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Watchdog: Chicago’s Workers’ Comp System Has Been Reformed, 5 Years After Ed Burke Control

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City Hall is pictured in a file photo. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

The first-of-its-kind audit by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg of the city’s workers compensation system found “major improvement” in the system that paid $73.5 million to resolve approximately 3,700 claims in 2022.

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City Hall is pictured in a file photo. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Lacking Needed Support, Mayor Brandon Johnson Calls Off Budget Vote as Deadline Looms

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Mayor Brandon Johnson delivers his budget address on Oct. 30, 2024. (WTTW News)

The mayor’s decision to delay the budget vote is an acknowledgment that the spending plan that would hike property taxes by $68.5 million and increase a host of other taxes and fees by an additional $165.5 million does not have enough votes to pass the Chicago City Council.

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Mayor Brandon Johnson delivers his budget address on Oct. 30, 2024. (WTTW News)

IBM to Join Planned Quantum Computing Campus on Chicago’s South Side

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The National Quantum Algorithm Center in the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park will house IBM’s next-generation quantum computer, IBM Quantum System Two (pictured), which the company plans to deploy in Chicago in the coming year. (Christopher Tirrell for IBM)

The investment could reach tens of millions of dollars, IBM President and CEO Arvind Krishna said, and comes with an initial commitment of 50 permanent jobs that he expects will be paired with fellowships, internships and partnerships with other local firms.

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The National Quantum Algorithm Center in the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park will house IBM’s next-generation quantum computer, IBM Quantum System Two (pictured), which the company plans to deploy in Chicago in the coming year. (Christopher Tirrell for IBM)

CPS Outlines Possible Options to Delay or Prevent Acero Charter School Closings

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(Submitted photo)

“What we’ve heard from the families is that we should not close these schools,” CPS Chief Portfolio Officer Alfonso Carmona told the Chicago Board of Education during its Thursday meeting.

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(Submitted photo)

Japanese American Service Committee Celebrates $10M Newly Renovated ‘Forever Home’ in West Ridge

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Ribbon-cutting ceremony for Japanese American Service Committee’s new building, located at 5700 N. Lincoln Ave., on Dec. 12, 2024. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

“This has been a dream of ours for many years,” CEO Courtney Sakai said following a ribbon-cutting ceremony for JASC’s new building. “We’ve always envisioned a community destination where we could serve all and expand our programs.”

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Ribbon-cutting ceremony for Japanese American Service Committee’s new building, located at 5700 N. Lincoln Ave., on Dec. 12, 2024. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices, Dec. 12, 2024 - Full Show

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Calls for city officials to step aside and cooperate with federal mass deportations. And a state-of-the-art exhibit makes a dazzling debut at the Shedd Aquarium.

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Chicago Alderpeople React to Claims City Will Be Ground Zero for Mass Deportations

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(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Tom Homan — President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming so-called border czar — said it’s time for Chicago to come to the table when it comes to mass deportations or “get the hell out of the way.”

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(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

CPS Planning ‘All-Hands-on-Deck’ Approach to Protecting Students, Families From Mass Deportations

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Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Oct. 9, 2024. (WTTW News)

CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said the district enacted a “comprehensive response” to protect its students, families and staff when President-elect Donald Trump’s first term began in 2017, and CPS officials are planning to take similar steps before Trump’s inauguration next month.

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Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Oct. 9, 2024. (WTTW News)

Dixon Officials Decry Commutation of Former Comptroller Rita Crundwell, Who Embezzled Almost $54M in Public Funds: ‘It’s Not Justice’

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The city of Dixon is pictured in a file photo. (Credit: “All the Queen’s Horses”)

Rita Crundwell infamously charted a new chapter in Illinois’ storied corruption saga by committing what the FBI believes to be the largest theft of public funds in U.S. history. She’s among the 1,500 “non-violent offenders” whose sentence was commuted Thursday by President Joe Biden, in the nation’s largest single-day act of clemency.

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The city of Dixon is pictured in a file photo. (Credit: “All the Queen’s Horses”)

Mayor Brandon Johnson Appoints Sean Harden as Newest Chicago Board of Education Member

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(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Sean Harden — who previously worked as Chicago Public Schools’ deputy CEO of community affairs and as an executive assistant to former Mayor Richard M. Daley — took his oath of office and was sworn in as the board’s seventh member Thursday.

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(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

The White House is Cracking Down on Overdraft Fees

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FILE - A customer makes a transaction at a bank of automatic teller machines in the Queens borough of New York on March 24, 2020. (Mary Altaffer / AP Photo, File)

While banks have cut back on overdraft fees in the past decade, the nation’s biggest banks still take in roughly $8 billion in the charges every year, according to data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and bank public records. Currently, there is no cap on the overdraft fees that banks can legally charge.

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FILE - A customer makes a transaction at a bank of automatic teller machines in the Queens borough of New York on March 24, 2020. (Mary Altaffer / AP Photo, File)

As Budget Tightens, Report Finds Illinois Better Prepared for Recession Than in Recent Past

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The Illinois State Capitol building in Springfield. (Jerry Nowicki / Capitol News Illinois)

No state is immune from the negative effects of an economic downturn, but Illinois is more prepared today than it was for the Great Recession of 2007-2009 or the COVID-19 recession of 2020, according to a new report from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Project for Middle Class Renewal.

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The Illinois State Capitol building in Springfield. (Jerry Nowicki / Capitol News Illinois)

From a Tap Wonderland to ‘A Mariachi Christmas,’ Here Are 5 Shows and Exhibits to See This Weekend

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(Courtesy of Mariachi Herencia de México)

After you’ve experienced Joffrey Ballet’s Chicago-style “The Nutcracker” and the Goodman Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol” multiple times… what to do? Here are five solid ideas — some reverent and timely, some not so much.

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(Courtesy of Mariachi Herencia de México)

Biden Commutes Roughly 1,500 Sentences and Pardons 39 People in Biggest Single-Day Act of Clemency

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President Joe Biden speaks at the White House Conference on Women's Health Research from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Susan Walsh / AP Photo)

The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released.

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President Joe Biden speaks at the White House Conference on Women's Health Research from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Susan Walsh / AP Photo)

Number of Chicagoans Experiencing Homelessness Jumped 12%: New Report

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A homeless encampment in Humboldt Park. (WTTW News)

Approximately 76,375 people in Chicago experienced homelessness during 2022, according to a new report from the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, which relies on the most recent available data.

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A homeless encampment in Humboldt Park. (WTTW News)

Jury Awards Nearly $80M to Family of Girl Killed During 2020 Chicago Police Chase

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(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

If the verdict is upheld, it would nearly equal city’s annual $82 million budget to cover the cost of police misconduct lawsuits.

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(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Chicago Resident Accused of Accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at US Capitol Pleads Not Guilty to Assault Charge

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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., left, and Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., leave a meeting to discuss President-elect Donald Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Witnesses told police that James McIntyre, 33, of Chicago, shook Mace’s hand in an “exaggerated, aggressive” manner after approaching the South Carolina Republican in the Rayburn House Office Building on Tuesday evening, according to a police affidavit.

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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., left, and Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., leave a meeting to discuss President-elect Donald Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)