Stories by Matt Masterson

While the board won’t officially vote on that contract until next week, some members questioned whether the X-rays actually improve safety for students at schools.

Taken together, the two proposals are likely to form the foundation of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s agenda when it comes to labor. A former organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, Johnson enjoyed the unanimous support of Chicago’s progressive labor organizations.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg backed the term limit, saying it will protect the watchdog’s independence and bring “stability, order, independence” to the office.

The change repeals existing language that allowed factories, refineries, power plants and other facilities to exceed their emission limits during shutdowns, startups, and malfunctions.

The long-term forecast looks bleak. The extreme heat could continue into August in some of the hardest-hit areas and even a brief glimmer of cooler hope for some parts of the country headed into the weekend will only mean new areas swelter as a heat dome slides west.

The divide was reflected in his audience. While lawmakers repeatedly rose to their feet in thundering applause of President Isaac Herzog’s recounting of Israel’s founding, a handful of leading young progressive Democrats boycotted his speech.

The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed new guidelines for corporate mergers, took steps to disclose the junk fees charged by landlords and launched a crackdown on price-gouging in the food industry.

The Illinois Supreme Court says eliminating cash bail is constitutional. The new leader at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition replacing the Rev. Jesse Jackson. And the team charged with finding Chicago’s next police superintendent.

The new president and CEO of Rainbow PUSH Coalition says he’s learned so much from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. that he’s basically a graduate of University of Jesse Jackson Sr. The Rev. Frederick Haynes III is only sort of kidding.

The three finalists for the city’s top cop were selected from a total of 54 applicants by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) after unprecedented community and police input. Here’s how they did it.

New federal charges, on top of existing state and federal counts in New York and Florida and a separate election-interference investigation nearing conclusion in Georgia, would add to the list of legal problems for Trump as he pursues the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

The player, identified in the lawsuit as John Doe, alleged Tuesday in the Cook County Court in Chicago that Fitzgerald, Northwestern University President Michael Schill, the board of trustees and athletic director Derrick Gragg enabled and concealed sexual misconduct and racial discrimination.

The probe by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability remains ongoing. Hours after the sexual misconduct allegations became public, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration moved all of the migrants out of the Ogden (10th) Police District headquarters, which patrols Lawndale and Little Village, where the officers under investigation are assigned to work.

In a 5-2 ruling, with Republican justices dissenting, the state's highest court found that the elimination of cash bail is constitutional and will take effect statewide beginning Sept. 18, overturning a lower court ruling that had put that implementation on hold and handing Gov. J.B. Pritzker a major victory.

Research shows a correlation between youth unemployment and crime. Mayor Brandon Johnson has made teen employment a public safety priority. He’s pledged to double the number of jobs in the city’s youth employment program.

Gun deaths among U.S. youth rose 50% in just two years. Black children and teens were roughly five times as likely as their White counterparts to die from gunfire in 2021, according to the Pew Research Center.

The latest in our series WTTW News: A Safer City takes a look at simple ways to make public spaces safer. How some youth are leading anti-violence efforts. And teenagers and young adults on the importance of summer jobs.

Whether she is performing songs from a Broadway musical, a familiar hymn or a gospel classic, Heather Headley possesses a voice and personality that can easily mesmerize an audience. And so she did with a grand-scale performance at Ravinia Pavilion.

The City Council’s Finance Committee voted 10-9 to endorse the settlement, which now heads to a final vote at the full City Council meeting. In all, the City Council will consider paying $8.5 million to resolve four lawsuits that allege a wide range of police misconduct.

Despite what city officials called an “all hands on deck” approach, the number of migrants still being forced to sleep on floors at police stations and O’Hare International Airport has grown more than 45% in the past three weeks.

Public safety isn’t just about addressing the root causes of crime or stopping people from picking up a gun. Sometimes, making a neighborhood safer is as simple as a water balloon or a bounce house.

Doug Scott is the new chair of the Illinois Commerce Commission. The commission is currently considering six proposed rate increases by gas and electricity utilities serving residents in Chicago and throughout most of suburban and downstate Illinois.

Extensive swaths of the northern United States awoke to unhealthy air quality Monday morning or were experiencing it by midafternoon.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Monday released her office’s “Do Not Call List” — which she said includes a collection of “disreputable” law enforcement officers who have “propelled Cook County’s reputation as the wrongful conviction capital of the country.”

A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a bribery charge levied against Commonwealth Edison, months after four former ComEd officials were convicted of attempting to corruptly influence former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

According to Chicago Police Department figures, 40 people were shot in 32 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday. That included Ashley Griggs, 41, who was killed in West Garfield Park.