Stories by Associated Press

If you find the process of filing your taxes too confusing, there are plenty of free resources to help you get through it. Here are some things you need to know. 

Property tax bills for Cook County residents are available online at cookcountytreasurer.com and should hit mailboxes this week.

In a message posted on its webpage, Innovations High School informed students that classes would be canceled Monday and then resume Tuesday.

According to Chicago Police Department data, 13 people were shot across the city between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

“Route 66 was the first great American road trip,” said Amy Webb with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The trust is crowdsourcing Americans’ stories, memories and photos of the famous road that connected the Midwest to the West.

Even though the overall U.S. population is aging, “we’re seeing a movement of cancer diagnosis into younger folks, despite the fact that there are more people that are in the older populations,” said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society.

The Local Journalism Task Force found that about one-third of Illinois counties have either no source of local news or a single source.

Escalating tensions between Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. J.B. Pritzker over the sheltering of migrants. And former President Donald Trump works to kill a bipartisan border security deal.

State election officials are set to decide Tuesday whether President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be on Illinois’ presidential primary ballot, following Friday hearings at which objectors to both men allege they don’t qualify because of the 14th Amendment.

Two teen boys were fatally shot as they left their high school Friday afternoon in the Loop.

Chicago Teachers Union-backed educators at a pair of Instituto del Progreso Latino charter schools could go on strike early next month after more than two years of bargaining.

The controversial program known as Invest In Kids took donations from people and businesses. It used that money to subsidize student tuition for low-income families at private and trade schools before expiring last year. Critics of the program say it takes away resources from the public schools the majority of state children attend. 

Two private schools say their doors are closing due to the loss of a controversial scholarship program. Calls for better bilingual education at Chicago Public Schools. And a taste of some modern Mexican cuisine as Chicago Restaurant Week keeps dishing.

More than 5,000 English learners have enrolled in Chicago Public Schools over the course of the year, many of whom are the children of migrant families. The influx is shining a spotlight on the shortage of bilingual instructors and services at schools.

Chicago Restaurant Week is dishing out examples of the city’s diverse and delicious culinary scene. The 17-day celebration invites diners to get out and try new eateries, with specialized menus at more than 400 restaurants across the city.

“The Biden administration has put in place the most extensive set of policies and investments to benefit the middle class and grow the economy that our country has seen in my lifetime,” Yellen said in a speech before the Economic Club of Chicago.

The Illinois Department of Corrections has awarded a new contract to the controversial Wexford Health Sources, the same private health care provider that’s been handling medical care in the state’s prison system since 2011.

SKATE for Girls, or Solving Kinesthetically and Transforming Education for Girls, aims to increase young girls’ interest in STEM fields and make figure skating more accessible.

The seven-member board voted unanimously in favor of the agreements, which would settle a pair of lawsuits filed by Prussing parents after at least 71 students and seven adults were taken to the hospital as a result of the leak.

There is something about the Cinderella story that never fails to delight. And it might just be that those with a good heart and a true understanding of love will invariably triumph over those who are greedy and hungry for social superiority, writes WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss.

Files released to WTTW News in public records requests identify 42 district security personnel disciplined between January and October of 2023. The records included individuals terminated in cases with a controversial video in Albany Park, and a sexual assault investigation in West Ridge. 

“Without this law, Illinois is putting targets on the backs of domestic violence survivors,” said Yolanda Androzzo, the director of the gun control advocacy group One Aim Illinois.

Johnson defends his handling of the migrant crisis. A proposed ordinance could restrict Dollar Stores. And meet the man who’s been at the helm of the Cook County Forest Preserves.

From catching walleye to bringing restoration work out of the dark ages to passage of a groundbreaking tax hike, Arnold Randall reflects on his 13 years as general superintendent of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said state officials have not worked fast enough to help migrants move out of Chicago’s shelters into permanent homes, or fulfill promises to open 2,000 new shelter beds.

Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, is now the mayor of the biggest American city to call for a cease-fire, putting him at odds with President Joe Biden and most members of the Democratic Party.