The defense at the murder trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd  rested its case Thursday without putting Chauvin on the stand, presenting a total of two days of testimony to the prosecution’s two weeks.

A federal judge denied a motion Wednesday that would have prevented city officials from issuing the final permit needed by General Iron to set up operations on the Southeast Side. 

President Joe Biden said Wednesday he will withdraw remaining U.S. troops from the “forever war” in Afghanistan, declaring that the Sept. 11 terror attacks of 20 years ago cannot justify American forces still dying in the nation’s longest war.

A prosecutor said Wednesday that he charged a white former suburban Minneapolis police officer with second-degree manslaughter for killing 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright in a shooting that ignited days of unrest and clashes between protesters and police.

George Floyd died of a sudden heart rhythm disturbance as a result of his heart disease, a forensic pathologist testified for the defense Wednesday at former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, contradicting experts who said Floyd succumbed to a lack of oxygen from the way he was pinned down.

Video of Adam Toledo’s fatal shooting by police is set to be released. An update on the Obama Presidential Center. CPS parents on an elected school board. An exhibit of digital art-turned-sculpture.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to set aside about half of the $1.9 billion the city of Chicago expects to get from the American Rescue Plan signed by President Joe Biden in March to cancel high-interest debt.  

As the development of NFTs—non-fungible tokens—gives artists more autonomy over their work and how it’s shared in a digital capacity, a new exhibit is showcasing how this digital art can take over physical spaces.

A bill that would create a 21-member elected board to oversee Chicago Public Schools advanced Wednesday in Springfield, but some lawmakers who supported the bill said they’re not yet fully sold on it. CPS parents tell us how they think the school board should be structured.

The footage will be released more than two weeks after 13-year-old Adam Toledo was shot in the chest and killed by a Chicago police officer in an alley in the Little Village neighborhood, and two days after the boy’s family reviewed the video.

Nearly five years after former President Barack Obama picked Jackson Park for his presidential library, Chicago and Illinois leaders celebrated as work finally began to transform the historic South Side park. A formal groundbreaking is expected in the fall.

Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine will remain in limbo for a while longer after government health advisers declared Wednesday that they need more evidence to decide if a handful of unusual blood clots were linked to the shot — and if so, how big the risk really is.

More than 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in suburban Cook County. While the pace of vaccinations is ramping up, infections are rising, keeping contact tracers busy doing vital work to stop the spread of the virus, officials say.

Policies governing the Chicago Fire Department—which is 90% male and 66% white—may comply with federal, state and local laws but they “are insufficient,” according to an audit released Wednesday by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson.

Vaccination rates have grown, warmer weather has returned, and the public and business owners have become increasingly vocal about reopening schools and loosening restrictions around social gatherings.