Stories by Heather Cherone

The new law will close a “loophole” that contributed to children, teens and young adults ingesting misleading or poorly labeled products, Gov. JB Pritzker said.

If Mayor Brandon Johnson and his allies on the Chicago City Council have their way, those bars and restaurants will never get to plug in video poker and slot machines.

David Jones’ federal lawsuit accuses four Chicago police officers, including convicted former Officer David Salgado, of conspiring to frame him in March 2015 for selling drugs in Lawndale.

Since January 2025, Chicago taxpayers spent at least $103.1 million to resolve 14 lawsuits brought by people who were injured or on behalf of those killed during police pursuits, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.

Second installment property tax bills are typically released in early July and due in early August, but those bills have been repeatedly delayed by an overhaul of the county’s property tax system plagued with problems.

The $56 billion spending plan awaiting Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature explicitly prohibits the City Council from imposing a version of the tax that would send new revenue into the city’s cash-strapped coffers.

Mayor Brandon Johnson took a victory lap Monday, hours after the General Assembly passed a $56 billion budget that authorizes the Chicago City Council to impose a tax on digital advertisements seen by Chicagoans.

Instead, Officer Michael Bryant should be suspended for 25 days, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling determined, objecting to the recommendation from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability that Bryant be fired.

The federal lawsuit was filed on what would have been Adam Toledo’s 19th birthday, attorneys for his parents said.

The lawsuit is the second to be resolved that alleged police officers beat Black Chicagoans attempting to flee the Northwest Side’s Brickyard Mall as looters began to ransack the mall after the police murder of George Floyd in 2020.

There is no evidence that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s decision to turn off the microphones that sent an alert to police officers every time the system picked up suspected gunfire slowed police response times and drove up violent crime, as many warned, according to a new analysis.

Chicago taxpayers paid $27,500 to a Chicago native who was stopped by the same tactical team of officers who would days later pull over Dexter Reed and fatally shoot him in a barrage of gunfire after he fired at officers, records show.

The so-called “megaproject” bill would mean tax breaks for the Chicago Bears of more than $1.5 billion during the 40-year term of the agreement, according to the analysis.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability determined that four tactical team officers assigned to patrol the Near North (18th) Police District violated the civil rights of three people when the officers improperly searched a car shortly after 8 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2024, records show.

Taste of Chicago will feature a total of 84 food vendors and 20 food trucks, officials said. Approximately 38% of the vendors are making their first appearance at the Taste of Chicago.

“One proposal is not a silver bullet,” Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward) said. “But we should do what we can, when we can.”

The ordinance's passage means that tipped workers in Chicago would not get another city-ordered wage boost as scheduled on July 1, 2026, or July 1, 2027.

After winning the endorsement of the Ethics and Government Oversight Committee, a final vote on the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr. Fair Access to Democracy Ordinance by the full City Council is scheduled for Wednesday.

David Glockner said he would focus his efforts on areas “that matter most for the effective, equitable and efficient delivery of city services” and use his office’s audit authority to probe the “most significant risks.”

Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) claimed that the agents acted negligently when they falsely arrested and falsely imprisoned her on Oct. 3, 2025, in the emergency room of the Humboldt Park Health Hospital.

The agreement also calls for the city to build or rehabilitate 2,000 new affordable units accessible to those with limited mobility as well as an additional 840 new affordable units accessible for Chicagoans with limited hearing and sight during the next 12 years, officials said.

“We have endured quite a bit,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “It has been a barrage of just crisis after crisis that I’ve had to manage, but again, you know, I’ve made it very clear that it’s a lot more effective and easier to lead when you are leading with your values and your convictions.”

Jose Almanza-Martinez, 67, died in the crash that ended the chase on Aug. 2, 2020, near 26th Street and Pulaski Road, records show.

Arnold Day was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison in 1992 based on confessions coerced by Chicago police detectives trained by Jon Burge, a disgraced Chicago police commander, according to court records.

Chief Procurement Officer Sharla Roberts told the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee that officials are still weighing the bids submitted by nine firms, including one by SoundThinking, the firm that operates ShotSpotter.

Any verdict or settlement in the case would be paid by Chicago taxpayers, who will also foot the bill to defend Ald. Jim Gardiner’s claims.