Stories by Heather Cherone

In all, $1.59 billion poured into the city’s 108 TIF funds in 2024, according to the annual report from the clerk’s office posted online Wednesday.

A 12-person jury reached its verdict Thursday afternoon in the case of Juan Espinoza Martinez, who was charged in a murder-for-hire plot after prosecutors alleged he offered $10,000 for someone to kill Greg Bovino.

Gov. JB Pritzker had directed agencies to “identify immediate spending reductions, including efficiencies that will result in reduced spending” in a September executive order.

The number of people visiting the temporary casino at River North’s Medinah Temple failed to grow from 2024 to 2025, leading to a 1.3% drop in tax revenues,

CPS cited “dangerously frigid temperatures” expected Friday in making its decision, saying the possible wind chills of -35 degrees will make it unsafe for students and staff to travel to school.

In the less than nine years the Civilian Office of Police Accountability has existed, its investigators have probed 138 deaths caused by CPD officers, records show.

Forecasters are warning Chicagoans to prepare for “dangerously cold temperatures” in the coming days as a deep freeze settles over the region.

The Illinois Department of Human Rights will investigate whether the three firms that own and manage the building at 7500 S. South Shore Drive committed housing discrimination, officials said.

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

Chicago alderpeople ban the sale of intoxicating hemp — with some exceptions. And President Donald Trump says he reached a deal on Greenland, backing off his tariff threat.

The president said he was asking for territory that was “cold and poorly located" and that the U.S. had effectively saved Europe during World War II while declaring of NATO: “It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades.”

The proposal immediately bans the sale of intoxicating hemp products to those younger than 21, while exempting the sale of beverages, topical creams and pet products with intoxicating hemp from the larger ban set to take effect April 1.

The new proposal does not mention the city’s curfew, but gives the city’s top cop the power to issue what it calls “a dispersal declaration” in areas where police leaders have determined they have probable cause to believe there will be a “disruptive youth gathering.”

Six bison released onto prairie in Kane County carry the weight of interwoven hopes: that they can heal both the land and the deep trauma borne by Indigenous people.

The memo authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections and upends years of advice given to immigrant communities.

The grant is part of a $25 million commitment by the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation to expand or establish five Ralph Lauren-named centers in the U.S.

Drivers currently lack the right to unionize under federal labor law because they are classified as independent contractors. The proposal would not change that classification but would give rideshare drivers the right to unionize in Illinois despite their contractor status.

Federal prosecutors have alleged Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, posted a Snapchat message offering $10,000 for someone to kill Greg Bovino, the controversial Customs and Border Patrol chief. Espinoza Martinez’s lawyers say the message was nothing more than repeating rumors.

In the latest case to be settled, the City Council voted 28-16 to pay $875,000 to 21 people who each say they were brutalized by Chicago police officers during the 2020 protests.

“The city’s finances are, needless to say, in an extremely precarious place, and we can ill-afford mistakes which run well into the eight figures,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said

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

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president has “an expectation” that credit card companies will accede to his demand that they cap interest rates on credit cards at 10% for one year.

What the Trump administration’s cap on credit card interest could mean for you. And “Stranger Things” star Jake Connelly on his newfound fame.

The final season of “Stranger Things” introduced us to a new character who quickly became a fan favorite — Derek Turnbow, the comic relief-turned-protagonist.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has filed more than 50 lawsuits seeking to block various actions by the Trump administration to cut off federal funding or conduct aggressive immigration enforcement.

“The final purchase price was far too high, much more than they initially received for the sale, and higher than most reasonable assumptions would support,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.