Stories by Heather Cherone

“We have to revisit our promotion policy,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “We don’t want these types of archaic approaches to set us back. So, it is something that we are looking into.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson said he was open to new ideas and continuing negotiations but said he would not allow the city’s budget to be balanced “on the backs of working people.”

The three top Democrats vying to become the party’s nominee for U.S. senator in Illinois have released proposals detailing how they plan to make life more affordable for Americans.

Despite little to no daylight — plus months of frigid temperatures — people who live in northern Europe and above the Arctic Circle have learned how to cope mentally and physically with the annual onset of the winter blues.

Quilen Blackwell, whose nonprofit transforms vacant lots on Chicago’s South Side into flower farms that employ at-risk young people to grow, arrange and sell the flowers, is the 2025 CNN Hero of the Year.

Chicago's total for the 2025-26 snowfall season already stands at 17.1. That's almost as much as Chicago notched in all of 2024-25.

CPD officers have now shot 21 people, killing eight, since the start of the year, records show. In 2024, CPD officers shot 12 people, killing six, records show.

President Donald Trump announced a $12 billion farm aid package Monday — a boost to farmers who have struggled to sell their crops while getting hit by rising costs after the president raised tariffs on China.

Of 439 positions in the Chicago Police Department charged with implementing the consent decree, 179 positions were empty at the beginning of December, according to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by WTTW News.

Mayor Brandon Johnson says a rival budget plan put together by a group of alderpeople is a nonstarter. And the Cook County state’s attorney says it’s time to take a hard look at who gets released on electronic monitoring.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin described Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s co-sponsoring of the bill as “an extraordinary act of political courage.” Durbin has spent more than two decades pushing for the Dream Act, which he first introduced in 2001.

Frank Gehry’s fascination with modern pop art led to the creation of some of the most striking buildings ever constructed, including the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago.

The state’s 2025 report card showed only 38.4% of Illinois students overall scored proficient or better in math, compared to 52.4% in English language arts.

The justices will hear Trump’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down the citizenship restrictions. They have not taken effect anywhere in the country.

For decades, the government has advised that all babies be vaccinated against the liver infection right after birth. The shots are widely considered to be a public health success for preventing thousands of illnesses.

Since the shooting, Chicago taxpayers have paid $591,500 to resolve four lawsuits that allege the officer, who was promoted in June 2025, violated the rights of other Chicagoans, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.

Northwestern University has agreed to pay $75 million to the federal government. The settlement with the Trump administration would restore $790 million in federal research grants that were frozen earlier this year, and end investigations on discrimination.

Northwestern University is set to get its research grants back after a controversial deal. And the Bears prepare for their biggest test yet.

This weekend the Chicago Bears face the Green Bay Packers. With nine wins and three losses so far this season, Bears fans are amped for what comes next.

Households with an income up to 300% of the federal poverty level will qualify for benefits on a tiered schedule. Those with incomes less than or equal to 50% of the federal threshold will see the largest discounts.

The latest back-and-forth between the mayor’s office and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s critics leaves no clear path to a deal with just 26 days left before the deadline to avoid an unprecedented shutdown of city government.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis on Thursday did not yet grant a motion to dismiss that class action lawsuit, brought forth this week by the plaintiffs themselves.

At 130 years old, the Chicago Transit Authority's State/Lake Loop elevated station has had a good run, but that run is ending in January.

Every Thursday, WTTW News newsletter producer Josh Terry highlights his picks for the week’s must-see cultural events.

The Trump administration plans to exclude nursing as a professional degree — what that could mean for students. And the CDC is changing its longstanding stance on vaccines and autism.

An advisory committee overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine advisory board will meet Thursday to discuss the medical guidance of the hepatitis B vaccine, which is currently given at birth.