Family and friends remember slain Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston. Spotlight Politics weighs in as the mayor’s allies roll out a $12 billion financial proposal. And an emerging artist committed to community.

More than 70 vehicles, including dozens of commercial vehicles and passenger cars, were involved in crashes May 1 along a 2-mile stretch of Interstate 55 in Montgomery County, 75 miles north of St. Louis.

The plan released Wednesday kicks off a debate between progressive political organizations and the mayor they helped elect on how best to achieve the goals they all share.

Vocalist Shawnee Dez is commemorating the release of her debut album, “Moody Umbra,” with a concert that includes a community jam session featuring a range of local artists.

Corey Gray, 21, was charged in federal court in Chicago on Wednesday with one count of knowingly transferring a firearm to an individual who was neither a licensed dealer nor a resident of the same state as Gray.

Officer Aréanah Preston died after she was shot during an attempted robbery May 6. She was memorialized as being the best of what the Chicago Police Department had to offer: a passionate public servant whose bright future was abruptly taken from her.

The Writers Guild of America began its nationwide strike May 2 after negotiations stalled with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Among key issues are increased wages and fair pay structures for writers in a streaming era.

Nakili was diagnosed with kidney disease last summer. At 33 years old, he was the oldest male of his species living in an accredited North American zoo.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez did not get into specifics while speaking before the Chicago Board of Education Wednesday, but reiterated that principal Abdul Muhammad “had to be pulled” from the school “for multiple reasons.”

The 134-year-old refinery, located between Hammond, Indiana, and Chicago, is the biggest in the U.S. Midwest and sixth largest nationally. It processes about 440,000 barrels of crude oil daily, making a variety of liquid fuels and asphalt.

Something magical happens when Maestro Riccardo Muti arrives on the podium at Orchestra Hall to lead the invariably superb musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said in a statement Tuesday that it believes her and that Kelly would likely be convicted if tried, but prosecuting him on charges that had been dormant since being filed in 2019 wouldn’t make a difference now that Kelly’s federal convictions could keep him in prison for the rest of his life.

The court denied an emergency request from groups challenging the law, which bans so-called assault weapons. The law’s opponents had asked the high court to put the law on hold while a court challenge continues. 

What did Mayor Brandon Johnson do on his first full day in office? Illinois leads the nation in exonerations. The latest on a bevy of issues in Springfield. And the debate over mental health clinics.

With Mayor Brandon Johnson vowing to reopen the city’s shuttered mental health clinics, some advocates are looking at the administration to reinvigorate and reimagine the city’s approach to providing mental health services.