Stories by Matt Masterson

Adam Avizius, 37, was arrested on a single charge of aggravated battery stemming from a shooting incident outside the library Tuesday evening.

RSV fills hospitals with wheezing babies each fall and winter, and the virus struck earlier than usual and especially hard in the U.S. this past year.

Smoke from raging wildfires in western Canada has reached Chicago, creating hazy skies and making for redder sunrises and sunsets.

Illinois lawmakers will miss their self-imposed Friday deadline to pass a budget, with no spending plan having surfaced by Thursday night. They are also working to pass an array of measures regulating everything from bathrooms to generic drug pricing and Native American studies.

More questions about a former gubernatorial candidate who’s also mayor of Aurora. Will state lawmakers meet the budget deadline? And efforts to restore a 100-year-old hotel in Pullman.

In 1881, Hotel Florence was a luxurious locale where fancy parties took place and celebrities from all over the world stayed. The hotel has been closed since 2000. But community members are hoping a state bill can bring the hotel back to life.

The star attraction is Vincent Van Gogh, and he has a stellar supporting cast — including the painters George Seurat, Paul Signac, Emile Bernard and Charles Angrand. The exhibit features landscapes from the suburbs of Paris in the 19th century.

Dubbed the ALL INside initiative, officials with the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which is made up of 19 federal agencies, vowed to work for two years to get unsheltered people into homes by identifying new funding and bringing together philanthropic and nonprofit groups.

The owners of two Aurora companies — a furniture store and an office building — are in personal relationships with top city officials, WTTW News has found. An analysis of campaign finance records also uncovered that a majority of recent donations to Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin’s campaign fund are from people doing business with or getting incentives from the city.

The death of even one turtle can have ripple effects on the larger population, forest preserve officials said. If a female is killed in a hit and run, her future progeny, which could number in the hundreds, are lost as well. 

The 8-year-old girl and her family were being held in Harlingen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, one of the busiest corridors for migrant crossings. The girl experienced “a medical emergency” and emergency medical services were called. 

The tax was supposed to discourage the use of plastic bags. Instead, it’s turned into a cash cow for the city. Activists say it’s time to rethink the policy.

A craft fair, block party and 10 world-premiere plays usher in the weekend. Here are five things to do in Chicago.

Thomas Duncan, a 39-year-old ex-supervisor at the Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and 52-year-old Daniel Dingle each pleaded guilty in federal court this week to single counts of wire fraud.

The woman accused of abducting her daughter from an Illinois suburb six years ago has turned herself in, days after the girl was found safe in North Carolina and then reunited with her custodial father, local authorities said.

Sam Zell, a Chicago real estate magnate who earned a multibillion-dollar fortune and a reputation as “the grave dancer” for his ability to revive moribund properties has died due to complications from a recent illness. He was 81.

One roadblock to the passage of a state budget this week has been a set of programs in which Illinois provides health care coverage to green-card holders and undocumented residents.

Family and friends remember slain Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston. Spotlight Politics weighs in as the mayor’s allies roll out a $12 billion financial proposal. And an emerging artist committed to community.

More than 70 vehicles, including dozens of commercial vehicles and passenger cars, were involved in crashes May 1 along a 2-mile stretch of Interstate 55 in Montgomery County, 75 miles north of St. Louis.

The plan released Wednesday kicks off a debate between progressive political organizations and the mayor they helped elect on how best to achieve the goals they all share.

Vocalist Shawnee Dez is commemorating the release of her debut album, “Moody Umbra,” with a concert that includes a community jam session featuring a range of local artists.

Corey Gray, 21, was charged in federal court in Chicago on Wednesday with one count of knowingly transferring a firearm to an individual who was neither a licensed dealer nor a resident of the same state as Gray.

Officer Aréanah Preston died after she was shot during an attempted robbery May 6. She was memorialized as being the best of what the Chicago Police Department had to offer: a passionate public servant whose bright future was abruptly taken from her.

The Writers Guild of America began its nationwide strike May 2 after negotiations stalled with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Among key issues are increased wages and fair pay structures for writers in a streaming era.

Nakili was diagnosed with kidney disease last summer. At 33 years old, he was the oldest male of his species living in an accredited North American zoo.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez did not get into specifics while speaking before the Chicago Board of Education Wednesday, but reiterated that principal Abdul Muhammad “had to be pulled” from the school “for multiple reasons.”