Stories by Matt Masterson

On the same day the Chicago Police Department unveiled its latest crime data showing downward trends in 2019, President Donald Trump on Twitter blasted the city’s “crime wave” under Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.

Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson condemned the Thursday shooting that critically injured a 7-year-old trick-or-treater. “I’m disgusted, but committed to doing everything we can to find the cowards who engaged in a gun battle in the early evening hours while children were trick-or-treating,” he said.

Chicago Public Schools students will return to class Friday following the district’s longest teachers strike in more than 30 years. What finally brought an end to the 11-day standoff. 

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union won’t head back to school Thursday morning and their strike will last at least one more day after the union’s House of Delegates accepted a tentative agreement with the city, but refused to return to work.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says his department has accepted guidance from a Washington D.C.-based research firm offering a “comprehensive assessment of best practices and policies” for solving crimes more quickly.

The R&B singer’s attorney said his client has been hobbled by a toe infection and was worried about aggravating the injury by appearing in court for a hearing Wednesday.

On the ninth day of the teachers strike, Mayor Lori Lightfoot says negotiations have been held up by additional demands from the Chicago Teachers Union for more prep time and new legislative proposals.

In skipping President Donald Trump’s speech Monday to police chiefs in Chicago, the city’s top cop earned a vote of no confidence from the local police union’s board, and a rebuke from the president himself.

While city negotiators reached a tentative agreement Sunday with striking members of SEIU Local 73, a deal with the Chicago Teachers Union has remained elusive.

CTU President Jesse Sharkey said both sides are now focused on the “key issues” as they work to finalize a new contract. “I’m still hopeful,” Sharkey said Friday evening. “It’s stressful, there’s pressure … I remain hopeful that we can get it done.”

The ongoing Chicago teachers strike has already cost students six days of classes. But with upcoming deadlines for students prepping for college, Chicago Public Schools leaders are expressing a sense of urgency in getting students back into school.

Leaders from Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police are criticizing Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, the subject of an ongoing investigation into a driving incident who said this week he plans to skip President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to Chicago.

Two teens and a juvenile are facing multiple felony charges after they allegedly carjacked a woman’s vehicle last week with two children inside it. Police say the children, ages 5 and 2, were found unharmed just blocks away.

The city of Chicago is seeking $130,000 in reimbursement for police overtime costs spent investigating the former “Empire” star’s allegedly false claims. A judge on Tuesday said that lawsuit “will be going forward.”

In a letter sent Monday to CTU President Jesse Sharkey, Mayor Lori Lightfoot urges the union to halt its work stoppage while negotiations continue because “our students and families are sacrificing a great deal that cannot be recovered.”

The Chicago Board of Education is postponing its regular monthly meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, until the teachers union and SEIU Local 73 end their ongoing strike. In a statement, the board said this allows district leadership to focus on negotiations.

The Chicago Teachers Union expects all of its members to be on picket lines during their ongoing strike. Breaking ranks could cost teachers their job.

The school district sent a letter Wednesday informing families the written threat was found inside a student bathroom at the North Side high school.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson said they believe the Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates will vote to go on strike Wednesday evening.

Chicago-based Reid & Associates claims the popular series about the Central Park Five defames the company's interrogation technique.

The man who allegedly gunned down five neighbors in a rampage inside a Dunning condo building Saturday had planned out his attack, according to letters found inside his home in which he said he would have “no mercy” for the victims.

How will a possible walkout affect classrooms, building access and after-school activities across the city?

A group of Democratic Illinois lawmakers believes the group behind the SAT and Advanced Placement exams may be violating state law by selling student data to colleges, universities and scholarship providers.

Chicago police officers used department-issued parking placards to park illegally at sporting events and allowed friends and family to use those placards as well, according to a new report from the city’s inspector general.

Twenty-eight defense attorneys were interviewed for a new report, which claims Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has reversed some of the “tough-on-crime” policies that previously existed in her office.

With the clock ticking down toward a potential teachers strike, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday expressed her “significant concern” that Chicago Teachers Union leadership isn’t participating properly in ongoing contract negotiations.