Stories by Joanna Hernandez

Broader Urban Involvement and Leadership Development is close to completing a large community campus that will bring services and gathering spaces. 

The move will generate $959 million for the project by funneling a portion of the increase in property tax revenues for the next 35 years from the 42nd, 3rd, 4th, 11th and 25th wards — even though the extension of the train line would be miles away from any of those wards. 

In Cook County, Black youth account for more than 70% of the child welfare system. Meanwhile, Black residents make up only 23% of the county’s total population. As of February 2022, there are more than 4,000 Black children in foster care in Cook County.

Bally’s Chicago casino is set to have 3,400 slots and 173 table games in addition to an exhibition hall, 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater and 11 restaurants. The development will include a 2,100-square-foot park and walking path along the river and a three-level underground parking garage, according to the plans released by city officials.

Jamel Danzy, 40, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiring to straw purchase the semi-automatic handgun that was used to kill Ella French and critically wound her partner Officer Carlos Yanez in August 2021.

Chicago taxpayers will pay $1.2 million to settle three lawsuits claiming Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct, including handcuffing an 8-year-old boy for more than 40 minutes during a raid of his family’s home.

The measure is designed to prevent longtime Chicago residents from being pushed out of their homes by soaring property tax bills.

An economic package, which gives tax credits to incentivize electric vehicle and parts production and training in Illinois, has yielded few results, to the point that Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to soon sign legislation that will expand some tax credits.

Illinois reported 3,314 new COVID cases Tuesday, leading to about a 7% increase from last week. Meanwhile, data shows RSV cases are on a steady decline and the virus could finally be peaking.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced a “major scientific breakthrough” Tuesday in the decadeslong quest to harness fusion, the energy that powers the sun and stars.

After being approached to enhance the neighborhood, entrepreneur and chef Quentin Love decided to open what he hopes will be a soul food staple on the city’s West Side.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter is the first aircraft humankind has ever created that is capable of powered, controlled flight on another world. NASA’s team lead on the project discusses its significance. 

Alderpeople on extending the Red Line and taking down the Trump sign. The state’s top doctor on the “triple-demic.” Electric cars hitting a pothole in Illinois. Helicopters on Mars. And a taste of the Soul Food Lounge.

Prosecutors said William Kohles was upset over crime rates in Chicago when he allegedly wrote a threatening message to Mayor Lori Lightfoot in which he claimed he would shoot the mayor. 

The new law is intended to safeguard gay marriages if the U.S. Supreme Court ever reverses Obergefell v. Hodges, its 2015 decision legalizing same-sex unions nationwide. The new law also protects interracial marriages. 

Jay Bollyn, 69, was arrested on hate crime charges and ordered held on a $100,000 D-bond during a court hearing Tuesday. He must post $10,000 to be released from custody.

The $1.74 billion proposal still needs the approval of the Illinois Gaming Board, which must license Bally’s to operate the Chicago casino set to be built along the Chicago River near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.

The Jordan trophy will stand 23.6 inches tall and weigh 23.6 pounds – nods to his jersey number and six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls – but is not a depiction of him.

Postal carrier Aundre Cross was shot and killed Friday in Milwaukee while delivering mail. In a separate case, a man in late October received numerous felony charges, including aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated sexual assault of a postal carrier in the Little Village neighborhood. 

Lawmakers consider a state assault weapons ban. The fate of funding for the CTA’s Red Line south extension. A new study says federal courts are locking up more defendants before trials. And the dangers behind being a postal worker.

Pharmacies across the country are seeing surging demand for child-friendly versions of Amoxicillin, Tamiflu and other drugs. That demand has led at times to empty shelves and parents having to try multiple pharmacies to find their child’s prescription.

Developers announce plans for Fulton Market. And Palatine-based grill company Weber is going private —a quick year after their public bid.

In 1968, a U.S. Marine was wounded and evacuated from Vietnam and returned to Chicago. He found his calling making artwork with an approach that could be called obsessive.

A new report from the University of Chicago Law School’s Federal Criminal Justice Clinic shows that locking up pretrial defendants has become the norm in federal court, rather than the exception, as required by law.

The Chicago Police Department on Monday evening issued a community alert notifying residents on the city’s North and West sides after at least 50 armed robberies have been carried out between Dec. 7 and Dec. 10.

The proposed legislation would ban the future sale of a list of guns defined as assault weapons. While the bill is many stages away from becoming law, leading Democrats are committed to its passage.