Stories by Matt Masterson

Through the use of aggressive strategies and widespread testing, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office was able to successfully mitigate the spread of COVID-19 inside the Cook County Jail, according to a new study.

Aldermen on Monday advanced an agreement to settle a lawsuit that sought to force the Chicago Police Department to turn over nearly five decades’ worth of secret files detailing allegations of misconduct by officers.

A talented band of Chicago teens recorded a new album during the pandemic. We met members of Mariachi Herencia de Mexico on a sunny day in Pilsen where they shared their musical heritage.

The war of words between Mayor Lori Lightfoot and President Donald Trump escalated Monday, with the mayor rejecting any suggestion that federal troops should be dispatched as they were in Portland, Oregon, and Trump all but promising to send them.

As Chicago reimposes restrictions to stop a recent uptick in coronavirus cases, Gov. J.B. Pritzker implored residents to wear face coverings to “protect the gains we’ve made” against the virus.

Chicago bars will no longer be able to serve customers indoors starting Friday as part of a rollback ordered by Mayor Lori Lightfoot following an increase in the number of coronavirus cases.

Watch the July 20, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Police Superintendent David Brown said officers faced organized mob action “designed to provoke violent responses” during a protest that started peacefully but turned violent, leaving several officers and protesters injured.

Organizers of a national workers strike say tens of thousands are set to walk off the job Monday in more than two dozen U.S. cities to protest systemic racism and economic inequality that has only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic.

Hundreds of protesters gathered near Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Logan Square home late Saturday, continuing calls to defund the police, end police presence in Chicago Public Schools and implement remote learning in the fall amid the pandemic.

Married musicians and educators Yakini Ajanaku and Jean-Paul Coffy kicked off the daily concert series in March as a way to help their block stay connected through the long days of quarantine due to COVID-19. 

President Donald Trump is refusing to publicly commit to accepting the results of the upcoming White House election, recalling a similar threat he made weeks before the 2016 vote.

Responding to calls for Trader Joe’s to stop labeling its international food products with ethnic-sounding names, the grocery store chain said it has been in a yearslong process of repackaging those products.

Collective bargaining agreements for officers provide protections that stand in the way of accountability, even when the federal government is overseeing an agency through a consent decree, experts said. 

The family of Issac Martinez and members of Chicago’s cycling community announced plans to gather Saturday to remember the 13-year-old killed last month and to push for safer conditions for cyclists.

Saturday marks the state’s fourth consecutive day in which more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed. After falling below 1,000 new cases per day from June 6 to July 8, this month has so far seen seven days above 1,000.

Activists and elected officials condemned violence by Chicago police and again called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to remove a Christopher Columbus statue that became the site of a clash between demonstrators and officers Friday evening.

The city is directing residents without air conditioning to its cooling centers and park district splash pads and renewing calls for people to check in on elderly and vulnerable family members, friends and neighbors.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Friday she is receiving chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer, but has no plans to retire from the Supreme Court.

John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, has died. He was 80.

A federal bombshell alleges a massive bribery scheme involving ComEd and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Has Madigan’s political reign come to an end? And Chicago Public Schools announces a hybrid reopening plan for the fall.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed Friday to hold Commonwealth Edison to “account” for its conduct after the state’s largest utility agreed to pay a $200 million fine to resolve federal corruption charges stemming from a “yearslong bribery scheme.” 

Western governments on Thursday accused hackers believed to be part of Russian intelligence of trying to steal valuable private information about a coronavirus vaccine, calling out the Kremlin in an unusually detailed public warning to scientists and medical companies.

Aldermen endorsed a measure Friday that would scale back the power of the Chicago Police Department to impound cars that may have been used to commit a crime, as city lawyers recommended officials settle a lawsuit claiming the program is unconstitutional.

Longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan denies having done anything criminal or improper despite being implicated Friday in court filings that charge utility Commonwealth Edison with bribery.

A northern Illinois woman who subjected her young son to years of physical and emotional abuse culminating in his beating death last year was on Friday sentenced to 35 years in prison.