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Toxic “forever chemicals” found in fish caught in the Great Lakes. A controversial rail yard in Englewood gets put on hold. We report on a community health initiative from West Garfield Park. And will state lawmakers take another shot at graduated income tax?

No matter how much money a person makes, Illinois residents all pay the same income tax rate. A pair of new proposals could change that by taking aim at the bank accounts of high earners.

PFAS are called "forever chemicals" because they fail to break down easily in the environment. Chemicals leach into the nation's drinking water and accumulate in the bodies of fish, shellfish, livestock, dairy and game animals.

Monuments can be created by the stroke of a president’s pen, and undone by the same. As a national historical park, Pullman now has added protections.

A years-long effort by the Norfolk Southern Railway to double the size of its storage yard in Englewood failed to pass the Chicago City Council after Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) blocked a vote. 

Prosecutors have separately charged two paramedics with first-degree murder, accusing them of tightly strapping Earl Moore on a stretcher after Springfield police who initially responded to a 911 call at Moore’s home requested an ambulance. 

A federal lawsuit alleges that rather than housing children in appropriate settings, DCFS allowed them to remain locked in juvenile jails without access to proper educational, medical and mental health supports.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called himself the state’s chief marketing officer during a trip to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. He couldn’t name any specific projects that have been secured after his Swiss schmoozing but said Illinois’ commitment to 100% clean energy by 2050 is an “important calling card here.”

The Treasury Department said in a letter to congressional leaders it has started taking “extraordinary measures” as the government has run up against its legal borrowing capacity of $31.381 trillion. An artificially imposed cap, the debt ceiling has been increased roughly 80 times since the 1960s.

Puppets, a winter market, Disney on Ice and special menus usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Why ComEd wants to raise your utility bills. City action on transgender and abortion issues. The debt ceiling staredown approaches a potential economic cliff. And why artificial intelligence is shaking up the education system.

Utilities companies like ComEd and Peoples Gas make money by delivering energy. The rates they’re seeking to hike are for distribution, including infrastructure like pipes and transmission lines, and the profit they can tack on to those costs.

The Illinois State Rifle Association and other pro-2nd Amendment groups on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit claiming the ban “infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens” to possess such firearms and extended magazines “for the defense of self and family and other lawful purposes.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill that provides more protection for patients coming to Illinois to seek gender-affirming health care. The move comes as several states attempt to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender people.

Some school districts have banned the chatbot, which can answer questions, generate essays and even write scientific papers from a short prompt.

On the brink of hitting the nation’s legal borrowing limit on Thursday, the government is resorting to “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default. Sounds ominous, right? But — take a breath — the phrase technically refers to a bunch of accounting workarounds.

Lori Lightfoot’s bid for reelection has been weighed down by a growing amount of evidence that she has governed at times more like an old-school machine politician than a reformer.

The board will help ensure the growth, maintenance and health of Chicago’s tree canopy for generations to come, officials said. The group’s first meeting could come as early as February.

The Chicago City Council could vote on what the mayor’s office called a “small scale” pilot program as soon as Feb. 1 — less than a month before Election Day.

CNN has learned that the president’s first slate of judicial nominees this year includes Jeffrey Cummings and LaShonda Hunt for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

CPS on Wednesday published its proposed calendar for the 2023-24 school year, which would see classes resume Aug. 21, 2023, and run until June 6, 2024. Parents and families now have a week to tell the district what they think before the Board of Education approves the new calendar next month.

The Chicago Commission on Human Relations now has the authority to investigate complaints of housing discrimination or retaliation. The commission will work with the city’s Office of Labor Standards to probe complaints of workplace discrimination or retaliation, according to the new law.

The company said it secured $150 million in financing that will allow it keep its stores open and operations running. As of October, the Company had 761 total Party City stores and 149 temporary Halloween City stores.

The ongoing slowdown in wholesale price growth is adding to evidence that the worst bout of inflation in four decades is steadily easing, though it remains far above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.

A new suburban stadium could be on the horizon for the Chicago Bears and the team owns the No. 1 pick in the draft coming off one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

UIC faculty go on strike. Unpacking new plans for the LaSalle Street corridor. Talking to sheriffs who say they won't enforce the new assault weapons bill. And what’s with the high price of eggs?