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A Portage Park man charged in the fatal shooting of a 9-year-old girl. Why thousands of Illinoisans are being kicked off Medicaid. And remembering Chicago native and film legend William Friedkin.

For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid recipients are being asked to provide proof of their eligibility.

The United States is now at a record 15 different weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced. It’s the most mega-disasters through the first seven months of the year since the agency tracked such things starting in 1980.

Michael Goodman, 43, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting that left Serabi Medina dead outside her home on the city’s Northwest Side.

Born in Chicago on Aug. 29, 1939, he began working in local TV productions as a teenager. By age 16 he was directing live shows.

The charge was filed against Michael Goodman, 43, in the death of Sarabi Medina, Chicago police announced. The shooting happened Saturday night in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood.

DJ Casper, the South Side native who created the enduring party classic “Cha-Cha Slide,” has died. He was 58.

In the latest installment of our series WTTW News: A Safer City, we tackle the issue of domestic violence. We examine state laws that protect survivors and meet a local woman providing essentials to women in need.

The Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline reported a 9% uptick in contacts received between 2020 and 2021, according to The Network for Advocating Against Domestic Violence 2021 annual report. With those grim statistics, Illinois lawmakers hope updates to domestic violence laws will help survivors of abuse.

An increase in domestic violence reports has not only highlighted the need for better legal protection and laws for survivors, but also the need for creating an improved network of care in cases of abuse. Dozens of organizations in Chicago are working to address those needs. 

The judge said at the hearing in Waukegan, north of Highland Park where the shooting occurred, that he would issue a ruling at the next hearing, on Aug. 28.

All of the organs in  Dennis Deer’s chest and abdomen — including his lungs — were flip-flopped in his body, with organs that should be on the right existing on the left and vice versa.

At a bill signing ceremony in Schaumburg, Pritzker highlighted three historic sites that were significant in Native American history in Illinois.

After serving nearly four years as the watchdog for the Illinois Department of Human Services, Peter Neumer will join the Chicago Park District as inspector general. 

Tim Mapes, 68, was indicted more than two years ago on a pair of charges stemming from his alleged false testimony before a 2021 grand jury about Madigan’s relationship with longtime confidant Michael McClain.

The bankruptcy filing comes more than a week after the trucking company halted operations, putting 30,000 people out of work. It warned in a lawsuit last month it was at risk of running out of the money it needed to continue to operate.

The prime exhibit in Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s effort is the JR-15, a smaller, lighter version of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle advertised with the tag line, “Get ‘em One Like Yours.” 

According to Chicago Police Department figures, 27 people were shot in 25 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday. That included the young girl who was fatally shot Saturday in the 3500 block of North Long Avenue.

It’s estimated that each year in the U.S., more than 400,000 babies are born to mothers who are depressed. Without any treatment, postpartum depression can last for months or even years, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

According to Walgreens, which announced last year it was entering the clinical trials business, only about 5% of people in the U.S. participate in clinical trials and almost three-quarters of those participants are White.

Chicago’s historic Bud Billiken parade is the largest African American parade in the U.S., drawing in nearly 300,000 people and spanning almost 3 miles.

According to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, more than 65,000 Chicagoans are currently unhoused.

The city’s plans on addressing the migrant crisis. A growing homeless encampment in Humboldt Park. And a local artist’s memories of growing up in Puerto Rico.

How a Chicago-based corporation is getting more Black patients into clinical trials. Remembering Henrietta Lacks. A preview of the Bud Billiken parade. And future storytellers on violence in the media.

Trump arraigned on four felony counts tied to Jan. 6. Mayor Johnson defends police response to teenage troublemakers last weekend. Northwestern hires the former U.S. attorney general. And Cubs bat the team into playoff contention.

A new law allowing Illinoisans to sue so-called crisis pregnancy centers under the state’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act is on hold after a federal judge late Thursday granted a preliminary injunction against it.