Stories by Nick Blumberg

The owners of two Aurora companies — a furniture store and an office building — are in personal relationships with top city officials, WTTW News has found. An analysis of campaign finance records also uncovered that a majority of recent donations to Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin’s campaign fund are from people doing business with or getting incentives from the city.

The death of even one turtle can have ripple effects on the larger population, forest preserve officials said. If a female is killed in a hit and run, her future progeny, which could number in the hundreds, are lost as well. 

The 8-year-old girl and her family were being held in Harlingen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, one of the busiest corridors for migrant crossings. The girl experienced “a medical emergency” and emergency medical services were called. 

The tax was supposed to discourage the use of plastic bags. Instead, it’s turned into a cash cow for the city. Activists say it’s time to rethink the policy.

A craft fair, block party and 10 world-premiere plays usher in the weekend. Here are five things to do in Chicago.

Thomas Duncan, a 39-year-old ex-supervisor at the Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and 52-year-old Daniel Dingle each pleaded guilty in federal court this week to single counts of wire fraud.

The woman accused of abducting her daughter from an Illinois suburb six years ago has turned herself in, days after the girl was found safe in North Carolina and then reunited with her custodial father, local authorities said.

Sam Zell, a Chicago real estate magnate who earned a multibillion-dollar fortune and a reputation as “the grave dancer” for his ability to revive moribund properties has died due to complications from a recent illness. He was 81.

One roadblock to the passage of a state budget this week has been a set of programs in which Illinois provides health care coverage to green-card holders and undocumented residents.

Family and friends remember slain Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston. Spotlight Politics weighs in as the mayor’s allies roll out a $12 billion financial proposal. And an emerging artist committed to community.

More than 70 vehicles, including dozens of commercial vehicles and passenger cars, were involved in crashes May 1 along a 2-mile stretch of Interstate 55 in Montgomery County, 75 miles north of St. Louis.

The plan released Wednesday kicks off a debate between progressive political organizations and the mayor they helped elect on how best to achieve the goals they all share.

Vocalist Shawnee Dez is commemorating the release of her debut album, “Moody Umbra,” with a concert that includes a community jam session featuring a range of local artists.

Corey Gray, 21, was charged in federal court in Chicago on Wednesday with one count of knowingly transferring a firearm to an individual who was neither a licensed dealer nor a resident of the same state as Gray.

Officer Aréanah Preston died after she was shot during an attempted robbery May 6. She was memorialized as being the best of what the Chicago Police Department had to offer: a passionate public servant whose bright future was abruptly taken from her.

The Writers Guild of America began its nationwide strike May 2 after negotiations stalled with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Among key issues are increased wages and fair pay structures for writers in a streaming era.

Nakili was diagnosed with kidney disease last summer. At 33 years old, he was the oldest male of his species living in an accredited North American zoo.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez did not get into specifics while speaking before the Chicago Board of Education Wednesday, but reiterated that principal Abdul Muhammad “had to be pulled” from the school “for multiple reasons.”

The 134-year-old refinery, located between Hammond, Indiana, and Chicago, is the biggest in the U.S. Midwest and sixth largest nationally. It processes about 440,000 barrels of crude oil daily, making a variety of liquid fuels and asphalt.

Something magical happens when Maestro Riccardo Muti arrives on the podium at Orchestra Hall to lead the invariably superb musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said in a statement Tuesday that it believes her and that Kelly would likely be convicted if tried, but prosecuting him on charges that had been dormant since being filed in 2019 wouldn’t make a difference now that Kelly’s federal convictions could keep him in prison for the rest of his life.

The court denied an emergency request from groups challenging the law, which bans so-called assault weapons. The law’s opponents had asked the high court to put the law on hold while a court challenge continues. 

What did Mayor Brandon Johnson do on his first full day in office? Illinois leads the nation in exonerations. The latest on a bevy of issues in Springfield. And the debate over mental health clinics.

With Mayor Brandon Johnson vowing to reopen the city’s shuttered mental health clinics, some advocates are looking at the administration to reinvigorate and reimagine the city’s approach to providing mental health services.

After seven people were shot and killed during Highland Park’s Independence Day parade last summer, Illinois took a major and controversial step toward limiting which guns can be used and sold in state. The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to weigh the law’s constitutionality.

Right on cue, the much hyped “pneumonia front” hit Chicago shortly after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, sending the official temperature at O’Hare International Airport plummeting from 81 degrees to 66 degrees in short order.