Stories by Matt Masterson

The Illinois Tollway Board on Wednesday approved a massive 15-year, $26.5 billion capital spending plan that will raise vehicle tolls beginning next year.

NASCAR won’t be returning to the streets of downtown Chicago next summer, as it announced plans to once again run three days of races at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet.

The Chicago Teachers Union is suing the Illinois Policy Institute, claiming the nonprofit think tank has defamed the union by framing it as “toxic” in an alleged effort to undermine its progressive policies.

Chicago’s next mayoral election is less than a year away and the list of candidates — and those considering a run — is growing ever larger. Here’s who is in so far.

Four Chicago Public Schools high schools have been ranked among the best in the country, according to a new list from U.S. News & World Report.

Tommy Schaefer, the man who allegedly conspired with his then-girlfriend Heather Mack to kill her mother at a luxury resort in Bali more than a decade ago, is asking a federal judge to release him from custody pending trial.

Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said that “at this time,” the team remains focused solely on potential sites in Hammond, Indiana as they continue working to finalize plans for a new stadium.

Mark Twain Elementary principal Matthew Moline confirmed the shooting in a letter to families Tuesday, stating that “shots were fired inside our school building,” though he added that no students were present in the building at the time.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office is asking families to contact them as they seek to identify the more than 50 decomposing bodies discovered last week inside a Southeast Side funeral home.

Several people gathered Monday at the Chicago Police Department’s 19th District Station to file police reports in hopes that local authorities can begin investigating unlawful conduct allegedly committed by federal immigration agents.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said in a statement more than 50 bodies had been found in the South Chicago Chapel funeral home, calling the discovery “heartbreaking and an abomination.”

Gov. JB Pritzker is demanding the Trump administration reimburse Illinois residents who were forced to pay higher prices caused by tariffs that were later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Chicago’s top federal prosecutor acknowledged “mistakes were made” in the prosecution of the botched “Broadview Six” case, but he rejected the former defendants’ call for a special prosecutor to investigate any potential wrongdoing.

In an interview with WTTW News, Mayor Brandon Johnson laid out the qualities he’s looking for in Chicago’s next top cop and stressed that there’s no need to delay that selection process until after the upcoming mayoral election in February.

Mayor Brandon Johnson expressed confidence that he’ll be able to present a balanced budget in October after his Budget Director Annette Guzman abruptly resigned this week.

There were 37 homicides in the city last month, the lowest total for any such month dating back to at least 1970. That total is down 18% compared to July 2025.

Chicago Public Schools principals and staff this week will begin training as the district is set to implement its holistic safety plan citywide — more than two years after police officers were removed from district campuses.

The CPD on Thursday announced that its Forensic Services Division is now an accredited laboratory by the American National Standards Institute’s National Accreditation Board, the result of what the department said has been a multi-year effort.

A Chicago man is facing nearly a dozen felony charges following a shooting during an alleged standoff in the Albany Park neighborhood Monday that left a woman and a SWAT officer injured.

More Chicagoans believe violent crime has increased in the city, according to a new poll, even as the numbers of shootings and homicides throughout 2026 are essentially the same as last year, which ended with the fewest recorded killings in 60 years.

With a vote next week scheduled on Chicago Public Schools’ $9.88 billion budget plan, members of the city’s Board of Education on Monday shared concerns over proposed cuts, a lack of state funding and their voting timeline.

Chicago’s air quality has fallen out of the “hazardous” range but remains at unhealthy levels as winds began pushing wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota northeast.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is urging anyone who may have been victimized by federal immigration agents during “Operation Midway Blitz” to come forward and detail their experiences to the Chicago Police Department.

District officials on Wednesday outlined their $9.88 billion budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year, as they combat “serious financial challenges” including declining enrollment and revenue and greater student need.

Charges filed in Chicago against a pair of jewelry importers who allegedly smuggled large amounts of gold into the U.S. helped propel a new federal task force past the $1 billion threshold for recoveries and penalties over the past year, officials announced.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, the longtime leader of St. Sabina Catholic Church and a vocal antiviolence activist, has been removed from the South Side parish following a new allegation of sexual abuse.