Stories by Heather Cherone

The Chicago City Council confirmed four of the five Chicagoans picked by Mayor Brandon Johnson to serve on the board of the Regional Transportation Authority, which is facing a $730 million deficit in 2026.

The Chicago City Council voted to pay $4 million to the family of a man who spent 33 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of murdering a woman in 1989 in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.

The hotline aims to help the U.S. Department of Justice deter and combat discrimination and intimidation at the polls, election fraud and threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, according to a news release.

Michael Madigan, 82, and his longtime confidant Michael McClain, 77, are charged with racketeering, bribery and wire fraud. They have each pleaded not guilty.

Will Venable, who turned 42 on Tuesday, is stepping in for Pedro Grifol, who was fired in August with the White Sox on their way to breaking the modern major league record for most losses in a season. With Grady Sizemore serving as interim manager, the club finished with a 41-121 record.

This year in Illinois, there are no statewide elections. And yet, political campaigns in the state raised about $600 million in itemized individual contributions, according to a Capitol News Illinois analysis of Illinois campaign finance data.

Two nights and 200 miles apart, the dueling closing arguments outlined in stark terms the choice U.S. voters face on Nov. 5 when they will weigh two very different visions of leadership and America’s future.

The high court, over the dissents of the three liberal justices, granted an emergency appeal from Virginia’s Republican administration led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The court provided no rationale for its action, which is typical in emergency appeals.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, accelerated to a 3.7% annual pace last quarter, up from 2.8% in the April-June period. Exports also contributed to the third quarter’s growth, increasing at an 8.9% rate.

Each Wednesday, WTTW News presents must-see shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more. 

Will the mayor break his campaign promise in tomorrow’s budget address? And a midseason look at where the Bears go from here after last week’s heartbreaker.

Staying warm during Chicago’s frigid winters will get more expensive if Peoples Gas is permitted to resume its massive pipe replacement program, according to a report released Tuesday by the Citizens Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group.

The Chicago Bears snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on Sunday in Washington, D.C. Now instead of the playoffs, the talk is of a heartbreaking and improbable loss that some Bears players are calling the worst they’ve ever experienced.

Members of the Illinois Flag Commission have nearly 5,000 designs to wade through, as the state moves onto a new phase of potentially overhauling its flag.

Brown founded her first company and namesake, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, at a time when the industry rarely catered to a large array of skin tones. Her approach offered shades for women of every color, helping to establish a standard for inclusivity. 

Warm temperatures combined with strong winds are also creating a fire hazard in northern Illinois, the National Weather Service warned.

A look at police reform efforts 10 years after Laquan McDonald’s death. And a front-row seat to history — a journalist takes us inside the courtroom for Trump’s hush-money trial.

This month marks 10 years since the police murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Advocates say efforts to hold the Chicago Police Department more accountable and to change the way officers interact with residents have not shown much progress.

Jonathan Alter, who grew up in a politically active Chicago family, was among the small group of journalists in the courtroom in April for former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial.

Angela Hurlock, the chair of the CHA Board of Commissioners, will serve as the agency’s interim CEO, while a search for a permanent leader takes place, according to a statement from the agency.

Jay Johnston, 56, of Los Angeles, joined other rioters in a “heave ho” push against police officers guarding a tunnel entrance to the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Johnston also cracked jokes and interacted with other rioters as he used a cellphone to record the violence around him, prosecutors said.

PepsiCo said the decision was difficult but it described the 60-year-old building as a facility with “physical limitations.” The company said it would pay workers for the next 60 days even though they won’t be required to work.

Testimony resumed Monday in the fourth week of the former Illinois House speaker’s corruption trial inside Chicago’s Dirksen Federal Building. Michael Madigan, 82, and his longtime confidant Michael McClain, 77, are charged with racketeering, bribery and wire fraud.

Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, has been charged with six counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm toward a police officer or firefighter and one count of aggravated battery.

The endorsement of the city’s Transportation and Public Way Committee sends the nominations of Natasha Jenkins, Thomas Kotarac, Jarixon Medina, Dennis J. Mondero and Nora Cay Ryan to the full Chicago City Council for confirmation.

Forecasts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that this respiratory disease season will be similar to last year’s — which brought more than 20 hospitalizations for every 100,000 people in one week at its peak — and far worse than in pre-pandemic years.