Forest preserve districts in DuPage, Kane and Lake counties, along with the McHenry County Conservation District, are all asking either for tax increases or the ability to issue bonds to pay for land acquisition, habitat restoration and ongoing maintenance.

Voters in the Nov. 5 election will pick a member to represent each of 10 new districts as the board triples in size from its current size of seven up to 21 members beginning in January 2025.

Early voting is now available at a voting supersite at 191 N. Clark and the Chicago Board of Elections offices at 69 W. Washington, 6th floor. Early voting in all 50 wards begins Oct. 21.

The City Council’s Finance Committee unanimously endorsed the plan from R2 Co. and the Campari Group to transform the 14-story office building at 79 W. Monroe St. into an apartment building with 117 units, including 41 units set aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has released the most comprehensive narrative to date of the 2020 election conspiracy case against Donald Trump, outlining what special counsel Jack Smith describes as the former president’s “private criminal conduct.”

“This is still very much a frustration I have,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “I’ve been in conversations with the superintendent, with our budget director to come up with better systems.”

The Welcome Corps, which launched last year, pairs groups of Americans with newly arrived refugees. So far, the resettlement program has connected 3,500 sponsors with 1,800 refugees, and many more want to help: 100,000 people have applied to become sponsors.

District Judge John Blakey on Wednesday denied a defense motion seeking to toss out a handful of charges, including bribery counts, after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling narrowed the federal bribery statute — known as “section 666” — in a ruling earlier this year.

Although the mailers did not identify who paid for them, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 helped bankroll the campaign, Local 150 officials told WTTW News.

Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday, the latest in a series of escalating attacks in a yearslong conflict between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatens to push the Middle East closer toward a regionwide war.

Former President Jimmy Carter, who remains under home hospice care, turned 100 on Tuesday. Here are some notable markers for Carter, the nation and the world over his long life.

The city is on pace to spend at least $258 million on police overtime by the end of the year, even as officials imposed limits on overtime for all city departments, except for police and the Chicago Fire Department, amid a massive budget crunch.

Despite the increased awareness of the term among Latinos — 47% have heard of it — only 4% or 1.9 million people use “Latinx” to describe themselves, an increase of 1 percent since 2019, according to the study by the Pew Research Center.

Chicago taxpayers have paid $74.4 million since 2019 to resolve lawsuits involving police pursuits, with the city’s insurance coverage paying an additional $25 million, according to a WTTW News analysis.

A new front in the battle for control of Chicago Public Schools. And the high stakes of corruption in City Hall.

Donald Trump’s speeches for years have hewed to divisive “us” versus “them” messaging, but tying those themes to specific religious Americans who oppose him is out of line and even dangerous, according to rhetoric experts, religious leaders and academics.