Stories by Matt Masterson

Neville, who has served on the high court for the past seven years, will take over for current Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis beginning in October. He’ll become the second Black chief justice in Illinois history.

Homeland Security officials on Monday said they intend to target “criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois” in a new immigration operation after an Illinois woman was killed in a drunk driving crash allegedly involving an undocumented immigrant early this year.

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s office announced the charges against the six adults, who were arrested Friday after allegedly leading authorities on a chase from the store down Lake Shore Drive and the Dan Ryan Expressway before they ultimately crashed.

Chicago Public Schools says it does not intend to offer a remote learning option to students amid a possible deployment of National Guard troops, immigration strike teams or other armed military personnel into the city.

Northwestern President Michael Schill, who has led the Evanston university amid periods of turmoil that included student protests, a widespread hazing scandal within the athletic department and federal funding cuts that forced layoffs, has announced he is stepping down.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday on behalf of 15-year-old Marjay Dotson and 14-year-old Jeremy Herred, comes more than two months after the teens were shot in Douglass Park during an encounter with a 55-year-old lifeguard.

According to Chicago Police Department data, 58 total people were shot in 37 separate shootings between Friday and Monday evenings.

The Department of Justice on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the state itself.

The Chicago Board of Education on Thursday voted to approve the settlement with the school’s former interim principal John Thuet and assistant principal Michelle Brumfield.

The board voted 12-7, with one abstention, late Thursday following a contentious debate between board members who were split on how best to fund city schools while keeping costly cuts out of the classroom.

Cesar Ramirez, 47, received his sentence this week after he pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated kidnapping stemming from the October 2022 incident. He was initially charged with numerous felonies that also included attempted aggravated sexual assault, attempted aggravated sexual abuse and aggravated battery.

Gov. JB Pritzker said he’s received no word from the Trump administration following reports it intends to use the Naval Station Great Lakes outside Chicago to house federal immigration agents or National Guard troops.

Chicago Public Schools is set to finalize its fiscal year 2026 budget this week, but questions remain about how the cash-strapped school district intends to plug a $734 million shortfall.

A federal judge in Chicago sentenced Yousef Abu Alhawa to 42 months in prison after he pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and tax charges.

President Donald Trump signed an order threatening to freeze federal funding to governments and jurisdictions that have eliminated the use of cash bail as a means of holding defendants in jail pretrial. Local officials say the system put in place in Illinois in 2023 is working.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said he takes Trump’s statement seriously, but claimed the city has not received any word from federal authorities about the deployment of any additional law enforcement into Chicago.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros announced Friday the creation of a new section within the Northern District of Illinois’s Criminal Division that will be dedicated to the prosecution of health care fraud.

The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability announced it has begun accepting applications for the role of chief administrator in the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

Former Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald and his attorneys announced the “satisfactory settlement” Thursday, though terms of the agreement were not immediately known.

For the first time in seven years, NASCAR will be returning to the 1.5-mile speedway in Joliet with an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on July 4, 2026 and a Cup Series race scheduled for July 5.

In Illinois, there are numerous security checks in place to ensure the accuracy and security of mail-in voting, according to Matt Dietrich, a spokesperson for the state’s Board of Elections.

Chicago Public Schools students returned to their classrooms Monday for the start of the new academic year, as district officials continue working to finalize a budget proposal to close a $734 million funding gap.

A Chicago Police Department spokesperson confirmed that Officer Carlos Baker has been relieved of his police powers, effective Friday.

The letter came after several board members voiced concerns about the district’s proposed spending plan, one CPS officials have pledged would keep any cuts out of the classroom.

Judge Scott Larson said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton “failed to present a legal basis” for the Illinois court to consider civil arrest warrants filed in a different state.

“The choices we have are difficult ones,” CPS chief budget officer Mike Sitkowski told the Board of Education, “and it’s very difficult for us to be able to make cuts of this magnitude and keep the impact off of our schools.”