LOGAN SQUARE — The neighborhood’s only gelato shop has permanently closed after more than a decade in the area. Heavenly Gelato and Ice Cream Cafe, 2662 N. Sawyer Ave., closed up shop just before Halloween and neighborhood restaurant/bar owner Esam Hani will take over the space, he confirmed. Hani said he plans to make the former gelato shop an event space connected to The Old Plank, his most recent restaurant next door that opened in May. Since the restaurant’s opening, Hani said he has host

When Richard Costes moved to Chicago in 2007, he hoped to start his own theater company with college friends. But as a deaf actor and playwright, he had a difficult time finding employment. Costes bounced around other cities seeking work, then moved back to Chicago in 2014 after securing a finance job. Now, he performs with companies like Victory Gardens, Chicago Shakespeare, Porchlight Music Theatre, and Red Tape Theatre.

At the intersection of Armitage and Kedzie Avenues, just behind The Moonlighter and across from Giant, is a colorful mushroom garden. It spreads along the wall next to Idealty/Blnk Haus and catches the eyes of any passersby wanting to take in the scenery.

What the history of current events podcasts can tell us about what’s coming next.

Over 500 students, parents and community members rallied together at the Logan Square monument to show support for the thousands of CPS teachers on strike for a fourth day.

Oct. 19 marks the first-ever National Period Day and in Chicago, women and supporters of increased accessibility to menstrual products gathered at Federal Plaza to rally against period poverty and stigma.

James “The Oil Man.” Arthur, the 72-year-old self-taught hip-hop producer. Midge, owner of a popular black hair salon. Chicago police officer Stephen Boyd, who works in the Englewood gang unit as a side hustle — but is also an actor and comedian. These are the people who make up Chicago’s South Side. Their stories come alive in a new podcast by WBEZ and Comedy Central called South Side Stories, created and hosted by Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin, the duo behind Comedy Central’s hit TV show “South Side.”

As the 100th anniversary of Chicago’s 1919 race riot approached, WBEZ reporter Natalie Y. Moore wanted to commemorate the occasion through the medium she knows best: radio. But instead of the sober reporting you’d see from traditional media outlets, Moore wrote an audio play recreating the events as they would have been heard and experienced. To do that, she teamed up with the Make-Believe Association, a local storytelling organization that creates socially-driven audio dramas.

Chicago is in the throes of change on every corner. Politically, we have a more progressive body that is hopefully moving in a more desired direction; deindustrialization and gentrification are jolting forces hitting both North, West and South Side communities; displacement and business turnover is common, creating massive neighborhood change.

Chicago has been named the top U.S. big city to visit for the third year in a row by Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards. The awards are the longest-running and most prestigious recognition of excellence in the travel industry.

CHICAGO — Parents know the drill: get grilled about the sex of your child during pregnancy, and expect an onslaught of pink or blue everything at the shower depending on the answer. Though gender stereotypes are decidedly less relevant in 2019, the kids clothing world remains hyper-gendered — and local fashion designer and mom Melissa Serpico Kamhout is out to change that.

CHICAGO — E-scooter safety has been an issue since scooters first rolled out in the city’s test pilot zones, but one local scooter company is trying to combat unsafe riding with new technology.

Harold Washington Library’s Cindy Pritzker Auditorium was a full house at the opening screening of a new local series focusing on injustices in the criminal justice system. On Sept. 12, The Marshall Project released 15 video testimonies of Chicago voices affected by the justice system, “We Are Witnesses: Chicago,” is the latest installment of the nonprofit news organization’s award-winning short film series “We Are Witnesses” which explores the nature of crime, punishment and forgiveness.

Thousands of hats perched on wooden sticks line a soccer field, stopping passersby, athletes, community members and coaches in Joliet to take in the scene. The 2,400 hats were donated from 2,400 student high school students from 72 Chicago-area schools who delivered one winter hat and $1 each to bring attention to the same amount of murders during a high school career in four years, from 2016 to 2019.

A new report by the Jane Addams Senior Caucus and Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) looked into the Chicago Housing Authorities’ Language Access Services for CHA residents and applicants and found grim results.

PAWS Chicago welcomed almost 50 animals from Florida who were affected by Hurricane Dorian, which has ravaged islands in The Bahamas and is heading for Florida's coast.

LOGAN SQUARE — Less than two months after a longtime Latino business closed up shop, a new one is opening in its place. Rey’s Tools and Supplies moved into 3738 W. Fullerton Ave. in July and had a soft opening Aug. 12. The store plans to celebrate with a grand opening sometime in September, once all the finishing touches are in place.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign chairman and longtime activist Michael Bauer has died after a lengthy battle with cancer.

LOGAN SQUARE — The group behind The Whale is gearing up to open a new tavern in Logan Square. The new bar, called Welcome Back Lounge, is planned for 2423 N. Milwaukee Ave., right next to The Whale, according to a building permit on its front door. Construction was underway Thursday as two people on scaffolding traced out the bar’s name and then painted it red against a turquoise background.

A viral video has launched a Chicago-area native into the internet spotlight. A man from La Grange, who posts videos under monikers Joey Santore and Tony Santoro, is a "A Low-Brow, Crass Approach to Plant Ecology as muttered by a Misanthropic Chicago Italian," according to his YouTube page, Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't.