The February trial date for alleged Highland Park parade gunman Robert Crimo III has been removed, with a new trial date coming either later this year or in early 2025.

A legal challenge from five voters has made Illinois the 18th state forced to grapple with whether former President Donald Trump should be disqualified from the 2024 ballot.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied to take up a petition filed by state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, that sought to overturn a ruling on a related case he’d brought before the Illinois Supreme Court.

The Courage Fund’s first grant comes from the Ford Foundation, which announced a $1 million donation on Dec. 13. A Long Walk Home and A Call to Men, national organizations focused on sexual-violence prevention and education for two decades, will lead the effort.

Applications are now open to serve four-year terms on the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, which is designed to give Chicagoans real control of the police department as part of an effort to build trust in officers and police brass and put an end to repeated allegations of misconduct. 

According to the Chicago Police Department, 11 people were shot in 11 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

“I’d like to think it will serve as a deterrent,” Elmhurst University professor Constance Mixon said. “But none of the other 37 convictions served as a deterrent. It ought to make people think twice. But I don’t know. I’d like to be optimistic.”

National data from the FBI covering January to September 2023 showed an 8.2% drop in all violent crime, including a 15.6% drop in murders, compared to the same period in 2022. These declines were seen in cities over 1 million people and those under 10,000, and across all four regional quadrants of the US.

The Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center abruptly closed on Dec. 31. The judge who ordered the closure said staffing shortages made it difficult to meet state standards for caring for youth in custody.

The four former Commonwealth Edison officials convicted last year of conspiring to bribe ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan will not be sentenced until at least next month, but the delay could last much longer.

Joseph Czuba, 71, is accused of fatally stabbing of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and wounding Hanan Shaheen on Oct. 14 in in Plainfield. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan appeared in court in person for the first time Wednesday, as a judge pushed back his upcoming federal racketeering and bribery charges to October.

Tom Girardi also faces federal wire fraud charges in Chicago, where he is accused of stealing about $3 million from family members of victims of a 2018 Lion Air crash that killed 189 people.

Former President Donald Trump has been kicked off the ballot in both Maine and Colorado. At issue is whether Trump is disqualified from making another presidential run under the 14th Amendment due to engaging in insurrection.

There were 617 homicides and 2,450 shootings across Chicago throughout 2023, according to Chicago Police Department data, with both totals hitting their lowest marks since 2019.