Stories by Associated Press

Kneeling on George Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed and lying on his stomach was top-tier, deadly force and “totally unnecessary,” the head of the Minneapolis Police Department’s homicide division testified Friday.

Add travel to the activities vaccinated Americans can safely enjoy again. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to say fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting tested for the coronavirus or going into quarantine afterward.

Loyola University Chicago’s NCAA run has put the Ramblers in the national spotlight once again. We remember the 1963 championship team.

The life of the Oak Park native is the subject of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s newest PBS documentary. The six-hour, three-part series explores the writer’s complex life behind the carefully cultivated public image as well as his influence on generations of writers who followed him.

The past few springs, Chicago has notched record-breaking rainfall totals. All that water has to go somewhere, and when it overwhelms the city’s sewers, untreated wastewater winds up in the Chicago River.

Hope Edelman has been writing, speaking and leading bereavement workshops for 25 years. She joins us to discuss her latest book, “The AfterGrief: Finding Your Way Along the Long Arc of Loss.”

Live from Wrigleyville on opening day. Plus, inside the new PBS documentary on Oak Park-born Ernest Hemingway. Chicago Amazon employees take labor action, why a grief pandemic may be on the horizon, and how to prevent sewer overflow.

As workers in Alabama decide whether or not to unionize, Amazon employees in Chicago push for accommodations for a long overnight shift.

The Cubs may have lost their 2021 home opener, but fans consider it a win. For the first time since 2019, some 10,000 people were able to watch the game inside of Wrigley Field. We have this look at all things opening day as part of our community reporting series.

George Floyd’s girlfriend tearfully told a jury Thursday the story of how they met — at a Salvation Army shelter where he was a security guard with “this great, deep Southern voice, raspy” — and how they both struggled mightily with an addiction to opioids.

In all, 276 cases involving the United Kingdom variant have been found in samples of COVID-19 positive tests from Illinois since Jan. 15, officials said. 

Shedd Aquarium is hosting a pair of cleanup and habitat restoration days at 63rd Street beach, where 12 acres of dunes have attracted piping plovers, among other bird species.  

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Thursday said Adam Toledo, 13, was the person shot by a Chicago police officer in the Little Village neighborhood early Monday morning.

The U.S. moved closer Thursday toward vaccinating 100 million Americans in a race against an uptick in COVID-19 cases that is fueling fears of another nationwide surge just as the major league baseball season starts and thousands of fans return to stadiums.

This is not a review. It is primarily a note of appreciation to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director, who has not been able to conduct his beloved orchestra for a year but has helped guide the superb CSOtv series. This week, he also pursued one of his greatest passions via Zoom.

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 are continuing to surge among young Chicagoans on the city’s North Side and there is no sign that will change anytime soon, Dr. Allison Arwady said Thursday.

A child was among four people killed Wednesday in a shooting at a Southern California office building that left a fifth victim wounded and the gunman critically injured, police said. It was the third U.S. mass shooting in just over two weeks.

Monthly crime data published Thursday by the Chicago Police Department shows there were 42 homicides and 233 shootings recorded in March 2021. Those totals are up 50% and 60%, respectively, when compared to March 2020.

Dr. Allison Arwady on rising COVID-19 cases. A new report on CPD's compliance with a federal consent decree.  A study on the effect of banning assault weapons. What exactly is the filibuster? And more. Watch the March 31, 2021 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

President Joe Biden on Wednesday outlined a $2.3 trillion plan to reengineer the nation’s infrastructure over the next eight years in what he billed as “a once in a generation investment in America” that would undo his predecessor’s signature legislative achievement of giant tax cuts for corporations in the process.

A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that easing restrictions on indoor dining in restaurants can increase COVID-19 cases and deaths. After easing restrictions in Chicago, the city’s positivity rate is again on the rise. 

A growing number of Democrats see the filibuster, an action designed to delay or prevent a vote on a measure, as a barrier to accomplishing their legislative goals. Is it time to abolish the filibuster?

The last assault weapons ban expired in 2004, but a new study finds that had that ban remained in place, as many as 30 mass shootings could have been prevented. We speak with the study's lead author, Lori Ann Post, and Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association. 

After the ambulance took George Floyd away, the Minneapolis officer who had pinned his knee on the Black man’s neck defended himself to a bystander by saying Floyd was “a sizable guy” and “probably on something,” according to police video played in court Wednesday.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed total U.S. deaths last year beyond 3.3 million, the nation’s highest annual death toll, the government reported Wednesday.

A suspect was arrested on assault and hate crime charges in an attack on an Asian American woman in New York City, police said Wednesday. The suspect was arrested after police circulated images taken from surveillance video around the attack. The suspect has a previous conviction.