Stories by Associated Press

The swollen Mississippi River and its tributaries were receding in many flood-ravaged communities on Monday, but concerns remained high because of the threat of heavy rain over the next few days.

Officials identified two more victims of a deadly northern Illinois explosion as crews continued searching for a fourth worker whose body hasn’t been recovered.

Cellphone video recorded by Illinois motorist Sandra Bland, a black woman found dead in a Texas jail in 2015 following a confrontational traffic stop, shows for the first time her perspective.

A federal judge on Monday handed an Illinois man a 16-year prison sentence for trying to kill hundreds of people by detonating what he thought was a car bomb outside a crowded Chicago bar in 2012.

Lori Lightfoot will be sworn in as Chicago’s next mayor during an inauguration ceremony at the city’s Wintrust Arena. The official ceremony is to begin at 10 a.m. and include several musical performances.

Search and recovery personnel found the body of another worker Sunday in the rubble of a northern Illinois silicone factory that exploded and burst into flames two days earlier, a fire official said.

McDonald’s turned to a sure thing in the first quarter, bacon, and it paid off. Global sales rose 5.4% at stores open at least a year, a key metric of a retailer’s health. 

Fox Entertainment said Tuesday that Jussie Smollett will not return to the series “Empire” next season in the wake of allegations by Chicago officials the actor lied about a racially motivated attack.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is fighting a push to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate her office’s handling of the case against actor Jussie Smollett.

Some people told they have Alzheimer’s may instead have a newly identified mimic of the disease — and scientists say even though neither is yet curable, it’s critical to get better at telling different kinds of dementia apart.

JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr.’s younger son was taken into Illinois Department of Children and Family Services custody following the disappearance of Andrew “AJ” Freund. 

The CEO of Boeing defended the company’s safety record and declined to take any more than partial blame for two deadly crashes of the 737 Max even while saying the company has nearly finished an update that “will make the airplane even safer.”

Lawyers for a former University of Illinois student accused of killing a visiting Chinese scholar say they are abandoning their mental health defense.

The gunman who opened fire at a suburban Chicago manufacturing plant in February told a co-worker the morning of the shooting that if he was fired he was going to kill every other employee and “blow police up,” according to a new report.

“We are a Jewish nation that will stand tall,” said Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein following a shooting Saturday, April 27 at the Chabad of Poway that killed one. “Terrorism like this will not take us down.”

The Chicago Federation of Musicians says the five-year deal includes a 13.2% increase in salary and protects retirement benefits. The union says musicians unanimously supported it Saturday.

Jason Van Dyke told a psychologist that “time froze” when he shot Laquan McDonald 16 times, according to a newly released report. 

In research released on Friday, Nobel winning astronomer Adam Riess calculates the cosmos is between 12.5 and 13.0 billion years old - about 1 billion years younger than previous estimates.

Both striking musicians and management of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra have welcomed an offer by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to help end a nearly two-month work stoppage over pensions and wages.

Police believe the Illinois couple killed 5-year-old Andrew “AJ” Freund by beating him and forcing him to stand in a cold shower for an extended period of time.

A chemical leak that caused a toxic plume to hang for hours over a northern Chicago suburb Thursday sickened dozens of people, including seven who are in critical condition, officials said.

Crystal Lake police Chief James Black said at a news conference Wednesday that police dug up what they believe is Andrew “AJ” Freund’s body in a field and that it was wrapped in plastic.

The famed Chicago popcorn company says that before she was terminated, a former employee stole thousands of files including information about its secret recipes. 

Investors and consumers have been keeping a close eye on Boeing due to two deadly crashes involving the 737 Max, which have damaged the company’s reputation for safety. 

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report is only the beginning of a reckoning on election meddling, not the end, and “raises some serious questions,” Hillary Clinton said Tuesday.

As the death toll from the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka rose to 321 on Tuesday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility and released images that purported to show the attackers.