[chicagotribune]

They were Chicago children going to school. Then they became prey, betrayed by adults who raped or sexually abused them.

One young track star was sexually assaulted 40 times by a coach. Her school had allowed the man to volunteer despite his criminal record.

A male student was attacked by a lunchroom aide after the teen accepted a ride home. That school employee also had a criminal record.

Reporting the abuse wasn’t easy for students. One girl recalled being publicly called out of class to talk about a guard who groped her.

Another girl endured repeated interrogations after she reported that a teacher had kissed her face and touched her thigh.

Chicago students weren’t the only ones put at risk. One teacher was hired in Florida after Chicago let him resign while under investigation.

Students — No school employee should ever touch you sexually, make sexual comments to you or ask you to have sex. If this happens, here’s how to report it and what to expect.

[chicagotribune]

White Sox are first MLB team to ditch single-use plastic straws

The White Sox are ditching straws this season as part of the Shedd Aquarium’s “Shedd the Straw” initiative.

[chicagotribune]

Sen. Tammy Duckworth brings baby to Senate floor to send message to 'working parents everywhere'

Following the birth of Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s baby last week, the U.S. Senate took a historic step Wednesday by voting to allow its members to bring babies onto the chamber floor. Duckworth didn’t waste any time taking advantage of the new rule.

[chicagotribune]

Brain-damaging lead found in tap water in hundreds of homes tested across Chicago, results show

Amid renewed national attention to the dangers of lead poisoning, hundreds of Chicagoans have taken the city up on its offer of free testing kits to determine if they are drinking tap water contaminated with the brain-damaging metal.

A Tribune analysis of the results shows lead was found in water drawn from nearly 70 percent of the 2,797 homes tested during the past two years. Tap water in 3 of every 10 homes sampled had lead concentrations above 5 parts per billion, the maximum allowed in bottled water by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Alarming amounts of the toxic metal turned up in water samples collected throughout the city, the newspaper’s analysis found, largely because Chicago required the use of lead service lines between street mains and homes until Congress banned the practice in 1986.

The testing kit results provide the most conclusive evidence yet of widespread hazards that have remained hidden for decades. Yet as Mayor Rahm Emanuel borrows hundreds of millions of dollars to overhaul the city’s public water system, Chicago is keeping lead service lines in the ground.

[chicagotribune]

50 years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis.

His death set off more than 100 riots across the country, including the most devastating civil disturbance in Chicago’s history.

Today, a difficult question remains: Why are pockets of Chicago’s West Side still decimated?

[chicagotribune]

After 23 years in prison as an innocent man, former White Sox groundskeeper returns to his old job

Nevest Coleman was a well-respected groundskeeper for the White Sox when he was wrongly arrested in connection with a rape and murder in 1994. Today, he returned to work.

[chicagotribune]

A Michigan man hobbled into a Chicago hospital. His injury: a week-old gunshot wound from the Syrian civil war

A handful of Americans have joined Syrian forces allied with the U.S. during recent years, according to experts. Most are young adults, idealists, those with a military background who sympathize and romanticize, the fight for freedom.

[vintagetribune]

Chicago Police Officer Henry Davis was responsible for helping rescue 17 people in a fire on May 27, 1959. Davis, 34, and an ex-firefighter, discovered the fire at 9 E. 18th St. while walking his beat. He ran inside and began rousing the residents. Photo by Jack Mulcahy.

[chicagotribune]

Gov. Rauner drinks chocolate milk to demonstrate his commitment to diversity

“It’s really, really good,” Rauner said after taking a sip. “Diversity!”

[chicagotribune]

A WGN anchor told a Muslim blogger that she didn't 'sound like an American.' Her response went viral.

She’s a hashtag; she’s a meme. Chicago fashion blogger Hoda Katebi’s response to a WGN-TV news anchor who told her that she doesn’t “sound like an American” when she criticizes U.S. policy in the Middle East has been reported by media in Russia, England and Dubai. More than 10 million people have seen online clips of the contentious interview.

[chicagotribune]

Take 5 minutes, read this and you’ll understand the whole Trump-Russia controversy

Don’t feel bad if you’re mystified by what’s going on with the Trump-Russia investigations. There’s a blizzard of misinformation out there. But if you read this, you’ll have a grip.

[chicagotribune]

Obama portraits unveiled at National Portrait Gallery

The former president’s portrait features flowers in the background: chrysanthemums referencing the official flower of Chicago, jasmine evoking his native Hawaii and African blue lilies in memory of his late father. The former first lady’s shows her in a long flowing sleeveless black and white dress embellished with geometric shapes by designer Michelle Smith’s label, Milly.

[vintagetribune]

Alice Sousta, left, and Blanche Goodman, right, two of the star performers among the “feminine court stars” at the Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne Works in 1929.

[chicagotribune]

Man whose DACA status expired goes to traffic court in Skokie, is picked up by ICE

A man whose DACA immigration status lapsed was arrested this week by ICE agents as he was leaving traffic court in Skokie.

[chicagotribune]

Illinois has the nation's third-largest population of immigrants covered by DACA.

Who are these so-called Dreamers? The Tribune’s Abel Uribe photographed more than 40 people from a dozen countries to better understand.

[chicagotribune]

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian name baby Chicago West

Rapper Kanye West hasn't lived in Chicago for years, but the city is still close to his heart. He and wife Kim Kardashian named their newborn daughter Chicago West.

[chicagotribune]

Google's art selfies aren't available in Illinois. Here's why.

The Google Art and Culture app’s new feature seems to be everywhere as social media streams are flooded with photos of friends and the great works of art that resemble them — that is, everywhere but Illinois.