Stories by Matt Masterson

Three people were killed and a 3-month-old boy was critically wounded in separate shootings over the weekend across Chicago, according to the Chicago Police Department.

The seven-member Board of Education on Thursday approved the district’s $9.9 billion spending plan for the upcoming school year despite criticisms from educators who said the district is relying on staff vacancies to plug its $505 million funding gap.

The Chicago Board of Education unanimously approved a new whole school safety plan, which brings to an end the use of school resource officers (SROs) inside district buildings following a yearslong review of CPS safety protocols and procedures.

Chief Judge Timothy Evans, who filed a pair of administrative orders this month, said his office has made “extensive preparations,” including plans to reopen a former court facility ahead of next month’s DNC following requests from the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department.

Paul La Schiazza, the former head of AT&T Illinois who was charged in 2022 with attempting to bribe ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan, is now seeking to have some of his charges tossed out.

That lawsuit, filed this week on behalf of 193 former Juvenile Temporary Detention Center detainees, alleges systematic sexual abuse carried out at the facility over the course of multiple decades since the mid-1990s. The plaintiffs claim the state of Illinois “caused and permitted a culture of sexual abuse to flourish unabated at JTDC.”

According to the Chicago Police Department, 20 people were shot in 14 separate incidents between Friday and Sunday evenings.

“I would rather have had Milwaukee Police Department, who know the people of this community, to have at least had an opportunity to address this situation before people who have no ties to this community and don’t care nothing about our extended family members.”

The board this week disclosed that the remainder of its 2024 meetings will be moved to other locations after the regular board room sustained water damage when a pipe burst at a nearby business just before the board’s June meeting.

Among the “Never Trumpers” who spoke was former Illinois Republican congressman and longtime Trump critic Joe Walsh, who called on attendees to vote for any Democratic candidate who can keep the former president from a second term in office.

Before the Republican National Convention draws to a close in Milwaukee, Chicago police officials are in town to learn more about the safety and security measures in place ahead of next month’s Democratic National Convention.

“No one, absolutely no one, wanted this outcome and I anticipate a full as well as thorough investigation,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said early Wednesday morning. 

According to Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, police officers from Columbus, Ohio, fatally shot the man around 1:10 p.m. Tuesday near King Park.

The Milwaukee Police Department confirmed one person was arrested at the downtown protest Monday and one more person was arrested after the march concluded.

Thousands of protesters — including many from Chicago — took part in the first major protest of the Republican National Convention through the heart of Milwaukee on Monday in a peaceful march that briefly shut down streets around the convention hall.

Federal prosecutors in Chicago charged the hospital’s former chief financial officer Anosh Ahmed, its chief transformation officer Heather Bergdahl and the medical supply company owner Sameer Suhail with multiple counts of wire fraud in connection with the alleged scheme.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and city officials announced that 27,140 Chicagoans between the ages of 14-24 — an increase of about 2,400 people over last year — have signed up and begun employment and internship opportunities since the annual summer work program kicked off late last month.

“This budget very clearly puts teaching and learning front and center where it belongs,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said in a statement Wednesday.

Chicago Public Schools parents, educators, Local School Council members and more were among the 47 candidates to submit their nomination petitions for the board races by Monday’s deadline.

But any decision on a new trial or verdict is still months away, as the briefing schedule extends into mid-November. The four defendants were convicted back in May 2023.

“We need to ensure that we are holding every single individual accountable for the pain and trauma and torment that they have caused in this city,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

According to the Chicago Board of Elections, 42 challenges have been filed against 27 candidates — some faced multiple objections — mostly alleging the candidates didn’t meet the 1,000-signature threshold to appear on the ballot in November.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a series of challenges to Illinois’ assault weapons ban — for now — but a pair of justices indicated a willingness to take up the case in the future.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Tuesday released videos showing the fatal May 27 shooting of Tracey Watson, who was killed in the middle of the 300 block of South Cicero Avenue during an altercation with a second man.

Five people were killed by gunfire over the weekend across Chicago, including a trio who were fatally shot Sunday morning in Greater Grand Crossing.

Chicago police will be canceling days off and staffing an “abundance” of officers along the route of the city’s Pride Parade this Sunday.