As a new General Assembly begins, it remains unclear how lawmakers and the governor plan to plug the projected deficit. Republicans’ main concern is Democrats will resort to tax increases to boost revenue and avoid spending cuts.

In all, the settlements approved Wednesday account for nearly half of the city’s annual $82 million budget to cover the cost of police misconduct lawsuits.

Many longer-term questions about postwar Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction after a brutal conflict that has destabilized the broader Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg's probe found the department members offered the deputy chief inappropriate “professional courtesy.”

“This moment is no doubt historic," elected member Ellen Rosenfeld said, "not just for me but for all of us, because this body reflects the voices and values of the majority of the people of our district.”

The immediate challenges facing the new school board members are enormous: They must ink a new deal with the teachers union, pick a new leader and confront the threat posed by President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to deport thousands of undocumented Chicagoans.

The proposal comes as the Chicago region’s transit agencies are facing down an estimated $750 million fiscal cliff next year when COVID-19 relief money runs out — and amid conversations in Springfield about tying increased transit funding to major changes to the existing public transit structure.

Chicago Public Schools chief Pedro Martinez joins us in his first sit-down interview since being fired. And former House Speaker Michael Madigan wraps up his testimony.

Just days before Christmas, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez was terminated in a unanimous vote by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s handpicked Board of Education.

Tuesday marked Madigan’s fourth day on the witness stand and his second facing cross-examination by government prosecutors.

Mayor Brandon Johnson slammed S&P’s decision to downgrade the city’s credit rating, saying it was based on inaccurate information.

José “Cha Cha” Jiménez in the 1960s founded the Young Lords as a street gang to counter the growing hostility toward the Puerto Rican community in Lincoln Park, at the time one of the most impoverished neighborhoods of Chicago.

The certification is a validation that the forest preserve district is providing an appropriate home and care for its ambassador animals, officials said. Some animal rights activists disagree.

Under the new bill, Illinois would increase the age for mandatory behind-the-wheel driving tests from 79 to 87. The proposal also creates a mechanism for relatives to report family members of any age they believe are unsafe drivers.

David W. Grainger, a longtime supporter of WTTW who led W.W. Grainger Inc. for almost three decades and ran a family foundation dedicated to making a “positive difference,” died Jan. 9 at age 97.