Stories by Associated Press

Germany said it will supply Ukraine with up-to-date anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems, while the U.S. announced it will provide four sophisticated, medium-range rocket systems and ammunition.

An Illinois auction house says it's helping preserve Chicago history, one neon light at a time. 

Paul Vallas joins the race for mayor. The U.S. Senate reportedly considers bipartisan gun measures. And how local groups are gearing up for the release of the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling.

According to new data from the Chicago Police Department, there have been 239 homicides and 971 shootings in the city this year through May.

The proposal crafted by Ald. Michele Smith (43rd Ward), chair of the City Council’s Ethics and Government Oversight Committee, and the Chicago Board of Ethics would hike the maximum fine for violating the city’s ethics ordinance from $5,000 to $20,000 as part of an effort to grapple with Chicago’s seemingly intractable legacy of graft and mismanagement.

If Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, states neighboring Illinois are poised to further restrict abortion access. Illinois organizations, both for and against abortion, are bracing for the influx of people who will likely turn to Illinois providers. 

Only six states require someone to be at least 21 years old to buy rifles and shotguns. Advocates argue that such a limit might have prevented the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead and the racially motivated supermarket attack in Buffalo, New York, that killed 10.

Paul Vallas’ announcement emphasized his years of public service, which included stints as former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s budget director and schools’ chief. 

A stalled movement to give the invasive Asian carp a more palatable name has regained momentum, and the big reveal is now set for June 22.

President Joe Biden’s appeal for funds for vaccines, testing and treatments has hit opposition from Republicans, who’ve fused the fight with the precarious politics of immigration. Congress is in recess, and the next steps are uncertain.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday announced Chapman, a former Chicago Public Schools grad and chairwoman of the Far South Community Advisory Council, will fill the seat vacated by former board member Amy Rome last summer.

A violent Memorial Day weekend and how police are responding. What the high COVID-19 threat level means, and how scientists are tracking the virus. And a high honor for a local theater company.

At the end of last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention elevated the threat level from medium, meaning there's also a high potential for straining the city's health care system.

This holiday weekend's shooting and homicide totals are both significantly higher than Memorial Day last year, when three people were killed and 29 others were shot.

Each year, the Tony Awards give special recognition to only one local theater in the U.S. Court Theater has just become the sixth theater in Chicago to win the Tony Award for Best Regional Theater. 

Loss of federal funding has led to COVID-19 testing site closures throughout Illinois, and the nation. Milder symptoms for those who are vaccinated and increased use of at-home rapid tests, which people rarely report to health authorities, means accurate COVID-19 data is increasingly hard to come by. 

The greatest risk of bird flu outbreaks has passed, wildlife officials said. Poultry owners need to remain vigilant, though, and feeding ducks and geese should be avoided.

A federal judge said Tuesday that he is preparing to issue a nearly 200-page ruling in the corruption case against Ald. Edward Burke (14th Ward) that could determine whether federal prosecutors can use thousands of hours of the powerful politician’s telephone conversations.

On the heels of Chicago’s first two Starbucks locations voting to join a union last Wednesday, workers at one of the company’s Edgewater coffee shops announced plans to file for representation Tuesday morning. 

China sent 30 military aircraft toward Taiwan on Monday in an ongoing campaign of regular flights. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it responded by scrambling jets, putting air defense missile systems on alert and issuing radio warnings.

This year’s event will feature three days of a “bite-sized” Taste in Grant Park in July, as well as three days of Taste in the neighborhoods in June.

The beloved piping plover, dubbed the king of Montrose Beach, died May 13. Monty first captured Chicagoans’ hearts in 2019 when he and his mate, Rose, became the first pair of endangered Great Lakes piping plovers to nest in the city since the 1950s

An Associated Press analysis of early voting records from data firm L2 found that more than 37,000 people who voted in Georgia’s Democratic primary two years ago cast ballots in last week’s Republican primary, an unusually high number of so-called crossover voters. 

Supporting veterans and their mental health. Plus, tremendous losses for a South Side parish. Efforts to keep Chicago young people safe this summer. And ancient artwork in a new setting.

Since 2010, more than 65,000 veterans have died by suicide – that is more than the total number of deaths from combat during the Vietnam War and the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

His comments came a day after he traveled to the shattered Texas community of Uvalde, mourning privately for three-plus hours with anguished families grieving for the 19 children and two teachers who died in the shooting. Faced with chants of “do something” as he departed a church service, Biden pledged: “We will.”