Stories by Matt Masterson

In a filing in Cook County’s circuit court, the archdiocese accused the unnamed defendants of a “quid pro quo” scheme in which they allegedly peddled false claims of abuse in order to extort money from the church.

Sales of the homemade firearms known as ghost guns grew exponentially after kits came onto the market that let people easily build them at home, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion. “Some home hobbyists enjoy assembling them. But criminals also find them attractive,” he said.

The disclosure follows two intense days during which leaders of President Donald Trump’s intelligence and defense agencies have struggled to explain how details that current and former U.S. officials have said would have been classified wound up on an unclassified Signal chat that included Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg,

Eight ballot measures will likely be decided by voters who live in wealthy communities where the majority of residents are White and own a home, according to a new report from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.

Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.

Calls for firings after Trump Cabinet members discuss sensitive war plans in a group chat. And debate over whether families who homeschool should face more oversight.

Supporters say a bill to regulate homeschooling is aimed at ensuring kids are getting the education they need and are better protected from potential neglect. Opponents are concerned that the bill would be government overreach and could criminalize homeschooling parents.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth previously called U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unqualified to lead the Defense Department and said he should either step down or be fired.

A Chicago Police Department spokesperson blamed data collection errors and lax supervision for the unreported stops.

Chicago-based film critic Marya E. Gates will make a book tour stop for a 35mm screening of Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Music Box Theatre. The event includes a book signing and a post-screening discussion.

The coalition of Democratic attorneys general is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the mass firing of half the agency’s employees, as well as the transfer of student loan management and special education services to other federal agencies.

The last men incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center have been transferred out of the aging facility as of Monday, bringing the 100-year-old prison to a close, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site is a replica of the hamlet where Lincoln lived for six years during his early adulthood, and where he won his first elective office – though only after losing his first election.

San Francisco-based 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday and said it would pursue a sale, after years of struggling to find a sustainable business model. That means the company — and the genetic information of its 15 million customers — will likely soon be up for grabs to the highest bidder.

A magazine journalist’s account of being added to a group chat of U.S. national security officials coordinating plans for airstrikes has raised questions about how highly sensitive information is supposed to be handled.

Most were in some way related to sexual minorities, including research focused on HIV prevention. Other canceled studies centered on cancer, youth suicide and bone health.

It is the lowest reading in 12 years and well below the threshold of 80, which the Conference Board says can signal a potential recession in the near future. However, the proportion of consumers anticipating a recession in the next year held steady at a nine-month high, the board reported.

What a future with a shrinking Department of Education looks like. And reaction to the latest on Trump’s ban of transgender troops in the military.

In his executive order in January, the president wrote that being transgender “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle” and is harmful to military readiness.

The department has been largely responsible for oversight, enforcing discrimination laws and distributing aid money for schools with low-income students and students with disabilities. Federal funding makes up a relatively small portion of public school budgets, roughly 14%.

Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic.

During an interview in her Washington, D.C. office, Ramirez discussed the resistance to President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies and her belief that Democrats need to more assertive in pushing back against his agenda.

More than 175 years after their reservation in Illinois was illegally sold at auction, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation is now in line to get their land back.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has rarely issued vetoes since he became governor in 2019 and has largely found himself on the same page with the Democratic supermajority in the legislature.

As the Aurora mayoral election draws near, some say campaign tactics are getting extreme in the west suburb.

The U.S. Department of Education has launched investigations into Chicago Public Schools, the Illinois State Board of Education and Deerfield Public Schools alleging violations of sex discrimination.