Stories by Associated Press

Joe Walsh, a former Illinois congressman and tea party favorite turned radio talk show host, announced a challenge Sunday to President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020.

A sexual harassment report puts new scrutiny on Springfield. Bombastic former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh mulls taking on Trump. A teachers union trip to Venezuela causes uproar. And the Cubs close an otherwise strong week with a blowout loss.

Since 1995, researchers in Chicago and from around the world have used Argonne National Laboratory’s Advanced Photon Source to create super bright X-rays to probe everything from dinosaur bones to atomic particles. But the APS has an even brighter future.

One of Stephen Sondheim’s most popular works is now on stage at Writers Theatre in a sophisticated, powerfully sung, environmentally enveloping production directed by longtime Sondheim aficionado Gary Griffin.

Ty, an 18-year-old California sea lion, had been living at the aquarium since 2005. Animal caretakers and veterinarians began monitoring him last week after noticing an uncharacteristic decline in his appetite.

An Illinois resident who was hospitalized with a severe respiratory illness after vaping has died, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. It may be the first death in the country linked to vaping. 

The settlement requires the retailers to pay more than $540,000 in fines for illegally selling and marketing e-cigarette products to minors, according to city officials.

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.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the goal is to make it easier to share a patient’s drug treatment history with doctors treating that person for other problems. 

Federal safety officials are recruiting pilots from airlines around the world to test changes that Boeing is making to the flight-control software on the grounded 737 Max jet, according to two people briefed on the situation.

Chicago has seen its minimum wage steadily rise in the last several years, from a hourly rate of $8.25 in 2014 to $13 today. But labor activists and some public officials say it’s not nearly enough.

It’s been nearly three years since pro golfer Tiger Woods announced his plan to restore and merge two historic golf courses on the South Side. We discuss the proposal and the varying reactions to it.

On Aug. 22, 1929, the North Side theater opened its doors as the first dedicated “talkie” house in Chicago. What makes this old movie house unique today.

A new “snaphshot” study conducted by DePaul University researchers finds electric scooters in Chicago are proving popular, especially during morning and evening commutes.

A new dry-hopped cream ale is made from the same types of barley and corn found in the museum’s original collections from 1893, the same year more than 27 million visitors flocked to Chicago for the World’s Columbian Exposition.

Watch the Aug. 22, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

In 2018, Chicago saw an uptick in the number of cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. A new task force will work to develop strategies to curb STIs across the city, starting with syphilis. 

For years, OxyContin maker Purdue engaged in deceptive marketing practices, according to a lawsuit filed in April by Attorney General Kwame Raoul. Now, Raoul’s office is seeking to add members of the company’s founding family as defendants.

If your breakfast routine is feeling a little boring these days, Nick and Erica have just the thing for you: deep-fried Cream of Wheat – with a surprise center.

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.

Fox News said Thursday that Sanders has been hired to provide political commentary and analysis across all its properties, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network and the radio and podcast division.

Planned Parenthood clinics in several states are charging new fees, tapping financial reserves, intensifying fundraising and warning of more unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases after its decision to quit a $260 million federal family planning program in an abortion dispute with the Trump administration.

More women may benefit from gene testing for hereditary breast or ovarian cancer, especially if they’ve already survived cancer once, an influential health group recommended Tuesday.

The Trump administration is moving to end an agreement limiting how long migrant children can be kept in detention, the president’s latest effort to curb immigration at the Mexican border.

Loyola University is celebrating the centennial of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, better known as Sister Jean, all week. Gov. J.B. Pritzker helped kick off celebrations Wednesday.

More fallout from a report detailing a culture of harassment and abuse in the state capitol on Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s watch. But is the speaker getting a pass?