Stories by Matt Masterson

Eight Cook County residents were among the 24 deaths reported by Illinois health officials Thursday as the state nears 8,000 virus-related deaths and more than 227,000 cases of COVID-19.

Pedro Soto, a high-ranking Chicago Public Schools official, has been charged with lying to FBI investigators about giving non-public information to a lobbyist on behalf of a bidder seeking a $1 billion custodial services contract.

Resource officers will remain in Chicago Public Schools once in-person learning resumes after the Board of Education approved a new contract with the Chicago Police Department.

More than 18,000 CPS students have signed up to receive free internet access through the Chicago Connected program. With classes beginning remotely in just two weeks, city officials expect that number to continue growing exponentially.

The number of Illinois kindergarteners hitting readiness requirements has increased statewide, but more than two-thirds of students are still not meeting those goals. Education advocates say there’s more work that must be done to eliminate systemic inequalities.

“What happens in Wisconsin or any other city in our country does affect all of us,” Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said during a press conference Monday morning. “And yes, we are monitoring that situation."

Michael Pearson, 18, is facing federal carjacking and firearm charges brought as part of a nationwide initiative between federal local law enforcement agencies aimed at combating violent crime.

Dozens of people say police escalated violence at recent protests in Chicago, beat demonstrators and mocked their cause with no fear of reprisal. “It felt like a battle zone,” one speaker said.

The Chicago Police Department is expanding a community policing initiative it says has already helped reduce 911 calls in one police district by assigning officers to specific geographic areas to build trust with its residents.

School resource officers with sustained allegations of excessive force, or complaints of inappropriate interactions with youth in the past five years will no longer be eligible to serve in schools, city officials announced Wednesday.

Three weeks before students return to a fully remote instruction plan for the fall, Chicago Public Schools released its final reopening plan and updated remote learning guidelines for students and families.

“Forcing these witnesses to risk their health, or the health of their families, is not something the government wishes to do,” federal prosecutors wrote last week in a request to delay the October trial.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb did not find evidence to warrant criminal charges against State’s Attorney Kim Foxx or anyone in her office. But he did report the way actor Jussie Smollett’s charges were dismissed represented a “major failure.”

The mayor announced a five-point plan to protect businesses and better identify and respond to looting through analytics, additional police deployments and faster lockdowns in areas where businesses are being burglarized.

Holding signs that read “CPD out of CPS” and “Police Free Schools Now,” dozens of youth activists approached the mayor’s home after an organized rally in Logan Square Park where they called for the removal of officers from Chicago public schools.

Chicago Public Schools leaders have left it up to local school councils to decide whether they want to continue or eliminate resource officer programs at their respective schools. Here’s where things stand as voting wraps up.

After striking two women with his car Monday night in downtown Chicago, Edgar Roman allegedly circled back, targeted them and ran over one of the women a second time, dragging her body down the street and killing her.

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced a woman in her 20s was among the eight Illinoisans who died of COVID-19 on Sunday.

The CPD has named Deborah Pascua as its ADA compliance officer. In that role she’ll be tasked with ensuring “meaningful access to CPD programs, services and activities” for individuals with disabilities.

The Cook County College Teachers Union Local 1600, which represents nearly 2,000 CCC staffers, has an emergency meeting Friday to discuss a no-confidence vote, which could lead to a safety strike later this month.

The 17-year-old worked as a youth leader with Voices of Youth in Chicago Education and had sought the removal of police officers from Chicago schools. He died Sunday, two days after he was shot in Rogers Park.

The man accused of gunning down Janari Ricks last week was “hunting” for a victim, Cook County prosecutors said, after he was seen on surveillance footage peering over fences in the area while “looking for somebody to shoot.”

Chicago police have a suspect in custody in connection with the shooting death of Janari Ricks near the Cabrini Rowhouses on Friday night. Criminal charges are expected to be filed in the coming days.

The man accused of wounding three Chicago police officers in a shootout outside a Northwest Side police station Thursday morning has been charged with six counts of attempted murder and multiple other felonies.

Three Chicago Police officers were shot, including one who was struck in the neck, outside a Northwest side police station Thursday by an offender who had been arrested as a suspect in a June carjacking.

In order for schools to move to fully remote instruction this fall, the city of Chicago must hit a rolling average of 400 new COVID-19 cases per day, according to new guidance from Chicago Public Schools.