Stories by Heather Cherone

“I will not abandon phasing out the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers at a time when Trump’s wars and tariffs are making it increasingly difficult to live and raise a family throughout the city and country,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.

An American college student visiting friends for spring break has gone missing in Spain, his family said, adding police there have his phone.

The City Council voted unanimously to explicitly grant the the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, known as COPA, the authority to investigate whether Chicago Police Department officers helped federal agents carry out deportations.

The Oklahoma Republican faced questions from members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about his vision for a department tasked with carrying out the Republican administration’s push for mass deportations.

On Wednesday, an investigation by the New York Times found that Chavez, groomed and sexually abused young girls who worked in the movement, including the co-founder of the union Dolores Huerta.

The companies flooded the state’s Democratic primaries with millions of dollars to promote candidates they believed would have a light touch when it came to regulating technologies that have begun to upend how people do their jobs and manage their finances.

Calls for regulation are bipartisan, but the specifics are still being negotiated between lawmakers, data center companies and trade groups.

With the backing of hotel owners and the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, the city’s tax on hotel rooms downtown, near McCormick Place, the Illinois Medical District and Hyde Park will rise from 17.5% to 19%, the highest in the nation.

The bill resembles a federal law that gives the Federal Communications Commission authority to regulate the volume of commercials on TV stations, cable and satellite TV services.

In all, groups affiliated with AIPAC spent more than $20 million to influence the outcome of four contests in Illinois’ 2nd, 7th, 8th and 9th Congressional districts, according to federal campaign finance reports.

A newly released survey of the eastern monarch’s 2025-26 winter population in Mexico showed a 64% increase over 2024-25.

Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.

Two incumbents of a Cook County agency responsible for making decisions about taxpayers’ property assessment appeals faced challengers in their reelection bids this year.

For months, the big question in Illinois politics has been who is going to be the Democrat running to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. The Associated Press has called that race, with Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton defeating U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly.

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss has been declared the winner of a jam-packed Democratic primary race for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District seat, which is set to see its first new leader in more than 25 years.

The intense race has drawn tens of millions of dollars spent by outside groups on television, mail and online advertisements, with most coming from pro-Israel, pro-artificial intelligence development, pro-cryptocurrency and pro-cloud data center interests.

Illinois Democrats voted to choose their nominee for state comptroller, Illinois government’s chief fiscal officer, in a four-way race to succeed Susana Mendoza, who is stepping aside after nearly a decade in the office.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi has conceded defeat to Pat Hynes, a one-time employee of the two-term incumbent’s office.

Ten candidates were vying for an Illinois congressional seat in the state’s 2nd District, which is set for a new representative for the first time in more than a decade.

Incumbent Toni Preckwinkle has spent the past 16 years as board president. Running against her was Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly, who has represented the city’s 42nd Ward since 2007.

More than a dozen Democratic candidates are squaring off Tuesday in a race for control of Illinois’ 7th Congressional District, a seat that’s been held by Congressman Danny Davis for nearly 30 years.

Four Republican candidates ran for a chance to unseat Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker in the Nov. 3 general election.

Four candidates (all Democrats) are on the ballot for three available six-year terms on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board of Commissioners, all but one of them running as an incumbent.

Thanks to an evening surge in voters, Chicago's unofficial turnout for the 2026 primaries inched over 25%, with the tallying of additional mail-in and provisional ballots likely to boost the numbers even more.

Melissa Bean, who previously led Illinois’ 8th Congressional District for three terms, took a major step toward taking that seat back, as she has been declared the winner in Tuesday’s Democratic primary race.

It’s Election Day in Illinois. We’ll have the latest on key races and voter turnout. Plus, a look at what’s at stake and how local races play into the national picture.