Commentary

Wanda Jemison, who has worked at Conn-Selmer for 18 years, soders a complete Vincent Bach trumpet by hand at the factory in Elkhart, Indiana Wednesday, March 27, 2024. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Look inside the Indiana company trying to re-create the world's best trumpets

Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians help Conn-Selmer’s quest for the perfect instrument.

By Neil Steinberg

White Sox

Tim Anderson on his rise and fall with the White Sox and trying to 'get back to the player I used to be'

Anderson talked smack, flipped bats and became the coolest thing about a Sox team seemingly headed for great things. Then it all went “poof.” In town with the Marlins, he discussed it on Thursday.

By Steve Greenberg

Rendering of a proposed new White Sox ballpark at The 78.

Sports

Chicago stadiums, arenas and real estate make for a playground for the wealthy

We all love sports teams, but regular people don’t own the buildings or the land they frolic upon. We just pay homage to the teams — and to the power-laden who own them.

By Rick Telander

Columnists

Democratic Party leaders meet in Chicago this week for pre-convention talks

In Chicago, the Democratic National Committee leaders will pick the members of the party’s platform, rules and credentials committees at the last party meeting before the August convention to renominate President Joe Biden.

By Lynn Sweet

Editorials

Anthony Robinson spent 11 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Too often, justice misses the mark.

Evidence shows Robinson, who was exonerated and finally released April 8, could not have committed the murder. On many level, the justice system failed.

By CST Editorial Board

REEDPROTEST-041024-33.jpgActivists “shut down” the intersection of West Harrison Street, and South Kenzie Avenue during a protest over the fatal shooting of Dexter Reed in an exchange of gunfire back in March, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Letters to the Editor

Dexter Reed's shooting is no comparison to killing of Laquan McDonald

Reed fired at the officers first, prompting them to fire back. He turned a traffic stop into a violent incident, a reader from Irving Park writes.

By Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Pass bill to protect kids from the dangers of illegal e-cigarettes

A teen writes in favor of proposed legislation to require vape manufacturers to provide stores and gas stations with a certification that lists the details of their products, to ensure the products being sold are legal.

By Letters to the Editor

White Sox

If only the White Sox had what the Reds have, instead of having … nothing

Not to tell new Sox general manager Chris Getz how to do his job, but he probably should go out and find at least one superstar talent who actually can stay on the field. You know, just a thought.

By Steve Greenberg

Columnists

The art of Lisa Edelstein: 'Messy, imperfect, awkward, beautiful, these people'

Edelstein, a popular actor on TV, mines art from the piles of old photographs that everyone is burdened with eventually.

By Neil Steinberg

Columnists

How Chicago got buried under a mountain of pension debt

Part of the pension mess that’s emerged in the past two decades stems from state laws that made it easier for the city to underfund its pension systems.

By Ralph Martire

Other Views

Investing in Black maternal health is the right move for Illinois

From 2018 to 2020, Black women in Illinois were three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related medical conditions than white women. This initiative aims to make improvements.

By Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton

*** BESTPIX *** Texas National Guard Works To Secure Southern Border In El Paso

Editorials

Work permits for all undocumented immigrants? That's asking too much.

Advocates pushing President Biden to make this drastic, legally questionable move should stick with more reasonable measures to help a smaller number of undocumented immigrants, including DACA recipients.

By CST Editorial Board

Columnists

Having a cow: A farmer's tale

Columnist Gene Lyons recalls how a cow named Trudy gave birth to a newborn calf who initially had trouble being nursed.

By Gene Lyons

Letters to the Editor

Youth sports officials are targets of harassment and disrespect. It needs to stop.

Because of widespread mistreatment by parents, coaches and players, many youth sports officials are quitting or not returning for a second season. That could lead to the end of youth sports as we know it.

By Letters to the Editor

Columnists

Republicans are now the party of Putin

It’s worth exploring how the Republican Party, the party of “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” became the party of Vladimir Putin, trafficking in Russian disinformation and flirting with betraying an important ally, Ukraine, along with all of its principles.

By Mona Charen

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a gathering in Manchester, N.H., last year.

Columnists

No dice for No Labels? How Chris Christie almost made third-party presidential run — but didn't

In an exclusive interview, Dan K. Webb, who was in charge of creating the vetting process for the No Labels third-party run, tells Michael Sneed “the ticket came this/close to reality weeks ago.”

By Michael Sneed

College Sports

DePaul's Chris Holtmann got off the mat and went back to work — like never before

After being fired for the first time in his career, Holtmann wanted to unplug from basketball. Instead, he plugged back in.

By Steve Greenberg

Columnists

Memo to Jerry Reinsdorf: There's 'next to no appetite' in Springfield to fund new stadium

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon clears up any confusion on stadium talk and a proposed biometric privacy law that has had businesses in a tizzy.

