Stories by Matt Masterson

Speaking at the Union League Club Tuesday evening, Chicago-based attorney Antonio Romanucci and Ben Crump discussed their experience with the Floyd family’s historic settlement and called on federal legislators to act on calls for national police reform.

"It ensures that if a teacher has done their part to keep their classroom safe for their most vulnerable students, they won’t have to worry for a second about their pay or their paid time off if they get COVID,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a series of new initiatives to improve public safety, including a new Home and Business Protection Rebate Program through which residents can get rebates to defray the cost of security cameras and video storage.

“Many of these guns have been linked to shootings in the Chicago area in which multiple people have been injured and several killed,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday.

March's 178 shootings and 37 homicides marked declines of more than 20% compared with the same month in 2021, Chicago Police Department data published Friday shows.

A Cook County Judge set bail at $250,000 for 33-year-old Javier Martinez, who has been charged with a single count of criminal trespass to a restricted area in an airport.

James Callion, 28, faces three counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon as well as single counts of armed habitual criminal and aggravated battery causing harm to a police officer.

The attorney for the convicted R&B singer is asking a federal judge for a delay until later this year, arguing they won’t be able to “protect (his) constitutional rights” at sentencing without compromising his Fifth Amendment rights.

Both officers were listed in fair condition after being treated at local hospitals, while the suspect’s condition was not immediately known Tuesday morning.

“To call this case horrific, gruesome and violent would be an understatement,” Assistant State’s Attorney Danny Hanichak said in court Monday. Jamie Jones, 31, was ordered held without bond during a hearing Monday following his arrest on two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and domestic battery. 

Parties on Friday presented a stipulation to U.S. District Judge Robert Dow that will extend the current five-year window out to eight years and add in a new agreement that police search warrants will now fall under the purview of the consent decree.

The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday unanimously approved a calendar for the 2022-23 school year that sees students return to classes on Aug. 22, a full week earlier than they did during the current year.

Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications and the Chicago Police Department say they’ve coordinated with Willie Wilson and his staff, and will provide city resources “to mitigate traffic conditions and ensure public safety.”

The Chicago Board of Education will vote this week on that proposed calendar, which includes a start date of Aug. 22, 2022. That’s a week earlier than this year’s start date of Aug. 30 and well before the typical post-Labor Day start time for the district.

“This year’s school budgets prioritize support for core instruction to improve the classroom experience and set a new standard of excellence,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said.

Lonesha Strong, 18, and Marshawn Owens, 20, have each been charged in the Feb. 10 murder of 22-year-old Johnae McGowin, who was fatally shot in February. Both defendants were denied bail by a judge during a hearing Thursday.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced Tuesday that her office will not file criminal charges against the Chicago police officers who shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez in separate on-duty shootings just days apart last year.

Debra ​​Bannack, 62, has been charged with three counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud as part of a widespread scheme at Brennemann Elementary, which was allegedly orchestrated by ex-principal Sarah Jackson Abedelal.

Attorneys for Jussie Smollett are seeking to get the former “Empire” star out of Cook County jail on bond, as his family claims he’s being held in a “psych ward” to begin his five-month jail stay.

The mass shooting occurred at around 3:20 p.m. Sunday outside a pizza restaurant in the 7900 block of South Exchange Avenue.

Andy Wallace, 35, was held without bail during a hearing Friday following his arrest on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery and aggravated discharge of a firearm stemming from the Feb. 22 shooting.

“I am innocent,” the former “Empire” star yelled as he left the court in custody. “I could have said I was guilty a long time ago.”

Amid a double-digit uptick in violent crime along Chicago Transit Authority train and bus lines this year, city officials say they’ll be adding additional officers and security guards on trains and buses around the city.

“I don’t anticipate, you know, more serious consequences in terms of work stoppages,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said, “but we will continue to work together because we have it in both our best interests to keep our community safe.”

A federal judge last week sentenced Diego Vargas after he pleaded guilty to maliciously attempting to damage and destroy a building by means of an explosive device.

Former state Sen. Tom Cullerton pleaded guilty to embezzlement Tuesday morning, more than two years after he was charged with fraudulently receiving salary and benefits from a labor union despite doing “little or no work.”