Stories by Matt Masterson

Zack Park, 34, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder stemming from the Saturday afternoon killing of 18-year-old John Park inside their family’s North Park neighborhood home.

A federal jury in Chicago convicted Ji Chaoqun, 31, of conspiracy to act as an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security without notifying the U.S. attorney general, acting as a spy in the U.S., and lying on a government form about his contacts with foreign agencies.

Understanding the workers’ rights amendment on the November ballot in Illinois. The impact of a 100-year-old power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan. And local reaction to the unrest in Iran.

Among the choices voters will have to make on Nov. 8 is whether to add a new amendment to the Illinois constitution that would give workers the “fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively” while at the same time forbidding any law that interferes with that ability.

Northern Indiana Public Service Company is retiring the 130-acre Michigan City Generating Station, which has been burning coal for electricity for nearly a century. The company is also cleaning up decades of coal ash byproduct. But advocates say plans to leave some coal ash on the site puts groundwater and Lake Michigan in danger of contamination. 

A NASA spacecraft rammed an asteroid at blistering speed Monday in an unprecedented dress rehearsal for the day a killer rock menaces Earth.

There’s good news for those apartment hunting in downtown Chicago as record-high prices begin to cool off. And airline passengers will have more power and goodwill under a new federal proposal that would force fees to be disclosed.

Kolmar Park was originally named for the street it is on, Kolmar Avenue. After learning of Gertrud Kolmar’s life and work, a local campaign was spearheaded to have the park rededicated in honor of the poet who died during the Holocaust.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of health care experts, is recommending that adults under 65 get screened for anxiety.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she was determined to chart a “bright and lasting” future for LaSalle Street between Washington Street and Jackson Boulevard, an area of the city she said had been permanently altered by the shifts triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1%, becoming the last of the major U.S. stock indexes to fall into what’s known as a bear market. The S&P 500 closed 1% lower and the Nasdaq dropped 0.6%.

During a press conference Monday afternoon, Police Superintendent David Brown said the man was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after he was shot inside the police department’s Homan Square facility Monday morning.

Ian was forecast to hit the western tip of Cuba as a major hurricane and then become an even stronger Category 4 with top winds of 140 mph over warm Gulf of Mexico waters before striking Florida. As of Monday, Tampa and St. Petersburg appeared to be among the most likely targets for their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.

The protests were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in a hospital three days after being apprehended by the morality police in Tehran and taken to a “re-education center” for not abiding by the state’s hijab rules.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Josiah Brown was pronounced dead at Lurie Children’s Hospital at 10:16 a.m. Sunday, nearly a week after he was allegedly pushed into Lake Michigan.

Chicago police said 38 people were shot in 27 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday evening and 11:59 p.m. Sunday night. That included an 18-year-old killed Saturday afternoon and two men killed at a North Lawndale home Sunday.

Jupiter is making its closest approach to Earth since 1963 on Monday night, and the views should be especially spectacular.

On Saturday, Oct. 8, activists, scholars, artists and journalists are convening at the Logan Center for the Arts in moderated discussions centered on the themes of injustice explored in Richard Wright’s 1940 novel “Native Son.”

Being in a band together can be a strain on any relationship — even between siblings. But sisters Belinda and Maritza Cervantes, the frontwomen of The Luna Blues Machine, say they’ve managed to keep working together in perfect harmony.

At least 13 Chicago wards are set for new City Council leadership come next year due to an exodus of alderpeople. And while a few of those existing City Council members are leaving their seats to run for higher office, many are saying they’re opting out simply because it’s time to move on.

Hurricane Fiona swept through Puerto Rico last weekend leaving millions without power. Now, residents are left to recover and rebuild once again. In Chicago, local organizations and officials are coming together to support people on the island.

Ale Gabino and David Acevedo are both lifelong dancers. After meeting at a 2003 Polynesian dance competition in Hilo, Hawaii, they married in 2009. A year later, they opened Hōkūle’a Academy of Polynesian Arts, where together, they teach their other great love – Polynesian culture and dance.

Breaking down what’s behind the mass exodus from City Hall in a special Voices crossover. Local relief efforts for Puerto Rico. And meet a duo of singing sisters from the South Side.  

For aspiring alderpeople, the next city election presents plenty of opportunity. With a large portion of the City Council set to turn over in 2023, political organizations are lining up candidates to duke it out and stake their claim in Chicago’s wards to help determine the city’s future.

The changing face of Chicago’s City Council is the topic of a special crossover with Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices. And examining structural inequities with Black artists and scholars.

Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa, who turns 78 on Oct. 4, had “additional testing and medical procedures over the past week,” the team said Saturday, and doctors have directed the Hall of Famer to stay away from managing for the rest of the season.