Soaring food prices are adding strains on families who are seeing reductions in multiple kinds of financial assistance. One federal program that ends this month had given nearly 30 million Americans extra food stamps during the pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Energy and the FBI both assess that COVID-19 may have leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. Yet the Energy Department has “low confidence” in its assessment, while FBI director Christopher Wray said the agency has “moderate confidence” in its.

Federal data show 272 hazardous materials releases involving trains in Illinois in the last decade. Predicting when and where environmental problems will manifest is difficult, but the risk is real.

MedGlobal, a humanitarian organization based in Chicago, is composed of 12 physicians who deploy to disaster-struck countries to help in times of need. Most recently, three physicians traveled to both Syria and Turkey to help those affected by the disaster. 

“I’m grateful to Director Jeffreys for his years of service, ensuring the dignity and safety of the incarcerated people of Illinois,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement. 

Households in Illinois receiving SNAP food benefits will see them decrease in March as a pandemic-era policy giving families additional benefits comes to an end. The average person will receive about $90 less in SNAP benefits per month.

A nearly decade-long study from the National Bureau of Economic Research looked at births in California. The study found that babies born to the richest Black women were still more likely to die than babies born to the poorest White women.

Designed to “create safer streets and a better transit experience,” the new initiative is set to last two years, and would target scofflaws downtown, between the lake, Ashland Avenue, Roosevelt Road and North Avenue.

The veterinary drug was connected to a rising death toll in Cook County and across the state. The new restrictions aim to prevent the drug from entering the U.S. market for illicit purposes.

The proposal could overhaul the way millions of Americans get some prescriptions after three years of relying on telehealth for doctor’s appointments by computer or phone during the pandemic.

A report examining the capacity and condition of Illinois’ response to behavioral health in young people has been in the works for nearly a year. It sketches avenues to help families understand mental illness, then make it easier for them to get required care without wrangling among disparate state agencies.

The vaccines were more than 40% effective in preventing adults from getting sick enough from the flu that they had to go to a doctor’s office, clinic or hospital, health officials said during a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccines meeting Wednesday. 

The Environmental Protection Agency told Norfolk Southern to take all available measures to clean up contaminated air and water, and also said the company would be required to reimburse the federal government. 

What is hospice care and what does it mean that the longest-living American president is foregoing medical intervention? 

Mental health professionals are continuing to bridge the gap on mental health care in Latino communities by offering more culturally competent care and normalizing conversations about mental health.

When you don’t get enough good sleep, the short-term consequences are noticeable — maybe you’re distracted at work or snappy with loved ones. But in the background, irregular and poor-quality sleeping patterns could increase your risk for developing cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.