Columns

Chicago school board president candidates Jessica Biggs, Hilario Dominguez and Victor Henderson participate in a forum at the Copernicus Center on Sept. 29, 2026. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)

David Greising: The race for Chicago school board president is about ideas — and character

By David Greising

October 9, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

It will take savvy strategic thinking, backed by the character needed for leadership, to make...

Heidi Stevens: I wish we modeled better care for the young people who are making sense of the world right now

By Heidi Stevens

October 9, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

I hope that when we’re all writing our stories, the ones that are still being...

Far-right activist Jake Lang stands on the back of a truck displaying anti-Muslim messages during a demonstration outside the annual Palestine Fest at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Oct. 4, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)

Steve Chapman: Republicans are fanning baseless fears about American Muslims

By Steve Chapman

October 8, 2026 at 10:10 a.m.

You might expect that as the memory of the 9/11 attacks and the global war...

Andre Rawls, center, cheers with other supporters of Leo High School during a watch party in Chicago’s Auburn-Gresham neighborhood as the school choir competes live in the finale of America’s Got Talent, Sept. 23, 2025. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)

Heidi Stevens: At the end of an imperfect year, a list that reminds us what tomorrow is for

By Heidi Stevens

December 25, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

There’s still more growing, healing, loving and protecting to do, so here are the things...

A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter watches over guests attending the SDF victory ceremony announcing the defeat of the Islamic State group in Baghouz held at Omer Oil Field on March 23, 2019, in Deir Al Zor, Syria. The Kurdish-led and American-backed SDF declared the "100% territorial defeat" of the Islamic State group. (Chris McGrath/Getty)

Daniel DePetris: Attacks in Australia and Syria show how difficult it is to eliminate terrorism

By Daniel DePetris

December 23, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Terrorist groups don’t need control of territory to inspire attacks halfway around the world.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles watches as President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington on Oct. 17, 2025. (Tom Brenner/Getty-AFP)

Clarence Page: It’s hard to hide the dysfunction of the Trump White House

By Clarence Page

December 21, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

As President Donald Trump oversells the fruits of his economic stewardship, controversies keep boiling.

I asked readers for stories of the people who shaped them. So many poured in that I ran out of room in my first column. Today I’m sharing a few more. (Redhotvector/Dreamstime)

Heidi Stevens: More stories of the people who shaped us — and a reminder that our kindness is never wasted

By Heidi Stevens

December 19, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

If you get a chance to ask someone in your life to talk about a...

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks to the media at City Hall after meeting with a group of City Council members to talk about the city’s budget Dec. 15, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/baiduhai)

David Greising: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s billion-dollar borrowing plan is risky business

By David Greising

December 19, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Mayor Brandon Johnson's borrowing plans, which will have both immediate and yearslong ramifications, have not...

Cpl. Edward Chin of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, covers the face of a statue of Saddam Hussein with an American flag before toppling the statue in downtown Baghdad on April 9, 2003. (Jerome Delay/AP)

Daniel DePetris: Donald Trump is conducting a secret war

By Daniel DePetris

December 16, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Donald Trump hasn’t even bothered to make a case about why military action off Venezuela’s...

One Bennett Park, center, in Streeterville, July 29, 2019. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)

Edward Keegan: Robert A.M. Stern wrote 7,000 pages about New York architecture. Who can write Chicago’s tome?

By Edward Keegan

December 14, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Robert A.M. Stern's books form the definitive history of New York’s architecture. Why doesn't Chicago...

Protesters including children gather on May 24, 2025, in London to demand the return of the Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. According to the Ukrainian government, more than 19,500 children have been forcibly taken by Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. To date, only 1,307 of these children have been safely returned to areas under Ukrainian government control. (Alishia Abodunde/Getty)

Elizabeth Shackelford: Normalizing Russia normalizes the mass abduction of Ukrainian children

By Elizabeth Shackelford

December 12, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have...

Samantha Wilcek decorated her Christmas tree in Hot Wheels this year, in honor of her car-loving son, Chris, who died in July at age 21. (Courtesy of Samantha Wilcek/TNS)

Heidi Stevens: Wrapped in love — and cars — a Christmas tree honors a mom’s promise to her late son

By Heidi Stevens

December 12, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

For Samantha Wilcek, who lost her 21-year-old, a Christmas tree, so often a place to...

A Lego portrait of President Donald Trump decorates the Green Room of the White House during a press preview of the Christmas decorations Dec. 1, 2025, in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty)

Daniel DePetris: The good and the bad in Donald Trump’s national security strategy

By Daniel DePetris

December 11, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

The White House preaches the value of noninterventionism, but this is hard to square with...

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