Stories by Matt Masterson

Gov. JB Pritzker said state leaders are prepping legislation on a new stadium for the Chicago Bears in Illinois, which could be voted on during the upcoming fall veto session.

Shootings and homicides continue to decline across Chicago in 2026, as the city is once again on pace for historic lows, new data shows.

Chicago appears set for a divided school board after residents elected a new president for the first time and a handful of Chicago Teachers Union-backed incumbents were defeated in Tuesday’s election.

Juliana Stratton, the former Illinois state representative and current lieutenant governor, will become just the sixth Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate following her historic victory in Tuesday’s election. The Associated Press called the race for Stratton.

Current board member Jessica Biggs, former Chicago Teachers Union political director Hilario Dominguez and trial attorney Victor Henderson squared off in Tuesday’s hotly contested election.

Chicago’s U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros has been ordered to appear before a federal judge later this month to testify under oath about the collapse of the “Broadview Six” prosecution and whether his office had outside contact with the Trump administration prior to those charges being filed.

The former head of Chicago’s FBI field office claims he was forced into retirement and used as a “scapegoat” by top federal prosecutor Andrew Boutros to cover “for his own misconduct” and that of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Annette Johnson, a current member and former president of the East Aurora School District 131 Board of Education, is facing federal fraud charges for allegedly orchestrating the bribery scheme.

The Trump administration is demanding changes to the way the Illinois State Board of Education handles student recordkeeping and mental health screenings, claiming that it may violate federal law.

A federal appeals court will decide whether to revive a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump that sought to invalidate state, city and county laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants in Chicago by prohibiting local law enforcement officials from helping federal agents.

A downstate man who allegedly mailed envelopes containing a suspicious substance along with the message “HAH enjoy the gift” to multiple Illinois Congress members now faces federal charges.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros on Tuesday said voters can report possible violations including fraud and voter intimidation directly to his office amid concerns over the security of voters and the elections themselves.

State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke is defending Cook County’s ban on assault weapons, saying it “passes constitutional muster” as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to take up a challenge to that law later this year.

Chicago Public Schools officials on Wednesday announced that the most recent class of seniors achieved an 83.4% graduation rate. That’s double the district’s graduation rate from 2001, CPS CEO Macquline King said.

One person is in custody after allegedly firing a gun in downtown Chicago near the Kluczynski Federal Building early Tuesday morning, authorities said.

U.S. News and World Report unveiled its individual state rankings, which listed Edison Elementary Regional Gifted Center and Skinner North Elementary School as the top elementary schools in Illinois.

The first batch of candidates seeking to deny Mayor Brandon Johnson a second term each filed tens of thousands of signatures Monday to officially get on the Feb. 23 ballot, waiting in line for hours among aspiring alderpeople, staff members, lawyers and candidates for other offices.

Cook County College Teachers Union Local 1600 and the City Colleges of Chicago reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract late Sunday, meaning Monday’s planned strike had been averted.

CPS Inspector General Philip Wagenknecht on Friday said the investigation was conducted pursuant to his office’s standard practices and procedures, and that “in no way was this investigation rushed or concluded prematurely.”

Chicago Public Schools’ internal watchdog has cleared school board president candidate Hilario Dominguez of any wrongdoing following an investigation into nearly decade-old allegations that he acted inappropriately with a high schooler.

The two-term Democratic incumbent and former downstate Republican legislator came together Tuesday for their first and only meeting during this election cycle in a forum hosted by WTTW News.

Chicago attorneys have filed more than a half dozen lawsuits alleging the Archdiocese of Chicago knew its priests were running a “sex ring” for decades at a South Side parish but did nothing to stop it from happening.

Hundreds of hotel workers from a half dozen Chicago hotels remain on strike Monday, days after walking off the job in a push for improved wages, healthcare benefits and a safer workload.

A Cook County judge on Friday ordered that Shavon Gayden, 48, remain held at Cook County Jail, days after she was charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 3 killing of 7-year-old Eddimar Hernandez Chacon.

The family of Silverio Villegas González, the suburban father who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic stop last year, is taking legal action against the Trump administration more than a year after the “unnecessary, unjust” killing.

School board president candidate Hilario Dominguez says he met with Chicago Public Schools’ internal watchdog, which is revisiting nearly decade-old allegations that he acted inappropriately with a high schooler.