Stories by Matt Masterson

After more than three years as head of the CTU, Jesse Sharkey will be stepping down at the conclusion of his current term on June 30, he announced Wednesday.

Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth want to know more about a federal investigation into the 2014 killing of Black teen Laquan McDonald.

Shahid Hussain is facing four felony hate crime charges, and two counts each of defacement and criminal damage to property after he allegedly spray-painted swastikas on Jewish buildings over the weekend.

Data published Tuesday by the Chicago Police Department shows there were 182 shootings and 48 homicides last month. Those figures are down 10% and 13%, respectively, over totals from January 2021.

“A swift return to in-person instruction gives faculty and students the best opportunity to teach and learn — and thrive amid their school community,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said Monday.

According to the Chicago Police Department, 18 people were shot in 14 separate shootings between Friday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

As Chicago police attempted to stop a stolen vehicle downtown Wednesday, one of the men inside allegedly fired a shot at an officer before he himself was shot multiple times by other officers, prosecutors said Friday.

A Cook County judge ordered Xavier Guzman, 27, and Emilio Corripio, 16, held without bail following their arrests this week on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from 8-year-old Melissa Ortega’s killing in Little Village Jan. 22.

Over a Zoom call Thursday, Cook County Judge James Linn said Jussie Smollett, his attorneys and special prosecutors must appear in person for a March 10 hearing to handle sentencing and any post-trial motions from the defense.

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown joined Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to announce charges Wednesday against a 16-year-old boy and a 27-year-old man.

“I want to make sure that our team reflects the diversity (in Chicago), because it’s one of the riches of our city,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said Wednesday during the monthly Board of Education meeting.

CPS has been criticized in recent days for not telling students and families that it changed the way positive cases among students and staff are reported on its online dashboard.

Under a new statewide compromise, public school and higher ed employees across Illinois won’t have to expend their sick time if they are forced to miss work due to COVID-19 — as long as they’re fully vaccinated.

Melissa Ortega, a third-grade student at Emiliano Zapata Academy in Little Village, died Saturday after she was shot in the head by a suspect who Chicago police say was aiming at a 26-year-old man.

“There are likely people here who liked it the way things were and who will push back and use media, become sources to create a lot of dysfunction,” Superintendent David Brown said. “We’re gonna push back, we’re gonna be the adults in the room.”

Rhysheen Wilson, 27, was ordered held on $2 million during a bond hearing Thursday following his arrest on charges of attempted murder of a peace officer, aggravated discharge of a weapon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

According to Chicago police, the incident began just after 5 a.m. Thursday in the 5600 block of North Sacramento Avenue.

Judge William Raines has been placed on “restricted duties or duties other than judicial duties” and must receive sensitivity training and gender bias counseling, according to an order from Chief Judge Timothy Evans.

More than 14,000 students and staff within Chicago Public Schools are currently either quarantining or in isolation due to COVID-19, but the district will soon be shortening the amount of time those people need to stay home from school.

In a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday, defense attorney Richard Kling claimed that supervised release would be a “sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary” penalty for the former Chicago alderperson.

According to the Chicago Police Department, 38 people were shot in 32 separate incidents between Friday at 6 p.m. and Monday at 11:59 p.m.

Navient, the second largest student loan servicer in the U.S., agreed Thursday to cancel $1.7 billion in debt owed by more than 66,000 borrowers across the country as part of a multistate lawsuit that accused the company of abusive lending practices.

Rank-and-file CTU members on Wednesday signed off on the deal, two days after the union’s elected delegates voted to suspend a labor action that saw the vast majority of teachers refusing to work in person amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

A probationary Chicago police officer who was off duty shot three people at a suburban bowling alley Tuesday night, according to the agency that investigates police shootings.

Chicago students are set to return to their classrooms this week after several days at home as the city and Chicago Teachers Union have reached a compromise on new COVID-19 mitigations inside schools.

“Although we have been negotiating hard throughout the day, there has not been sufficient progress for us to predict a return to class tomorrow,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted Sunday.