Mayor Brandon Johnson’s picks, which include a mix of well-known community activists and candidates who lost their bids to win a seat on the board, will join the 10 people who won in November.

We’re live from City Hall with the latest on the budget battle. Efforts to regulate the state’s hemp industry. And a look at Chicago food insecurity.

A student opened fire at a private Christian school Monday morning in Wisconsin, killing two people in the final week before Christmas break. The shooter also died, police said.

Public health officials are encouraging residents to get vaccinated as soon as possible so they can get some protection ahead of holiday gatherings.

Illinois lawmakers passed legislation in 2018 to allow the commercial production of hemp, the same year Congress legalized hemp nationwide through the 2018 Farm Bill.

The budget passed 27-23, with just 18 days to spare, averting an unprecedented shutdown of city government.

After more than a few false IDs and several tantalizing random hints of an otter-like shoulder or tail, one of the zoo’s cameras finally clicked at the right moment and, for the first time in nearly 15 years, caught an otter in full view.

Reliance on school buses has been waning for years as districts struggle to find drivers and more students attend schools far outside their neighborhoods.

Submissions are due by Jan. 4 or whenever entries hit 20,000, whichever comes first.

With one in five Chicagoans facing food insecurity, residents are working to feed their own with grassroots efforts led by community nonprofits.

The spending plan still calls for a host of other taxes and fees to rise by an additional $165.5 million, including increases in the taxes levied on software licenses, cloud services and other digital goods as well as subscriptions to streaming and cable television services.

Federal agencies are facing intense pressure to give the public more details on unexplained drone sightings in the New York City metropolitan area that have been going on for weeks over residential neighborhoods as well as restricted sites and critical infrastructure.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said it is investigating an “off-duty officer involved incident” after a 26-year-old man was struck during an exchange of gunfire in the 1000 block of South Mayfield Avenue.

A federal appeals court left in place a mid-January deadline in a federal law requiring TikTok to be sold or face a ban in the United States, rejecting a request made by the company to halt enforcement until the Supreme Court reviews its challenge of the statute.

Why the mayor called off a budget vote. Pritzker pushes back on mass deportations. And calls for a crackdown on unregulated hemp.