Stories by Associated Press

Chicago police say local media reports that allege the attack against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was a hoax are unconfirmed.

Illinois legislators moved quickly Thursday to deliver one of new Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s top campaign promises, a gradual hike in the statewide minimum wage from $8.25 to $15 an hour.

Odds may still favor the eventual construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, but it’s no longer a sure thing in the face of a formidable legal challenge by a parks advocacy group.

Detectives are interviewing two “persons of interest” who surveillance photos show were in the area of downtown Chicago where “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett said he was attacked last month, police said Thursday.

“The emails were upsetting to read, and especially upsetting to think that some of our fans were put into a position where they had to consider their favorite team and some of those types of views,” Theo Epstein said Tuesday.

Actor Jussie Smollett says he redacted some information from his phone before giving it to Chicago police investigating a reported attack on the “Empire” actor in order to protect the privacy of contacts and people who are not relevant to the attack.

Illinois is poised to join Washington, D.C., and at least four other states with a $15-an-hour minimum by 2025, an 82-percent spike in current base pay. But it may not be the momentous impact on low-wage workers that some supporters expected.

Authorities say Jakharr Williams was indicted last week by a grand jury on murder, attempted murder, battery and other charges stemming from the Jan. 21 fatal shooting at Orland Square Mall.

A judge who last month ruled that R. Kelly could only enter the Chicago warehouse he uses as a recording studio between 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. now says he can stay until 9 p.m.

A bankruptcy judge has blessed a $5.2 billion plan by Sears chairman and biggest shareholder Eddie Lampert to keep the iconic business going. The approval means roughly 425 stores and 45,000 jobs will be preserved.

The Illinois Senate voted Thursday to hike the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour within six years, quickly advancing a top campaign promise of newly elected Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Prosecutors are building a case, partly on a bloody handprint and the responses of a cadaver-sniffing dog, that a former University of Illinois physics student killed a 26-year-old Chinese scholar in 2017 at his off-campus apartment.

“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett told Chicago police that his attackers seemed to know who he was before they beat him and tied a rope around his neck.

The patriarch of the family behind the Chicago Cubs has apologized after an online media outlet published emails in which he took part in racist comments and conspiracy theories.

O’Hare International Airport had more than 903,000 arrivals and departures during 2018, according to data released Monday by the Federal Aviation Administration. Atlanta’s airport came in second.

Forecasts say temperatures will climb as much as 80 degrees. Experts say the rapid thaw is unprecedented, and it could create problems of its own — bursting pipes, flooding rivers and crumbling roads. 

Boeing reported annual revenue of more than $100 billion for the first time and shares soared after the company easily beat Wall Street’s profit and sales expectations for the fourth quarter.

The world’s biggest hamburger chain said sales rose 4.4 percent at established locations in the fourth quarter and 4.5 percent for the year.  

A deadly arctic deep freeze enveloped the Midwest with record-breaking temperatures on Wednesday, triggering widespread closures of schools and businesses, and the canceling of more than 1,500 flights from Chicago's airports. 

Chicago Public Schools announced that Wednesday’s classes have been canceled. The University of Chicago, DePaul and Northwestern Universities will close their campuses from Tuesday until Thursday morning.

Caterpillar fell well short of fourth-quarter profit expectations and the machine maker said that sales have begun to slow in China. Shares tumbled 10 percent at the opening bell Monday, the worst sell-off in more than seven years.

The National Weather Service says northern and central Illinois will see record-breaking low temperatures of 18 or 19 degrees below zero or colder on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A Manteno veterans’ home resident who contracted Legionnaires’ disease has died, state officials said Friday, becoming the 15th resident of a state veterans’ facility killed by the flu-like illness.

The National Weather Service says Friday's deep freeze is a preview of next week, which could bring more than a half-foot of snow and the potential for the “coldest stretch in years.”

Orland Park Police say Jakharr Williams of University Park was arrested Wednesday without incident. He was wanted in connection with Monday's fatal shooting of Javon Britten of Richton Park.

The ruling comes a week after Chicago building inspectors found code violations at the R&B star’s recording studio on the city’s Near West Side during a court-ordered inspection.