Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union when things quickly devolved. Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why “everybody is mad at me."

That massive growth funneled $5.84 billion into the special districts designed to spur redevelopment and eradicate blight, according to five years of reports on TIF districts published by the Cook County Clerk’s Office examined by WTTW News.

Tax-increment financing wasn’t invented in Chicago, but former Mayor Richard M. Daley perfected it as he worked to transform Mud City into a gleaming metropolis.

Casey Means has no government experience and dropped out of her surgical residency program, saying she became disillusioned with traditional medicine. She founded a health tech company and makes money from dietary supplements, creams, teas and other products sponsored on her social media accounts.

With all the pomp, drama and solemnity that the Catholic Church can muster, 133 cardinals on Wednesday began the secretive, centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis.

Chicago faces an affordable housing shortfall of more than 119,000 units, and more than half of Chicagoans spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities, making them burdened by housing costs.

Two hours in the state capital was enough for U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to criticize Illinois’ immigration laws and its governor while invoking the 2023 murder of a local progressive activist.

As Illinois residents scrambled to meet the Real ID deadline, many instead ran into long lines, appointment shortages and confusing documentation rules. Public records reveal widespread frustration — especially among seniors — as the rollout strained DMV systems across the state.

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi has represented the 8th Congressional District since 2017. He was born in India and grew up in Peoria. He earned a law degree from Harvard and has worked in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and led a small tech company in the Chicago suburbs.

Amid falling birth rates, the administration is thinking up potential incentives for future mothers that include: a $5,000 postpartum baby bonus, and a “National Medal of Motherhood” for women who have more than six children.

Parents who otherwise would not be able to afford child care rely on Head Start when they work or go to school. The program operates across all 50 states and supports more than 600 child care centers and 28,000 children across Illinois.

The Secretary of State’s Office is seeing “ridiculously long lines” at DMVs of residents who incorrectly think the office will stop issuing Real IDs after May 7, according to Alexi Giannoulias.

They don’t have a vote in the pope’s election, but nearly 900 superiors of the world’s female Catholic orders met in Rome on Monday to chart a course forward, a few miles from where cardinals will gather in a conclave to choose a successor to Pope Francis.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is set to appear June 12 before Congress alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. All three are Democrats.

“I won’t rush to judgment, but I will say this as the chief executive of this city: Constitutional policing ensures that our public employees are adhering to a standard that reflects our values. If you don’t do that, you won’t have a place in the city government,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, a resident of south suburban Matteson, has represented Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District since 2013 and recently served a short stint as chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois.