Stories by Matt Masterson

With the clock ticking down toward a potential teachers strike, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday expressed her “significant concern” that Chicago Teachers Union leadership isn’t participating properly in ongoing contract negotiations.

While he didn’t fire the fatal shots that killed 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee, prosecutors say Corey Morgan was the “driving force” behind the boy’s execution in 2015. On Friday, Morgan was found guilty of murder for his role in one of Chicago’s most horrific crimes.

Dwright Boone-Doty has been found guilty of murder in what remains one of the most shocking and horrific murders in Chicago’s recent history.

It’s been more than eight years since the Chicago real estate agent was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Rhoni Reuter, the pregnant lover of former Chicago Bears star Shaun Gayle. Marni Yang’s attorney is now calling for a new trial.

Geraldo Iglesias spent 16 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Now he’s suing the city of Chicago and a disgraced former police detective who he claims set him up.

Veteran attorney Dan Webb, who was appointed last month to review actor Jussie Smollett’s criminal case, said he has no recollection of making a $1,000 contribution to Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in 2016.

The new online dashboard makes public every police incident that involved some sort of force – anything from a firearm discharge to taser use to physical force – dating back to 2015.

A 13-year-old girl claimed she’d been kidnapped, beaten and sexually abused on the city’s North Side on Tuesday. Police say the incident never happened.

The head of Chicago Public Schools remains confident a strike can be avoided, but on the eve of a key vote, Chicago Teachers Union leaders say they’re ready for a work stoppage if they can’t get written assurances on staffing and class sizes.

Less than 1% of Chicago crosswalks have accessible pedestrian signals. A new lawsuit filed against the city claims that’s indicative of a “systemic failure.”

Michael Blackman, 45, was charged Monday with five counts of attempted murder. He remains hospitalized after he was shot multiple times by arresting officers over the weekend.

A new partnership between the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and a nonprofit could help clear tens of thousands of low-level marijuana convictions from Cook County records. State’s Attorney Kim Foxx explains.

One of the most comprehensive investigations undertaken by federal authorities revealed widespread violations in the way Chicago Public Schools handles and investigates sexual violence cases. “The findings were deeply disturbing,” one federal education official said. “We cannot permit this to recur in Chicago or anywhere else.”

The Chicago Public Schools CEO took to the nation’s capital Wednesday to call for additional federal resources for local programming that helps students process and heal from violence.

A Cook County judge has rejected a so-called gag order in the case of a mother and daughter who allegedly murdered pregnant teen Marlen Ochoa-Lopez and cut the baby from her womb.

The Hyde Park university maintained its position as one of top institutions in the nation – and the best in Illinois – according to the just-released 2020 rankings from U.S. News and World Report.

Latrice Harrell, executive director of The Champion Center for Autism Inc., faces the possibility of decades in prison after allegedly submitting $3 million in fraudulent insurance claims over the course of three years.

More than 16,000 CPS students dealt with some form of homelessness last school year. Now, Chicago aldermen and a local nonprofit are calling on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to support what they believe could be an “immediate solution.”

Attorneys for the former “Empire” actor claim that simply filing a police report doesn’t typically result in an investigation as extensive as the one Chicago police undertook earlier this year, which cost $130,000.

On Tuesday, Chicago Public Schools will welcome the inaugural class of students to Englewood STEM High School, 18 months after the district voted to close four other local high schools.

Sgt. James Prah Jr. claims he’s being “intimidated into silence” by Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and his wife because he reported their alleged involvement in a purported cheating scheme during a departmental exam.

The Illinois attorney general’s office has been so inundated with payment requests stemming from its consent decree with a former Champaign-based bus operator that they’ve asked a federal judge to amend the agreement itself.

Teachers at Chicago Public Schools are back in the classroom, preparing for the arrival of students next week. But they still have no contract from the district, even though the district is changing its offer to teachers.

The announcement comes five months after the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped criminal charges related to a racist and homophobic attack actor Jussie Smollett allegedly orchestrated.

Judi Brown filed a federal lawsuit this week claiming she was discriminated against and ultimately fired from a Bolingbrook convenience store because of her race and gender identity.

Illinois prisons will soon provide civics and voting rights education workshops to soon-to-be released prisoners. “In Illinois, we understand that every vote matters and every vote counts,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a signing ceremony Wednesday.