Stories by Heather Cherone

The Chicago Police Department spent $293 million on overtime last year, 40% more than in 2022 and nearly three times the $100 million earmarked for police overtime set by the Chicago City Council as part of the city’s 2023 budget, according to data obtained by WTTW News.

Illinois has laws to protect against gender discrimination in pay, but it can be difficult for workers to know whether there’s a pay discrepancy. That may be easier to figure out starting next year.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and several other state agencies are holding a job fair Thursday at the UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work.

Young trees could be vulnerable to damage from the emergence of millions of periodical cicadas in Illinois this spring. Here are tips on how to protect your trees.

City health officials did not immediately identify whether the latest people to contract measles are children or adults, nor did they disclose their condition, as they have with all other cases of measles.

The parks advocacy group said it isn’t chasing the Bears out of Chicago, but wants an “open, clear and free discourse driven by the public instead of private interests.”

The move comes seven months after the NLRB found merit or partial merit in the Howard Brown Health Works United’s allegations. This complaint reiterates those allegations, including declaring an impasse and refusing to bargain over layoffs.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners will vote on the proposed settlement with Jackie Wilson, who was convicted of the 1982 killings of Chicago police Officers William Fahey and Richard O’Brien, based largely on a false confession he said he gave after he was repeatedly beaten and electroshocked.

The CDC program asks arriving international passengers to volunteer to have their noses swabbed and answer questions about their travel. The program began in 2021 and has been credited with detecting coronavirus variants faster than other systems.

Illegally delayed responses are a chronic problem with the CTA’s FOIA office. Other news organizations and advocacy groups have also dinged the agency for its FOIA transparency failures. Despite not sending information on operator working hours as required, available information indicates the CTA continues to rely on overtime.

As homicide cases in Chicago remain open, the families of victims are left to cope with the trauma.

Local organizations are focusing on those areas in an effort to work directly with those most impacted in an effort to stop cycles of violence

A WTTW News Safer City special: Why Chicago sees more homicides than other major cities. And the local organizations working to prevent that crime in their communities. 

Crime overall is falling nationwide. But when it comes to homicides, Chicago’s numbers are not declining as quickly as the two largest cities in the nation — New York and Los Angeles.

Since the first confirmed case of measles was diagnosed in a shelter resident on Friday, approximately 900 residents have been vaccinated, officials said. 

A coalition of the real estate and development groups asked the Illinois Supreme Court to reverse an appellate court ruling that overturned a decision by Cook County Judge Kathleen Burke that blocked the Chicago Board of Elections from counting votes for and against the proposal, known as Bring Chicago Home.

Five people, including three children, were killed in western Illinois when a school bus and semitruck collided on a highway Monday, authorities said.

The cancelation of the meeting leaves the pending probe against City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin up in the air, four months after the Ethics Board ratified the determination that she fired two city employees after they warned her she was violating the city’s government ethics ordinance by using city resources to host a prayer service.

If you've been sleeping on the North American total solar eclipse of 2024, it's time to start paying attention. The big event — on April 8 — is fast approaching and folks who haven't prepared could find themselves left out in the dark.

Several news organizations on Monday morning reported that the team has backed off possible plans to build a stadium in suburban Arlington Heights and will instead now provide private funding for a new publicly owned stadium in Chicago.

An American man was convicted of murder and other charges on Monday for brutally attacking two American women near Germany’s famed Neuschwanstein castle last summer and pushing them into a ravine, fatally injuring one of them. He was sentenced to life in prison.

According to the Chicago Police Department, 13 people were shot in 13 separate incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

There’s no more iconic Chicago St. Patrick’s Day tradition than dyeing the Chicago River green.

After passing over arguably Hollywood’s foremost big-screen auteur for years, the Oscars made up for lost time by heaping seven awards on Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic, including best actor for Cillian Murphy, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. and best director for Nolan.

A team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on its way to Chicago to assist the Chicago Department of Public Health respond to the apparent measles outbreak, Chicago health officials said.

State lawmakers overwhelmingly approve a hybrid elected school board for Chicago. More trouble at an embattled migrant shelter in Pilsen. And the race for Cook County state’s attorney heats up.