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President Barack Obama will honor a diverse cross-section of political and cultural icons — including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, astronaut John Glenn, basketball coach Pat Summitt and rock legend Bob Dylan — with the Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony Tuesday.T

Police in Chicago are investigating the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy who was gunned down while eating pizza with his sister.Police officials say the shooting happened early Tuesday in the city's Uptown neighborhood.Police say the siblings were eating with one of the sister's friends w

WBEZ's Alex Keefe joined Eight Forty-Eight to preview this week in news.

Villarreal, 52, says he’s spent his “whole life pretty much in Bridgeport.” When asked about the old days, he talks of race and ethnicity without hesitation and without prompting. But today, he says, “there’s more blacks around here and more Latin people around here and stuff…. People are more accepting of other races.”

The Chicago Transit Authority says it's improving efforts to hire veterans.In a statement on Memorial Day, CTA President Forrest Claypool announced a hiring policy that gives veterans preference.According to the policy, the agency's goal is to attract at least a 20 percent pool of veterans d

The sweltering Memorial Day weekend was a violent one in the city of Chicago with more than 40 shootings and ten homicides reported over the four-day span.Among those killed is a man who was shot near a holiday party in the South Shore neighborhood late Monday.Police say neighbors reported hearing a

Veterans hold competing events — one patriotic, the other antiwar — in downtown Chicago.