Stories by Heather Cherone

A joint session of the Housing and Finance committees on Wednesday will consider the proposal to leverage the city’s financial power to build permanently affordable, mixed-income and environmentally sustainable housing.

The House voted 67-39 to advance House Bill 3637, which would put new protections in state law to safeguard health care licenses for providers who offer abortion cares. It also guarantees continued access to abortion medication even if the medication’s approval is rescinded by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Octavio Dotel, who pitched for 13 major league teams in a 15-year career and won a world championship with the St. Louis Cardinals, was among the dead after a roof collapsed at a nightclub in his native Dominican Republic where he was attending a merengue concert.

Mega Millions is getting a makeover — including more than doubling the price of a ticket — as the multi-state lottery game aims to improve players’ odds and dish out bigger jackpots.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that the government can’t retaliate against the AP’s decision not to follow Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. stocks dove Tuesday following another stunning reversal, with Wall Street veering from a huge gain at the opening of trading to more losses at the close, because investors still have no idea what to make of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he wants communities to stop fluoridating water, and he is setting the gears of government in motion to help make that happen.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced plans for a new advisory committee that will review research, develop recommendations and design a new model for the future of the guaranteed basic income pilot program.

Emil Jones III has remained in office since his September 2022 indictment on three counts including bribery and lying to the FBI, even winning another four-year term in an unopposed race six weeks after being charged.

Nursing home industry officials are urging Illinois lawmakers to increase the rates they receive from the state’s Medicaid system, arguing the current rates are outdated and are forcing many facilities around the state out of business.

Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) said the program is “absolutely” racially motivated. “Unless you’re Stevie Wonder or Helen Keller, you can see it,” she said.

According to a university spokesperson, settlement documents are currently being finalized after Northwestern and the former student athletes recently engaged in a mediation process that resulted in the agreement.

What the new round of tariffs means for your wallet. And the impact of federal funding cuts on local libraries.

According to the American Library Association, more than 77% of rural public libraries are the only source of free public access to computers and the internet in their communities.

The U.S. president has shown few signs of backing down on tariffs despite the mounting pressure in the financial markets. His commitment to tariffs could have devastating effects for the global economy, even though Trump is banking that it will ultimately pay off with manufacturing jobs.

Unsourced “headlines” about a potential “90-day pause in tariffs” sent markets into a state of turbulence Monday morning as investors sought any indication of a reprieve from the Trump administration’s new levies. The problem: It wasn’t true.

A Chicago man who authorities say was “hunting for victims” now faces more than a dozen felony charges after he was arrested in connection to the sexual assaults of five women over nearly three years on the city’s North Side.

Trump attorneys have conceded in court filings that the administration mistakenly deported the father of three “because of an administrative error,” but said it could not bring him back because he is in Salvadoran custody.

The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024, with Texas reporting the majority of them: nearly 500.

Chicago has a new interim top federal prosecutor as Andrew Boutros took his oath of office and was sworn in Monday as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

The protests Saturday spanned more than 30 cities in Illinois as part of a “Hands Off!” National Day of Action campaign in more than 1,300 locations in all 50 states.

“We need to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity,” Quezada said, vowing to make the 35th Ward a better place to live for all its residents.

As Congress debates whether new parents should be allowed to vote by proxy, Brandis Friedman reflects on the barriers faced by mothers working in politics.

Online registration for Chicago Park District’s popular six-week summer day camp begins next week. Fees are being raised to bring fees back up to pre-pandemic levels and to address rising operational costs, according to the district.

Stocks plummet after Trump’s sweeping tariffs. And after a long year of negotiations, Chicago teachers have a tentative contract deal.

Given the current state of the world there is something particularly wonderful about heading to a performance by the ever-remarkable musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, writes Hedy Weiss.