

Light fades on the Chicago skyline as the sun sets on Dec. 20, 2020.

Column: A fearless look ahead after a dreadful year

By Eric Zorn

January 2, 2021 at 2:26 p.m.

The majority, or in some cases plurality, of more than 870 respondents to my annual...

Walter Smith, a respiratory therapist, gives oxygen to a COVID-19 patient Dec. 16, 2020, before intubating him shortly after he was transferred to the intensive care unit from the main ward for COVID-19 patients at Uniontown Hospital in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The hospital is at capacity with about half of its beds, including all 15 beds in the ICU, being taken up by patients who are positive for COVID-19.

Column: The pandemic has been a national test. We flunked.

By Steve Chapman

December 30, 2020 at 3:48 p.m.

Over the past century, there have been times when Americans showed they could unite to...

Supporters of President Donald Trump rally at Freedom Plaza in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020. Some supporters of Trump are certain the election was fraudulent. Others aren't so sure. What becomes of their skepticism has important implications for American democracy.

Column: Politics in 2021 — Will the blurring of reality and fantasy continue?

By Clarence Page

December 30, 2020 at 1:32 p.m.

President Donald Trump is on his way out of the White House, but not much...

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