Stories by Paul Caine

Pending City Council approval, Larry Snelling faces leading the Chicago Police Department at a time when residents are demanding answers to the city’s perennial problem of violent crime. He will also have to lead the department through the transformational change demanded by a court-ordered consent decree.

The new school year is just around the corner. WTTW News asked pediatricians and physicians in the Chicago area to share what they think parents should keep in mind as their children head back to school.

The Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation filed the suit in the Southern District of Illinois on Monday, just two days after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it into law.

In his first comments on the disaster since late last week, Biden said he wanted to ensure a possible presidential visit wouldn’t impede recovery efforts.

Raymond Comer, 38, filed a seven-count civil suit in Cook County court in which he claimed he was shot by a Chicago police officer multiple times as he sat inside a vehicle last August.

Tyler Massengill has admitted using a homemade explosive to set a fire at the Peoria clinic in January, a few days after Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law with additional legal protections for abortion procedures.

Cook County residents are now eligible for assistance, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, officials said.

Christkindlmarket has announced its 2023 season will begin Nov. 17 at three locations in the Chicago area: Daley Plaza, Gallagher Way at Wrigley Field and RiverEdge Park in Aurora.

According to Lake County prosecutors, Estiven Sarminento, 16, appeared in court Tuesday after he was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder stemming from the fatal shooting Sunday of 16-year-old Omar Morales-Diaz.

Chicago Board of Ethics Chair William Conlon said the settlement was “in the best interest of everyone,” while former Ald. Howard Brookins said he had been vindicated.

Art Institute of Chicago Workers United was the first in a unionization wave that’s swept across local museums and cultural institutions.

The historic 41-count indictment unsealed Monday is the fourth criminal case that Trump is facing. All 19 co-defendants must surrender by Aug. 25 at noon, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told reporters Monday after the indictment was released.

Renovations are underway at the Garfield Park Community Plaza to create more play areas for kids, a stage, a covered roller rink and a sculpture designed by young people from the community.

Public transit and amenities like theaters, parks, libraries and grocery stores make neighborhoods more livable and appealing. But do they actually make them safer?

Neighborhood development and transit options are one way to make neighborhoods more livable, local advocates say. That’s why a coalition of organizations, artists, authors and developers are all working to advance the goal of equitable transit-oriented development.

The latest in our series WTTW News: A Safer City as Mayor Brandon Johnson makes his pick for police superintendent official. The role of public spaces in safety. And equitable transit-oriented development. 

Words from the Boss were few as the band barreled through song after song. Older songs brim with unbridled romanticism and recent songs address mortality and loss with a lifetime of wisdom.  

The promotions of more than 300 military officers are being stalled by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville in protest of Pentagon reproductive health policies.

“This is an extremely important day for the city,” Snelling said Monday. “For people who grew up like I did — a resident of Englewood and a student of the Chicago Public Schools — I want you to know the possibilities are limitless.”

Starting this Tuesday and continuing through the spring of 2024, construction will be taking place in Grainger Plaza, the area of Millennium Park that houses the more formally named “Cloud Gate.”

For the Parliament of the World’s Religions, the week-long event marks a return to its roots – the organization was founded in Chicago in 1893. In the past 30 years, it has convened six times, most recently in Toronto in 2018.

Chance the Rapper will make the appearance at the retail store Wednesday during an event hosted by Today at Apple, which offers free in-store educational sessions for devices and programs.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas called the legislation “the most significant property tax reform legislation the General Assembly has approved in decades.”

According to Chicago Police Department data, 28 people were shot in 19 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

Larry Snelling, a longtime Chicago Police Department insider with a decades-long career in law enforcement, has been tapped to lead the department as the city’s next top cop.

Pritzker on Saturday signed the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act, making Illinois the eighth state to approve legislation that rolls back legal protections for firearms manufacturers or distributors.