The members of the panel will return on Friday morning to resume their work. Unlike on previous days, they had no questions and no requests to view any evidence Thursday in the politically and racially fraught case.

The rail bypass goes into service Friday, carrying CTA Brown Line trains over Red and Purple line tracks and eliminating a 114-year-old transit bottleneck. 

The full U.S. Senate is set to consider Rahm Emanuel’s nomination to serve as President Joe Biden’s ambassador — but if the former Chicago mayor is confirmed, it will happen without the support of at least two progressive Democratic senators.

The cost of a Thanksgiving feast for 10 is up 14% from 2020, according to an annual survey from the American Farm Bureau Federation.

“I know this is a complicated fact pattern,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said, “but in looking at the facts as alleged by the state, it’s as if these two defendants tried to copy every armed robbery movie out there, right down to the double cross.”

The new effort will be “trauma-informed and services-oriented,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office. Organizations will be invited to submit proposals to run the effort early next year, officials said. 

While defense attorneys characterized the first man Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot as “irrational and crazy,” to bolster their claims Rittenhouse acted in self-defense, mental health advocates say such depictions add to the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

Pfizer asked the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to authorize emergency use of the experimental pill, which has been shown to significantly cut the rate of hospitalizations and deaths among people with coronavirus infections.

A live report from Kenosha as a jury deliberates the fate of Kyle Rittenhouse. Changes for the city’s gang database. Potential relief for some student loan borrowers. And Spotlight Politics.

Judge Bruce Schroeder did not immediately rule on the request, the second mistrial motion from the defense in a week. 

The mayor’s choice to lead the Civilian Office of Police Accountability has caused some controversy with City Council members.

Michael Salvatore, a fifth-generation Chicagoan, opened Heritage Bikes & Coffee in Lakeview in 2012. The business combines two things he loves while paying homage to his family and the city’s cycling history.

The student loan debt crisis is now up to $1.7 trillion. Many federal loan borrowers were temporarily relieved of repayments during the pandemic, but they’re set to resume Feb. 1. And there’s no movement on canceling student debt.

The Chicago City Council voted 29-18 on Wednesday to grant the Chicago Police Board the power to overrule the Chicago Police Department and remove a Chicagoan from its gang database.

The latest proposed contract maintains the 10% immediate raises that the last deal offered, and it makes what the United Auto Workers union called modest changes to the details of Deere’s internal incentive pay program for workers.