Stories by Associated Press

Funeral services for the seven people killed by a gunman at an Independence Day parade will conclude Monday as family and friends gather in suburban Chicago to remember Kevin McCarthy.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot criticized the Chicago Board of Ethics on Monday for acting “as judge, jury and executioner” when investigating officials for violating the city’s ethics ordinance.

Armando Serrano and Jose Montanez, who were released in 2016 after serving 23 years in prison for the murder of Rodrigo Vargas, would each get $10.25 million if the settlement is approved by the City Council. 

Some people are concerned about what they say are deteriorating conditions at the high-quality habitat where the endangered plovers Monty and Rose raised their three successive broods of chicks between 2019 and 2021. 

At 81, Dr. Anthony Fauci has served more than five decades under seven presidents, advising every American president since Ronald Reagan.

So-called “sideshows” have popped up all over the city in recent weeks, where hundreds of people gather to watch cars spinning “doughnuts” — sometimes in a ring of gasoline set on fire.

U.S. airlines have canceled more than 100,000 flights this year, with 30,000 cancellations just since Memorial Day weekend, according to data from flight tracking site FlightAware.

According to Chicago Police Department data, there were 22 separate shootings between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

The nearly 80-page report was the first to criticize both state and federal law enforcement, and not just local authorities in the South Texas town for the bewildering inaction by heavily armed officers as a gunman fired inside two fourth-grade classrooms at Robb Elementary School, killing 19 students and two teachers.

The findings from both Republican- and Democratic-controlled states run contrary to claims made by former President Donald Trump and his allies who have intensely criticized their use and falsely claimed they were a target for fraud.

A museum in West Town is paying tribute to the city’s South Chicago neighborhood in a new solo exhibition by a self-taught historian. Arts Correspondent Angel Idowu introduces us to Roman Villarreal.

Community members ask why the response to Highland Park was different than responses to deadly weekends in Chicago. Plus, Blackness is Golden and a poetic tribute to powerful Black men and women. 

“When Blackness was Golden!: Observation from the front line” is a memoir by Pemon Rami. It’s a coming of age story that gives readers a look into the civil rights movement in Chicago and an era when Black culture and excellence were on the rise.

A Chicago spoken word artist is celebrating Black men and women with a collection of poems praising and acknowledging their accomplishments. Harold Green’s “Black Roses and Black Oak” are odes to celebrities, leaders and changemakers.

Seven people were killed and 46 others injured in the mass shooting. That same holiday weekend, eight people were killed and 60 others wounded in shootings across Chicago. As support pours in for Highland Park, some Chicago residents are left wondering why the gun violence in the city doesn’t receive the same attention.

Five local Latino-led startups received some welcome news this week. Each of their businesses was awarded $100,000 from Google’s Startups Latino Founders Fund. 

Wicker Park Fest returns to Milwaukee Avenue next weekend, and among the musical attractions is Y La Bamba, a West Coast band led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Luz Elena Mendoza.

A Highland Park city council member shares his story from the July 4 mass shooting. Plus, Latino startups get funding from Google. And recognizing South Chicago with marble and wood.

Highland Park city council member Andres Tapia was present at the parade, and posted his personal account of the events on LinkedIn. Tapia said that publicly sharing his experience and talking about seeking help for the trauma he endured was important for him to do as a community leader.

This simple act of monitoring the presence of breeding birds at specified sites across the Chicago region is how the Bird Conservation Network has, over the course of more than 20 years, methodically amassed a data set that would be the envy of any research institution.

The City of Broad Shoulders flexed its muscles in terms of fitness. In a newly released list of the 100 fittest cities in America, Chicago came in at No. 10.

“There’s no new evidence to open the case back up,” Michelle Williams, chief of staff for Attorney General Lynn Fitch, told The Associated Press.

Rock singer Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins a 20-year resident of Highland Park, where the shooting happened, said the show will be at the city’s plant-based tea house Madame Zuzu’s, which he owns with his partner Chloe Mendel.

The prospect of cracking down on assault-grade guns. Hyper-contagious COVID-19. The governor’s race heats up. And City Council changeover.

The Ethics and Government Oversight Committee unanimously endorsed the reworked version of the proposal authored by Ald. Michele Smith (43rd Ward), the panel’s chair, and backed by the Chicago Board of Ethics. A final vote by the full City Council is set for Wednesday. 

A summary of the results of the probe conducted by former Inspector General Joseph Ferguson was released in January, as required by city law. However, Lightfoot has rejected calls from Little Village residents and environmental justice organizations to release the full results of the investigation into the implosion at the former Crawford coal power plant, which sent a plume of dust over six blocks of homes in April 2020.