Stories by Matt Masterson

A Cook County judge has denied bond for the 18-year-old high school student who is accused of calmly and methodically stabbing a Walgreens employee to death Sunday inside the Wicker Park store where she worked.

Chicago police have charged Sincere Williams, 18, with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of a Walgreens employee as she was stocking shelves inside a Northwest Side store Sunday.

Beyond first-day jitters, Chicago educators expressed concerns over stable internet connections and checking in with students about COVID-19 as classes in Chicago Public Schools resumed Tuesday for a fall unlike any other.

CPS CEO Janice Jackson said 82.5% of students earned a diploma within five years, an increase from 80.9% in 2019 using revised methodology, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The federal Bureau of Prisons announced it will resume visits for inmates at its 122 facilities beginning Oct. 3, though these meetings will include several safety precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois health officials are stressing the need to wear masks properly, covering the mouth and nose, and social distance during gatherings this weekend as positivity rates continue to rise throughout the state.

Genove Martin was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and has been ordered held on $300,000 bond. Prosecutors allege he accidentally shot Reed on July 31 after he opened fire on a passing vehicle.

Police recorded 63 homicides in August, bringing the yearly total in Chicago up to 506, surpassing last year’s total with a full quarter of the year to go, according to data released Tuesday by the Chicago Police Department.

The Chicago Police Department announced the charges Monday against 19-year-old Jeffon Williams, who was also shot and wounded during the incident in the Homan Square neighborhood early Sunday.

A judge has denied a request to make public an investigatory report into the handling of the high-profile case by the Cook County State’s Attorney and her office, days after the special prosecutor released the findings of that investigation.

Eight Cook County residents were among the 24 deaths reported by Illinois health officials Thursday as the state nears 8,000 virus-related deaths and more than 227,000 cases of COVID-19.

Pedro Soto, a high-ranking Chicago Public Schools official, has been charged with lying to FBI investigators about giving non-public information to a lobbyist on behalf of a bidder seeking a $1 billion custodial services contract.

Resource officers will remain in Chicago Public Schools once in-person learning resumes after the Board of Education approved a new contract with the Chicago Police Department.

More than 18,000 CPS students have signed up to receive free internet access through the Chicago Connected program. With classes beginning remotely in just two weeks, city officials expect that number to continue growing exponentially.

The number of Illinois kindergarteners hitting readiness requirements has increased statewide, but more than two-thirds of students are still not meeting those goals. Education advocates say there’s more work that must be done to eliminate systemic inequalities.

“What happens in Wisconsin or any other city in our country does affect all of us,” Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said during a press conference Monday morning. “And yes, we are monitoring that situation."

Michael Pearson, 18, is facing federal carjacking and firearm charges brought as part of a nationwide initiative between federal local law enforcement agencies aimed at combating violent crime.

Dozens of people say police escalated violence at recent protests in Chicago, beat demonstrators and mocked their cause with no fear of reprisal. “It felt like a battle zone,” one speaker said.

The Chicago Police Department is expanding a community policing initiative it says has already helped reduce 911 calls in one police district by assigning officers to specific geographic areas to build trust with its residents.

School resource officers with sustained allegations of excessive force, or complaints of inappropriate interactions with youth in the past five years will no longer be eligible to serve in schools, city officials announced Wednesday.

Three weeks before students return to a fully remote instruction plan for the fall, Chicago Public Schools released its final reopening plan and updated remote learning guidelines for students and families.

“Forcing these witnesses to risk their health, or the health of their families, is not something the government wishes to do,” federal prosecutors wrote last week in a request to delay the October trial.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb did not find evidence to warrant criminal charges against State’s Attorney Kim Foxx or anyone in her office. But he did report the way actor Jussie Smollett’s charges were dismissed represented a “major failure.”

The mayor announced a five-point plan to protect businesses and better identify and respond to looting through analytics, additional police deployments and faster lockdowns in areas where businesses are being burglarized.

Holding signs that read “CPD out of CPS” and “Police Free Schools Now,” dozens of youth activists approached the mayor’s home after an organized rally in Logan Square Park where they called for the removal of officers from Chicago public schools.

Chicago Public Schools leaders have left it up to local school councils to decide whether they want to continue or eliminate resource officer programs at their respective schools. Here’s where things stand as voting wraps up.