Stories by Matt Masterson

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Wednesday urged potential donors and surviving victims to use caution and be on alert for scams related to the July 4 shooting that left seven people dead and dozens more wounded.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister, who said he’ll step down after a new government is installed, says the island nation’s debt-laden economy has “collapsed” as it runs out of money to pay for food, fuel and medicine.

Federal records show that R. Kelly is currently being housed in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago following an extended stay in a New York detention center during his racketeering and sex trafficking trial in that jurisdiction.

Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services has been struggling to find proper placements, particularly for high-needs youth for whom the agency is having to stand in as a pseudo parent. So much so that some children and teens who have had a stint at a psychiatric hospital are there after they’ve been cleared for release because there’s nowhere for them to go. 

The hearing Tuesday was the seventh for the Jan. 6 committee. Over the past month, the panel has created a narrative of a defeated Trump “detached from reality,” clinging to false claims of voter fraud and working feverishly to reverse his election defeat.

Gun safety, the Jan. 6 hearings, and whether Congress will address abortion federally with members of the Illinois delegation. Trouble at DCFS. The latest COVID variant. And a psychedelic soul band.

The girl drowned Tuesday in the lake waters off Gary, Ind. On Sunday, a 72-year-old man was pulled from the water off Indiana Dunes State Park. 

Since its launch last month, more than 2,100 people have applied for rebates through the city’s Home and Business Protection Program, Chicago officials said Tuesday.

Tuesday’s releases showed parts of the universe seen by other telescopes. But Webb’s sheer power, distant location from Earth and use of the infrared light spectrum showed them in a new light that scientists said was almost as much art as science.

Advocates say recent changes made to the International Swimming Federation’s inclusion policy place an unfair burden on young, gender non-conforming athletes to commit to gender affirming procedures and irreversible treatments before reaching puberty. It’s a decision critics say, could pose health risks for young athletes.

According to Cook County prosecutors, a 22-year-old man fired 19 shots at a crowd of people outside Sean's Rhino Bar & Grill, 10330 S. Western Ave., striking a 31-year-old off-duty Chicago police officer in the back.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday that he has appointed pediatrician Dr. Sameer Vohra to lead the state health department starting Aug. 1.

If Ald. Ed Burke decides to run for re-election in February 2023, he will do so before being brought to trial on charges he has faced for more than an entire term on the Chicago City Council.

The new variants, labeled BA.4 and BA.5, are offshoots of the omicron strain that has been responsible for nearly all of the virus spread in the U.S. and are even more contagious than their predecessors.

The new figures quantify what scientists, officials and activists have long called the inequity in national climate histories with the rich nations benefiting and the poor ones hurting from the production of greenhouse gas emissions.

Illinois officials head to Washington as the president signs gun safety legislation a week after the Highland Park tragedy. Maternal mortality is on the rise. And the artist behind Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie” series.

Illinois officials were on hand in Washington, D.C. to commemorate President Joe Biden’s recent signing of a bipartisan gun law.

A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and the rest of the WNBA All-Stars wore Griner’s name and her No. 42 on the back of their jerseys for the second half of Team Wilson’s 134-112 victory over Team Stewart. It was another moment in the league’s continued push for Griner’s release from her detention in Russia.

Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Danny Ecker goes behind the latest business headlines.

It’s been about three years since we introduced you to the artist behind the artwork on the hit Netflix series “Grace and Frankie.” With the show’s final season officially out, it was time to go back to the artist’s studio in East Rogers Park for another visit.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle spoke to WTTW News following Biden’s White House celebration of the passage of a federal gun safety law that was attended by elected officials, gun control advocates, gun violence survivors and the families of victims.

Some researchers say the Supreme Court’s move overturning Roe v. Wade could have a negative impact on maternal health.

The Chicago Police Department did not advise the WNBA to limit outdoor events held Saturday and Sunday in conjunction with the league’s all-star game, including a concert by Chicago-native Chance the Rapper, a department spokesperson told WTTW News.

The risk to Chicagoans from monkeypox remains low, according to Chicago Department of Public Health officials, who encouraged anyone who has developed a new or unexplained rash to see a health care provider.

The Ethics Committee plans to hold a hearing, and potentially a key vote, on Wednesday to consider a proposed overhaul of the city of Chicago’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance, without giving members of the public or the news media a chance to review its provisions.

The “celebration” Monday morning at the White House came a week after a gunman in Highland Park killed seven people at an Independence Day parade, a stark reminder of the limitations of the new law in addressing the American phenomenon of mass gun violence.