Stories by Matt Masterson

Mauricio Ramirez, 32, was ordered held on $500,000 bail Thursday after he was charged with criminal sexual assault to a victim between the ages of 13-17 and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim under 18.

It depends on the situation and your comfort level, but there are ways to minimize the risk of infection this Halloween.

Late Wednesday, the Illinois House of Representatives approved a measure that would repeal a law requiring parents and guardians be notified before their minor child can have an abortion. The measure now heads to Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Thirteen alderpeople invoked state law to call a special meeting of the Chicago City Council for 11 a.m. Friday in an attempt to force a vote on a measure that would reverse Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s order that all city employees disclose their vaccination status.

City Council signs off on a $16 billion budget. The latest from Springfield. One-on-one with the new CPS CEO. A critical public bathroom shortage. And Spotlight Politics tackles vaccine mandates.

Chicago Public Schools on Wednesday announced that its 20th-day enrollment stands at 330,411 students. That’s a 3% decline from the 340,658 students who were enrolled in the district last year.

The Chicago City Council approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $16.7 billion budget on Wednesday with the backing of progressive members who celebrated the spending plan’s focus on affordable housing, mental health, violence prevention, youth job programs and help for unhoused Chicagoans.

A recent investigation by the Chicago Tribune found the city has failed to provide the public with easy, consistent access to free toilets, with scant information available about those that do exist. As the story found, it’s not only a public health issue but a public safety one as well.

Hearing aids may soon be available over the counter. Last week the FDA issued a proposal to allow hearing aids to be sold directly to consumers, without a medical exam or fitting by an audiologist.

Halloween parades, a haunted flea market, Día de los Muertos celebrations and a musical psychic usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

An estimated 2,000 people cheered the company’s superb artists as they took to the stage Saturday to perform a series of works, including a preview of “Goshen, The Story of Exodus.”

We take you to the Block Museum of Art on the campus of Northwestern for a look at a new exhibition that examines narratives of the past and who has a say in which art gets chosen.

Revenue jumped 14% to $6.2 billion in the July-September period, the Chicago burger giant said Wednesday. That beat Wall Street’s forecast of $6 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson is one of three sitting members of the Chicago City Council to be charged with federal crimes.

The Illinois State University graduate was last seen in late August, and his body was found last month. On Monday, the LaSalle County coroner said Jelani Day drowned to death, but his family is asking federal agencies to get involved.

Spurred in part by Texas’ new restrictions on abortions, Illinois legislators on Tuesday took a step toward moving in the other direction, when the Illinois Senate voted to roll back a law that requires parents and guardians be notified before their minor child can have an abortion.

One in four American Jews say they’ve been targets of antisemitism in the past 12 months, according to a new report from the American Jewish Committee.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot made her closing argument for her $16.7 billion 2022 budget on Tuesday, saying the spending plan would allow Chicago officials to “build a stronger and more prosperous city” amid the wreckage of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Chicago Blackhawks mishandled allegations that an assistant coach sexually assaulted a player during the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010, according to an investigation commissioned by the franchise that cast a shadow over the NHL on Tuesday.

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Logan Correctional Center is putting together performances about gender-based violence. Twenty-one people will perform over Zoom and share their stories through poems, monologues and more. 

Treatment by the Chicago Park District of a grub infestation, which laid waste to a third of Welles Park’s 15 acres, will shut down the affected area to all activity for months, and spring sports are in jeopardy.

The U.S. moved a step closer to expanding COVID-19 vaccinations for millions more children as a panel of government advisers on Tuesday endorsed kid-size doses of Pfizer’s shots for 5- to 11-year-olds.

Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a two-day holiday that honors dead relatives, remembering loved ones and celebrating ancestors. We talk about the holiday’s meaning, traditions and misconceptions with community leaders.

NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said Tuesday it was “still very early” in the investigation and the agency typically takes one to two years to determine accident causes.

The Wrigley Building celebrates its 100th anniversary. The latest edition of “Ask Geoffrey” explores how the Chicago icon transformed Michigan Avenue.

In their first major live performance since the pandemic began, members of Giordano Dance Chicago were in grand style and exceptional form.