Stories by Matt Masterson

There have been 166 homicides recorded in the city thus far this year, according to the Chicago Police Department. That’s fewer than the same time periods in both 2022 and 2021, but higher than the 156 homicides recorded through the end of April in 2020.

Post-Civil War Dixon, 103 miles west of Chicago, was a growing city split by the formidable Rock River. On May 4, 1873, the 4-year-old bridge twisted, splintered and rolled over. Forty-six people perished, many immured by the unrelenting gridiron just below the water’s surface. 

The conditions that come with Pontiac Correctional Center’s age are just part of the reason inmates and advocates call it inhumane. Another reason is the climate inside. WTTW News details the issues facing the maximum security prison. 

Emergency measures designed to ensure people didn’t lose their health care during the COVID-19 pandemic are now being phased out.

Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner, and there’s plenty to do in Chicago to celebrate Latino culture.

Last summer, the 5,000 Chicagoans selected to participate in the city’s guaranteed income pilot program began receiving $500 per month. The Resilient Communities program was designed to help income-qualified Chicagoans stabilize their financial circumstances.

The woman who accused Emmett Till dies at the age of 88. How Chicago’s guaranteed income pilot is working for families. Meet the city’s first poet laureate. And remembering Harry Belafonte.

About 26,000 people leave Illinois prisons each year, and many of them report having trouble finding employment once they’re home.

Eleven men wrongfully convicted of murder seek justice. Woodlawn residents step up to help their new neighbors. And celebrating Cinco de Mayo with two festivals.

In a city known for its poets and poetry, being named Chicago’s first poet laureate is high praise and a tall order. But teacher, producer, composer, performer and poet avery young, who styles his name in all lowercase, said he can’t wait to get started serving as the city’s poetry ambassador.

For nearly two decades, Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara was an infamous presence on the city’s Northwest Side. More than 50 people have accused Guevara of framing them for murders, coercing false confessions and engaging in other misconduct from the 1980s to the early 2000s.

The EPA framed its decision as a way to reduce gasoline prices at a time of market supply uncertainty because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The agency said its action also encourages U.S. energy independence and supports American agriculture and manufacturing.

Among Pontiac Prison’s challenges is its status as the most short-staffed facility in IDOC. But former director Rob Jeffreys said having a lower incarceration rate could work in the agency’s favor.

A humanitarian crisis in Chicago after a new surge of migrants. How the CTA is trying fill its ranks with bus and rail operators. And James “Big Cat” Williams gives his take on the Chicago Bears’ draft moves.

James “Big Cat” Williams, who played offensive tackle for the Bears from 1991 to 2002 and is co-host of the No Name Football podcast, gives “Chicago Tonight” his assessment of the Bears’ draft moves.

The CTA is still short more than 600 full-time bus and rail operators. As the transit agency tries to reverse service and staffing losses, it’s been putting a big focus on hiring.

More than 8,100 people, most of them from Central and South America, have arrived in Chicago since Aug. 31. Mayor Lori Lightfoot sent to the City Council Friday, acknowledging that once again the city’s shelter system is bursting at the seams.  

Criminal justice change as Kim Foxx prepares to step away. Who’s helping the mayor-elect transition to City Hall. Awaiting a verdict in the “ComEd Four” case.

A mystery vandal is once again undoing ecological restoration work at LaBagh Woods.

It's time for the annual City Nature Challenge, a friendly global competition among hundreds of cities, running from Friday through Monday. Here's how to submit nature observations and boost Chicago in the standings.

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s transition team. A dangerous crossing for kids in Hammond to get to school. And we’re live in Woodlawn for our “In Your Neighborhood” series.

It's been three months since a group of migrants was moved into the shuttered Wadsworth Elementary School in the Woodlawn community following objections from some nearby residents. Now, some locals have joined forces to help integrate their new neighbors into the community.

The team, led by University of Illinois at Chicago Professor Barbara Ransby and Charles Smith, an insurance executive, will have to work fast — Johnson is set to take office in 18 days.

It’s the stuff of nightmares for parents: children crawling under and over idling trains in order to get to school on the other side. Two ProPublica journalists spent months reporting on railroad safety and the kids who are risking life and limb to go to school.

The white woman who accused Black teenager Emmett Till of making improper advances before he was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 has died in hospice care in Louisiana, a coroner's report shows.

Federal prosecutors allege eight of the nine defendants are members or associates of the Black P Stone Nation street gang. Charges include firearms trafficking, distribution of a controlled substance and possession of a weapon as a convicted felon.