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House Bill 2831 codifies an executive order Pritzker signed in 2021 that established the Illinois Interagency Task Force on Homelessness and the Community Advisory Council on Homelessness. It centralizes programs across 17 state departments and agencies to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to combat homelessness. 

A Cook County judge has ruled in favor of Urban Prep Academies, which had sued to maintain control of two charter campuses after Chicago Public Schools planned to take them over, amid allegations of sexual and financial misconduct by UPA leadership.

Sinéad O’Connor, the gifted Irish singer-songwriter who became a superstar in her mid-20s but was known as much for her private struggles and provocative actions as for her fierce and expressive music, has died at 56.

Pending litigation caused the three hand-picked players to skip Wednesday interviews, forcing interim coach David Braun to fend off questions about what happened and possible solutions all by himself.

The outcome leaves open, at least temporarily, the yearslong investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings. He had been charged with two misdemeanor tax crimes of failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes from over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018.

At the first meeting of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s new Board of Education, members announced a host of sweeping changes aimed at improving transparency, community engagement and elevating issues important to stakeholders.

Experts now say they expect “complete mortality” of the bleached reefs in just a week, and worry reefs at greater depths could face the same fate if the unprecedented ocean warmth continues to escalate.

Police overtime spending balloons. Ethics investigations at City Hall. Two attorneys filing lawsuits in the Northwestern hazing scandal. And early garbage pickups persist.

“These are the rules that stand between us and government illegitimacy,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said.

The hazing scandal at Northwestern University has widened to include a volleyball player who on Monday became the first female athlete to sue the university over allegations she was retaliated against by the coach for reporting her mistreatment.

Under the city’s noise ordinance, private waste haulers can’t make pickups before 7 a.m. But WTTW News spotted trucks making multiple early-morning stops.

It took less than five months for the Chicago Police Department to exhaust the $100 million earmarked for overtime set by the Chicago City Council as part of the city’s 2023 budget, according to data obtained by WTTW News through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The governor’s office said the contract is projected to cost an additional $204 million in the first year and $625 million over four years.

Top Democratic officials on Tuesday signed a “labor peace agreement.” The deal means that the Democratic National Committee will use union labor when available and that the unions won’t strike during the four-day convention scheduled for next August.

The last time the Bureau of Labor Statistics officially tracked workers with alternate job arrangements was 2017. But workplace experts say the number of gig workers is growing and their impact is being felt throughout the economy. It could even be distorting government economic data.

Attorneys for Marilyn Mulero filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the city, disgraced former Chicago police Det. Reynaldo Guevara and others in a 13-count complaint alleging Mulero was the victim of a malicious prosecution and forced into falsely confessing to the murder of two men in 1992.

UPS has reached a contract agreement with its 340,000-person strong union Tuesday, averting a strike that had the potential to disrupt logistics nationwide for businesses and households alike.

The city and its lawyers will now have to convince a jury that two officers did nothing wrong when they fired 16 shots at Darius Cole-Garrit, 21, at 9:30 p.m. Aug. 19, 2014, after a brief foot chase on the city's Far South Side.

The latest in our series WTTW News: A Safer City — is social media behavior a predictor for crime? How the news media outlets contribute to perceptions of violence. And meet a young group of storytellers.

The relationship between social media and violence might not be as cut-and-dry as some make it to be. There’s sometimes a perception that social media apps fuel violence, but researchers say that correlation can be overblown.

Recent data shows that the murder rate in the U.S. is experiencing one of the largest decreases ever. Yet that good news doesn’t always make the headlines. Instead, mainstream media is often accused of furthering a narrative about rampant crime.

Free Spirit Media is a nonprofit that works with young people 11 to 25 years of age from the West and South sides of Chicago. Staff members work to teach students to create media arts projects, like short films and news stories, to amplify their own voices.

A decade-long push to reopen public mental health clinics closed in 2011 and expand efforts to respond to 911 calls for help not with police officers but with social workers and counselors was center stage at City Hall Monday.

Children from families in the top 1% financially are more than twice as likely to attend an elite university than those from middle-class families with comparable SAT and ACT scores, a new study found.

Negotiations broke down earlier this month and unionized workers have been holding rallies and practice pickets across the country. The Teamsters, which represent more than half of the company’s workforce, will resume talks with UPS on Tuesday.

According to Chicago Police Department figures, 33 people were shot in 24 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.