You can rag on our region for Crock Pot meals loaded with cream of mushroom soup, or salads mostly made of marshmallows and Cool Whip. But one Chicago chef says the culinary depth and national influence the Midwest has had on America’s taste is underestimated.

The new cash bail law officially takes effect in Illinois. We look at how law enforcement and prosecutors are handling it. Why a system for handling Chicago police misconduct allegations hasn’t yet been implemented. And surprising facts about Midwestern food.

“The time to act on environmental justice is now,”  Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Illinois officially became the first state in the country Monday to officially eliminate the pre-trial practice of requiring that some criminal defendants pay a set cash amount in order to secure their release from custody ahead of trial.

The law provides an exception for Illinoisans who already owned such items before it went into effect. Those people are required to submit an endorsement affidavit through their Firearm Owner’s Identification Card account before Jan. 1, 2024.

Ovidio Guzmán López was extradited on Friday, five months after U.S. prosecutors unsealed sprawling indictments against him and his brothers, known collectively as the “Chapitos.”

The musical’s latest visit to Chicago, which will run through December at the Nederlander Theatre, is as grand-scale and exuberant as ever.

Residents of Calumet City are recovering from a second round of flooding in less than three months after more than half a foot of rain fell on the area Sunday.

Authorities discovered the body of 73-year-old Myrtle Brown on Saturday after relatives alerted police they’d been unable to find or contact her or her son, the Maywood Police Department said in a news release.

Providers across the state stopped offering abortions following the June 2022 decision, fearing enforcement of an 1849 state law that appears to ban the procedure but had previously been nullified by the 1973 Roe ruling.

Key to the measure is first-time authority for tribes to rebury recovered remains in Illinois, which they much prefer to relocating them to states to which the U.S. government forced their relocation nearly two centuries ago.

The Chicago Police Department must implement an early-warning system under the terms of the consent decree, the federal court order designed to compel the department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers. CPD is in full compliance with just 5% of that 2019 court order, city data shows.

Chicago Police Department data shows 24 people were shot in 20 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

Being a first-generation Latino American comes with rewards and struggles — from honoring your roots while defining your identity as an American to dealing with the weight of family expectations while forging your own path.

The Southland RISE collaborative brought together hospital trauma center staff and violence prevention street outreach workers in a shared training workshop. The goal was an exchange of ideas and resources focused on curbing violence on Chicago’s South Side.