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As a new tornado season begins, Illinois officials say they need more help from the federal government, and Sens. Kirk and Durbin have reintroduced a bill proposing changes to the disaster formula.

Latinos are the most uninsured group in the country, but they're newly leery of President Obama and the Affordable Care Act.

More Americans are hopping on a bus or taking a train to get to work. Public transit ridership in the U.S. is now at the highest that it has been in more than half a century.

Several U.S. senators want to name the ATF's Washington headquarters after Eliot Ness, credited with bringing down mobster Al Capone. But some Chicago officials say Ness doesn't deserve the glory.

Midwest refineries are processing crude oil from Canada's tar sands. Chicago officials voted to ban any new companies from storing petroleum coke in the city, and said existing companies can't expand.

In Chicago, a boycott has begun to protest the extent of standardized testing. Parents and teachers are saying that a recent test is useless, so hundreds are opting out or refusing to administer it.

Supporters of the Affordable Care Act are working in Chicago and several other cities to sign up cabbies for health insurance as the March 31 open enrollment deadline nears.

Charlie Trotter was one of the country's most influential chefs. His death comes just a year after he closed his namesake restaurant in Chicago. Authorities plan to conduct an autopsy on Wednesday.

Women and Children First has weathered more than three decades of competition from chain stores and online booksellers to become one of the largest feminist bookstores in the U.S. Now, the Chicago store is among the few of its kind left standing — and it's on the hunt for new ownership.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Minnesota, but not in Illinois. That has Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak on a mission to attract gays and lesbians to spend their wedding dollars in his city.

The recent chemical attack on civilians in Syria galvanized international condemnation against the supposed perpetrator, Bashar al-Assad's regime. The U.S. is expected to take some sort of military action. But what should be the goals of the U.S. and its allies? Experts, diplomats, world leaders are weighing in — but, perhaps, nowhere else are these questions felt more deeply than among those in Syrian-American community.

Chicago is preparing for the first day of school, which has extra challenges this year. The city closed about 50 schools recently, so some children will have to walk through dangerous neighborhoods to get to class. The city is expanding its "Safe Passage" program, training workers who will be stationed on school routes to protect students.

The strategist behind the 1963 march will posthumously receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom this year. As a gay man, his position in the movement was questioned. But now he is considered "an amazing role model" for activists of color who are also gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

After more than 20 years as Chicago's Mayor, Richard Daley is working with the new Mayor of Gary, Ind., to try to revitalize that rust belt city. Daley is a senior fellow at the University of Chicago and his students are also helping in the transformation effort.

In Chicago, there's a 2.5 mile roadway that the city's mayor calls the "Bat Cave." It's been around for more than a decade but it's more secret than public. The mini-highway was designed to ferry conventioneers to Chicago's massive McCormick Place convention hall. It's also a favorite of politicians with just the right amount of clout. Now, some want taxis to have access too.

Chicago's school district is laying off 2,000-plus workers, more than 1,000 of them are teachers. These layoffs are in addition to 855 employees who were laid off in June because of the decision to close 49 elementary schools and a high school program. Chicago Public Schools is blaming this round of layoffs on the schools' $1 billion budget deficit and the lack of pension reform.

NPR conducted the poll of African-American communities with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. While the gap between the well-off and poor in the U.S. has stretched wide in recent years, we found that black Americans describe their financial divide as a nearly 50-50 split, and it affects how they view the world.

The city has torn down all of its high rises and says it's close to completing its plans to transform public housing. Chicago leaders want to use public housing funds to build not just homes for poor families, but stores as well. However, some say that breaks a promise to provide affordable housing.

The Chicago school board voted to close dozens of schools, despite community protests that the closings disproportionately affect minority students. Now the teachers union and community activists want to change the system and oust the elected officials who disagreed with them.

Just days ago, three women and a child escaped from a Cleveland house they'd been held in for years. On Thursday, accused kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro appeared in court. A judge set bond for Castro at $8 million.