Stories by Blair Paddock

Due to federal funding cuts, the nonprofit Heartland Human Care Services is closing three Chicago shelters that have been used to house unaccompanied minors coming to the U.S.

Since 2022, Illinois has seen more travelers seeking abortions from out of state than any other state in the country.

The Illinois Education Association on Monday published its annual State of Education report, which offers a glimpse into residents’ feelings on all aspects of the state’s public education system.

Officer Richard Rodriguez is the fifth member of a tactical team to be stripped of his badge and gun after COPA identified a troubling pattern of undocumented and unprofessional traffic stops of Black Chicagoans downtown.

The killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes during an attempt to capture him in Jalisco state was the highest-profile blow against cartels since the recapture of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán a decade ago.

The other winners of the fourth annual contest were Stephen Coldbert, Pope Frío XIV, The Blizzard of Oz, Svencoolie and Caleb Chilliams, Chicago officials announced.

CPD has been under federal court oversight for nearly seven years as part of an effort to stop officers from routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights by overhauling the way the department trains, supervises and disciplines officers.

“I share your impatience,” U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said. “I do recognize it is too slow.”

Remembering civil rights icon the Rev. Jesse Jackson. And Gov. JB Pritzker faces a $2 billion deficit and federal funding uncertainty as he presents his budget proposal.

Brookfield Zoo has announced the arrival of a new pangopup — a baby white-bellied pangolin — just in time for World Pangolin Day on Saturday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office said it received a request from the family to have Jackson’s remains lie in honor at the Capitol, but the request was denied, because of the precedent that the space is typically reserved for former presidents, the military and select officials.

Gov. JB Pritzker has also proposed a two-year pause on state financial incentives for data centers that have been in place since 2019.

The Bucktown studio features 10 vintage analog and “digital-retro” photo booths — with the oldest working photo booth from 1946.

Jaime Rios was 20 years old when he was convicted and sentenced to 36 years in prison after being investigated by Reynaldo Guevara, a former Chicago police detective accused of routinely framing suspects.

The University of Chicago is among dozens of universities and colleges that have agreed to terminate their partnerships with a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business.

 The Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs on Friday, handing him a significant loss on an issue crucial to his economic agenda.

A new study examines the Chicago Police Department’s use of force. And lawmakers react to the governor’s budget address.

Gov. JB Pritzker delivered his annual budget address Wednesday, proposing a $56 billion spending plan as the state faces a $2.2 billion budget gap and near-weekly threats of losing federal funding.

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has implemented a new protocol that calls for the use of all available prosecutorial tools to support investigations into the use of force by federal immigration officers.

The “Neighborhood Conditions for Adults with Disabilities in Chicago” report released Monday aimed to better understand the experiences and needs of Chicagoans with disabilities across neighborhoods. The report was created in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and the Chicago Department of Public Health.

A federal judge on Thursday handed Fidel Marquez a two-year sentence of probation along with a $50,000 fine, more than five years after he entered a guilty plea to a bribery charge.

The study, conducted by social scientists from the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Pennsylvania blamed “systemic factors” for the disparity, not the actions of individual officers.

The rule said a veteran’s disability level would be based on how well they function while on medication for an injury or illness and not simply having the impairment itself.

The two-study standard for drugs dates to the early 1960s, when Congress passed a law requiring the FDA to review data from “adequate and well-controlled investigations” before clearing new medications.

The unique size and shape of the bones from Spinosaurus mirabilis — the first Spinosaurus species discovered in over a century — gives important clues to the history of spinosaurids on Earth.

An Indiana House committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 27, which would create a public stadium authority with the power to acquire land, issue long-term bonds and finance the construction of a stadium and related facilities.