Stories by Matt Masterson

An official with the Teamsters Local 700 is calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other leaders to prioritize corrections officers due to the “high risk of exposure” to the disease he claimed remains in the jail.

Last month, Chicago recorded 267 shootings and 58 homicides — increases of more than 70% compared to November 2019. “This has been a difficult year for law enforcement throughout the country,” top cop David Brown said.

An altercation over leftovers following Thanksgiving dinner escalated into the fatal stabbing of a 52-year-old man early Friday morning in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.

The sheriff began feeling symptomatic on Nov. 20, his office said, and he immediately self-quarantined at that point. He has not worked in his office since Nov. 19.

The Chicago Police Department on Monday released a photo of a vehicle they describe as a 2008-2012 GMC Acadia that’s believed to be involved in the death of 86-year-old Eliseo Mendoza.

Premiering Tuesday, a new documentary from WTTW senior producer Daniel Andries analyzes how reporters, producers and staff at WTTW News adapted to report the story of a year unlike any other.

“Adding debt is not a long-term solution to structural imbalance,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “Short-term borrowing is a short-term Band-Aid to address the urgency of a short-term problem like one caused by a pandemic.” 

Kamari Pleasant was denied bail Tuesday, three days after he allegedly fired 19 shots at a trio of Chicago police officers and then attempted to evade pursuit by hiding under a pile of leaves on the Far South Side.

“These actions are needed to protect public health, as we continue to monitor this pandemic,” Chief Judge Timothy Evans said. “Our system of justice has continued to hear all necessary and urgent matters, and today’s order does not change that.”

The country’s 44th president gave all Chicago public high school students digital access to his new book, “A Promised Land,” during a surprise appearance at a virtual assembly on Monday.

Carmita Coleman was charged Friday with four counts of wire fraud following a five-year scheme in which she allegedly took $651,272 and used the funds on, among other things, “clothing, food, and trips.”

“My No. 1 consideration is not whether someone’s going to get angry at me,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday. “It’s whether I can save a life or save the lives of people who are potentially going to get sick."

The suit was filed Thursday on behalf of 60 protesters who claim police used “unconstitutional tactics that are clearly intended to injure, silence, and intimidate” during protests following the killing of George Floyd.

Adam Hollingsworth, 33, entered the plea through his attorney Thursday during a brief arraignment held in virtual court.

“COVID-19 is now the third leading cause of death in Illinois, behind heart disease and cancer,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday as state health officials reported 8,922 new COVID-19 cases and 140 virus-related deaths.

CPS Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade said that while the number of A’s given to students this school year is up compared to last year, so too is the number of F’s, particularly among students of color.

Five Cook County Circuit Court judges and 37 more employees working under the office of Chief Judge Timothy Evans have tested positive for COVID-19 thus far this month.

The U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois said federal law enforcement officers made two dozen undercover drug purchases from the defendants’ operation over a three-month span this summer.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office announced that beginning Monday, it will temporarily halt visits at the jail as Chicago and Cook County continue dealing with a second surge of COVID-19.

Barring a dramatic turnaround in the spiking numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Illinois, the state may soon be looking at another version of a stay-at-home order, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday.

The Board of Education has agreed to engage in mediation with teachers, but said it won't discuss the most pressing issue for the union: when students will return to school.

Dennis Haggerty, 44, was charged in federal court Tuesday with a single count of wire fraud after he allegedly took millions of dollars from a pair of university hospitals for N95 face masks which he never produced.

As a potential return to in-person learning draws nearer for some Chicago Public Schools students, the Chicago Teachers Union is seeking help in negotiations with the district over classroom reopenings.

As Illinois saw more than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases Friday, state health officials released new data showing there have been 10 school-based coronavirus outbreaks, while hundreds of schools have faced potential exposures.

“The Republicans, and the billionaires who sided with them, were effectively able to use the speaker as their foil and that hurt our ability, our state’s ability to get things done,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday.

The Illinois Department of Public Health on Thursday reported 9,935 new cases of COVID-19, a single-day record, and 97 deaths. In Illinois, 10,030 have now died as a result of the virus.