By Rich Miller

Good_Times_n_S1_E1_00_00_51_19.jpeg, The voiceover cast of the new animated Netflix series "Good Times" features Jay Pharoah as Junior (from left), Marsai Martin as Grey, Yvette Nicole Brown as Beverly, Gerald Anthony 'Slink' Johnson as Dalvin and JB Smoove as Reggie in Good Times. . Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2024

Entertainment and Culture

'Good Times' animated revamp a far — and unsettling — cry from the landmark original series

Maybe the show’s creators pushed the envelope way too far, or maybe they are simply ahead of their time.

By Arionne Nettles

U.S. Capitol Police officers stand at an intersection near the U.S. Capitol and a Library of Congress building in Washington on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, as law enforcement investigate a report of a possible explosive device in a pickup truck.

Democracy Solutions Project

Violent threats against politicians are a risk to democracy

Threats and harassment are more common against officeholders who are people of color, a University of Illinois Chicago professor writes.

By Alexandra Filindra

A crowd of pedestrians react as they watch the Jumbotron television screen in New York's Times Square, Oct. 3, 1995, and the news that O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

Columnists

O.J. Simpson is gone, but the division his life reflected remains

The legacy Orenthal James Simpson leaves behind is painful, a study of what truly drives American culture.

By Scoop Jackson

Editorials

FDA should ban formaldehyde in hair relaxers

Thousands of lawsuits have been filed by Black women alleging that the products cause cancer or other diseases. A ban on formaldehyde, a carcinogen commonly used in relaxers, is pending with the Food and Drug Administration.

By CST Editorial Board

Gail and Tom Wise wear black coats as they sit in an early 1965 light blue convertible Ford Mustang with the top down, in front of a closed, off-white garage door.

Gail Wise bought the first Ford Mustang sold in the United States; 60 years later, she still owns it

By Neil Steinberg

Columnists

The varied memories of O.J. Simpson come busting through

Has there ever been an athlete — I could almost say, has there ever been a man? — who rose to such a peak in life and then descended into such a valley?

By Rick Telander

FILE - In this Oct. 3, 1995, file photo, O.J. Simpson reacts as he is found not guilty in the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in Los Angeles. Defense attorneys F. Lee Bailey, left, and Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. stand with

Commentary

O. J. Simpson's murder trial exposed America's great divide

Simpson’s death won’t bring an end to debate over his acquittal on murder charges.

By Mary Mitchell

Community members, activists and family members of Dexter Reed rally outside the District 11 police station, after COPA released body camera footage of the fatal police involved shooting of Dexter Reed, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Letters to the Editor

Sobering thoughts about the 96 shots police fired at Dexter Reed

Dexter Reed’s shooting reminds one letter writer of something she was told in the 1960s: “If a cop uses his gun, he doesn’t fire just once.”

By Letters to the Editor

White Sox

There's nothing surprising about the White Sox' awful start — not the losses, not the injuries

Bad players and an owner who doesn’t care are a recipe for disaster.

By Rick Morrissey

Porscha Banks, sister of Dexter Reed, shouts at Chicago police officers as activists try to de-escalate the situation during a protest outside the District 11 police station, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Reed was shot and killed by police in an exchange of gunfire back in March.

Editorials

Dexter Reed's shooting leaves Chicago with questions that demand answers

It’s tragic when a civilian is killed and a police officer wounded during what began as an apparent traffic stop. What’s needed now is a fair and thorough investigation of the March 21 shooting of Dexter Reed and an action plan for preventing another deadly incident.

By CST Editorial Board

Donald Trump speaks while pointing to something or someone while standing at a lectern and microphone.

Columnists

Donald Trump's abortion stance is politically convenient and sensible

The Constitution does not give Congress the authority to regulate abortion. It’s an issue for the states.

By Jacob Sullum

Donald Trump speaks to workers standing near the counter of a Chick-fil-A.

Columnists

Donald Trump abandons anti-abortion folks. Will they stick with him?

Former President Trump has kicked the abortion issue over to the states, which can rightly be seen as an act of political cowardice and expediency.

By S. E. Cupp

Letters to the Editor

Tell the truth about immigration: It makes America stronger

Immigrants pay hundreds of billions in taxes each year, helping to fund the nation’s K-12 schools, Medicaid and Social Security.

By Letters to the Editor

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson stand together near a sign that says "Let Immigrants Work!"

La Voz Chicago

Para reactivar la economía, Biden debe otorgar permisos de trabajo a todos los inmigrantes indocumentados

Dos líderes de organizaciones sin fines de lucro de Chicago abogan por que el Presidente conceda permisos de trabajo a 10.5 millones de inmigrantes indocumentados que viven en los Estados Unidos, 500,000 de ellos en Illinois.

By Raul Raymundo and Sylvia Puente