A Portage Park man charged in the fatal shooting of a 9-year-old girl. Why thousands of Illinoisans are being kicked off Medicaid. And remembering Chicago native and film legend William Friedkin.

For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid recipients are being asked to provide proof of their eligibility.

The United States is now at a record 15 different weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced. It’s the most mega-disasters through the first seven months of the year since the agency tracked such things starting in 1980.

Michael Goodman, 43, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting that left Serabi Medina dead outside her home on the city’s Northwest Side.

Born in Chicago on Aug. 29, 1939, he began working in local TV productions as a teenager. By age 16 he was directing live shows.

The charge was filed against Michael Goodman, 43, in the death of Sarabi Medina, Chicago police announced. The shooting happened Saturday night in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood.

DJ Casper, the South Side native who created the enduring party classic “Cha-Cha Slide,” has died. He was 58.

In the latest installment of our series WTTW News: A Safer City, we tackle the issue of domestic violence. We examine state laws that protect survivors and meet a local woman providing essentials to women in need.

The Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline reported a 9% uptick in contacts received between 2020 and 2021, according to The Network for Advocating Against Domestic Violence 2021 annual report. With those grim statistics, Illinois lawmakers hope updates to domestic violence laws will help survivors of abuse.

An increase in domestic violence reports has not only highlighted the need for better legal protection and laws for survivors, but also the need for creating an improved network of care in cases of abuse. Dozens of organizations in Chicago are working to address those needs. 

The judge said at the hearing in Waukegan, north of Highland Park where the shooting occurred, that he would issue a ruling at the next hearing, on Aug. 28.

All of the organs in  Dennis Deer’s chest and abdomen — including his lungs — were flip-flopped in his body, with organs that should be on the right existing on the left and vice versa.

At a bill signing ceremony in Schaumburg, Pritzker highlighted three historic sites that were significant in Native American history in Illinois.

After serving nearly four years as the watchdog for the Illinois Department of Human Services, Peter Neumer will join the Chicago Park District as inspector general. 

Tim Mapes, 68, was indicted more than two years ago on a pair of charges stemming from his alleged false testimony before a 2021 grand jury about Madigan’s relationship with longtime confidant Michael McClain.