Stories by Matt Masterson

CPS CEO Macquline King on Thursday afternoon said her recommendation to the board has been, for weeks, to maintain May 1 as an instructional day for students despite a push from the Chicago Teachers Union.

Attorneys for Madigan and the federal government presented their arguments before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals during a hearing Thursday inside a 27th-floor courtroom in the Dirksen Federal Building.

A federal judge tossed out the remainder of a motion brought by the “Broadview Six” defendants that sought possible evidence showing the Trump administration improperly influenced the politically-charged case.

The appellate ruling comes nearly three years after a Cook County jury ruled in favor of the police officers in deciding the civil suit. But in its ruling, the appellate court found that attorneys representing the city of Chicago improperly used pretrial challenges to exclude two Black potential jurors.

Chicago recorded an increase in both the number of homicides and people shot throughout March 2026 compared to the same month last year.

The man charged in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman now faces additional firearms charges in federal court.

Cook County prosecutors on Thursday announced Joseph Brooks, 22, had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 55 years in prison.

The Responsible Gun Manufacturers Act, versions of which have been introduced into both the Illinois House and Senate, would prohibit the manufacturing and sale of pistols that can be easily converted into illegal “machine guns.”

In a social media post, Jennifer Custer said she voted against Macquline King “because I listened closely to the voices of my community — parents, principals, and rank-and-file educators — who consistently raised serious questions about the direction of the district under this leadership.”

Macquline King will officially drop the interim tag from her title as Chicago Public Schools CEO after the city’s Board of Education voted to make her the district’s next permanent leader.

A Venezuelan migrant will be held in jail after his arrest in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Loyola University freshman Sheridan Gorman as she walked with her friends on a Rogers Park neighborhood beach last week.

Saturday’s day of action is expected to include millions of protesters in more than 3,000 planned demonstrations across the U.S., including a handful of events in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

Chicago’s Board of Education is set to vote on King's appointment as full-time CEO during a special board meeting Monday morning. If approved, King’s $380,000-per-year contract would take effect July 1.

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke is launching a new task force focusing on CTA-related crimes and prosecutions as federal authorities continue pressuring Chicago officials to tamp down crime on the city’s bus and train lines.

Chicago White Sox great Frank Thomas is suing his former team and Nike, alleging they sold City Connect jerseys branded with his last name and jersey number without his permission.

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke says her office doesn’t have the legal authority to initiate criminal investigations into federal immigration agents, claiming that doing so would be “willfully violat(ing) the law.”

Sheaves Slate, 27, will be detained in Cook County Jail pending trial on charges including first-degree murder, felony murder and aggravated arson stemming from the fatal fire last week.

A CPS spokesperson said school leaders have started soliciting feedback from its school community on the decision to consider a school name change after multiple allegations of abuse came to light against the former president of The United Farm Workers union.

Attorneys for the four remaining defendants in the “Broadview Six” conspiracy case are seeking documents that may show the Trump administration pushed for the indictments in the politically charged case.

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss has been declared the winner of a jam-packed Democratic primary race for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District seat, which is set to see its first new leader in more than 25 years.

Ten candidates were vying for an Illinois congressional seat in the state’s 2nd District, which is set for a new representative for the first time in more than a decade.

More than a dozen Democratic candidates are squaring off Tuesday in a race for control of Illinois’ 7th Congressional District, a seat that’s been held by Congressman Danny Davis for nearly 30 years.

Melissa Bean, who previously led Illinois’ 8th Congressional District for three terms, took a major step toward taking that seat back, as she has been declared the winner in Tuesday’s Democratic primary race.

King is joined on the list of finalists by former New York City Public Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and Sito Narcisse, who previously led the East Baton Rouge Parish school district in Louisiana.

Prosecutors filed a motion Thursday afternoon in which they plan to drop charges against Catherine Sharp and Joselyn Walsh, while continuing on in their case against four others.

That coalition on Thursday filed a petition in Cook County court after they said State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has failed to hold federal agents accountable.