Lack of rainfall in recent weeks has left the Mississippi River approaching record low levels in some areas from Missouri south through Louisiana. The U.S. Coast Guard said at least eight “groundings” of barges have been reported in the past week, despite low-water restrictions on barge loads.

There are more than 500 employment laws, policies and sanctions that prevent people with criminal records from accessing employment in Illinois. While those barriers exist in many industries, some employers focus specifically on hiring people who are re-entering society after prison.

The number of available jobs in the U.S. plummeted in August compared with July as businesses grow less desperate for workers, a trend that could cool chronically high inflation.

John Brennan, a real estate investor and civic leader who was an active WTTW and WFMT trustee for the last 18 years, died suddenly on Monday. He was 60 years old.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to close a projected $170.6 million budget gap in 2023 relies on booming tax revenues that she said proves Chicago’s budget has fully recovered from the economic catastrophe caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with accepting items for donation, experts will be on hand to share tips not only about recycling but re-using, re-purposing and reducing consumption.

A new high school is slated to be built at 24th and State streets, with the recent blessing of the Chicago Board of Education. It was a tight 4-3 vote, an indication of how controversial the plan is considering that residents of Chinatown, the South Loop and surrounding communities have been asking for a new school for decades.

Northwestern University on Wednesday unveiled plans for a state-of-the-art $800 million stadium, which would replace the almost 100-year-old Ryan Field. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot did not explain Thursday how she would propose to bridge the city’s projected 2023 budget shortfall, which is now 33% bigger than the gap she detailed nearly two months ago.

The economy shrank in the first half of this year, the government confirmed in a report Thursday, underscoring fears of a broad-based slowdown that could lead to a recession.

Illinois was supposed to be the national model when government leaders pledged they’d use the 2020 legalization of marijuana to right the wrongs of the war on drugs that disproportionately harmed Black and Latino communities. Nearly three years later, those poised to benefit say they’re still stymied.

The volatile trading comes a day after a broad sell-off sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average into a bear market, joining other major U.S. indexes.

Northern Indiana Public Service Company is retiring the 130-acre Michigan City Generating Station, which has been burning coal for electricity for nearly a century. The company is also cleaning up decades of coal ash byproduct. But advocates say plans to leave some coal ash on the site puts groundwater and Lake Michigan in danger of contamination. 

There’s good news for those apartment hunting in downtown Chicago as record-high prices begin to cool off. And airline passengers will have more power and goodwill under a new federal proposal that would force fees to be disclosed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1%, becoming the last of the major U.S. stock indexes to fall into what’s known as a bear market. The S&P 500 closed 1% lower and the Nasdaq dropped 0.6%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.6%, closing at its lowest level since late 2020. The S&P 500 fell 1.7%, close to its 2022 low set in mid-June, while the Nasdaq slid 1.8%. The selling capped another rough week on Wall Street, leaving the major indexes with their fifth weekly loss in six weeks.