Stories by Capitol News Illinois

IDPH’s funding for infectious disease prevention will see a “debilitating impact,” Director Sameer Vohra said in a statement. IDPH has been using the funding to track the spread of diseases, invest in lab upgrades, build up the public health workforce, and improve vaccination efforts.

The beloved actor of “The Golden Girls” fame was celebrated with a new U.S. Postal Service stamp at a first-day-of-issue ceremony at the Los Angeles Zoo on Thursday.

Members of a Chicago-based Muslim civil rights organization and advocacy group called on local elected officials to stand up against the Trump administration’s detainment of students who have shown support of Palestinian causes, during a news conference.

A newly identified parasitic wasp that buzzed and flew among dinosaurs 99 million years ago evolved a bizarre mechanism to snare other creatures and force them to unwittingly shelter its young, according to new research.

LaKenya White, who served as a director of investigations for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, will replace Andrea Kersten, who resigned as the chief administrator under fire a month ago.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar said he had “great reluctance” to issue a sweeping national preliminary injunction in the case, where 19 states and the District of Columbia contend they have been harmed by a large-scale reduction in the federal workforce without warning as required by law.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the committee, and Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat, signed onto a letter to the acting inspector general at the Department of Defense for an inquiry into the potential “use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know.”

Specific dates have not yet been set, but U.S. District Judge Manish Shah on Thursday said each of the so-called “ComEd Four” — former CEO Anne Pramaggiore, Madigan’s longtime confidant Michael McClain, and ex-ComEd lobbyists John Hooker and Jay Doherty — will be sentenced in July.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized the department he oversees as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy” in a video announcing the restructuring Thursday. He faulted the department’s 82,000 workers for a decline in Americans’ health.

It is spring, so break out the flip-flops and cargo shorts — but don’t put away the duck boots and snow pants just yet. Whether it’s freezing or frying outside, choose your outerwear carefully and wade into the waters of Chicago arts and culture.

What to know about the boycotts facing Walmart, Target and Amazon. And CTU powerhouse Karen Lewis shares her life and legacy in a new memoir.

The first of the boycotts happened last month, with more scheduled in the coming weeks. The effort includes boycotts of various companies and retailers during different time periods.

The outspoken chemistry teacher led nearly 25,000 teachers on a historic weeklong strike in 2012, changing the way the union organized and negotiated. She died in 2021 at 67 years old.

Mayor Brandon Johnson — who campaigned on promises to transform CPS into a school district that offers a well-rounded education to every Chicago child and security to its employees — is caught in another bruising political battle that has, once again, frustrated his allies and emboldened his critics.

The CTA, Metra and Pace are facing an impending budget gap when federal COVID-19 relief funding runs out next year. Transit labor groups have stopped short of calling for a merging of the transit systems as a funding solution, unlike what some advocacy groups have called for.

The hearing, titled “Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the heads of NPR and PBS Accountable,” featured testimony from NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger, as well as a local station operator and a conservative critic of taxpayer-funded media.

The musical story of The Kinks is told through the eyes of bandleader Ray Davies in “Sunny Afternoon” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

In a filing in Cook County’s circuit court, the archdiocese accused the unnamed defendants of a “quid pro quo” scheme in which they allegedly peddled false claims of abuse in order to extort money from the church.

Sales of the homemade firearms known as ghost guns grew exponentially after kits came onto the market that let people easily build them at home, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion. “Some home hobbyists enjoy assembling them. But criminals also find them attractive,” he said.

The disclosure follows two intense days during which leaders of President Donald Trump’s intelligence and defense agencies have struggled to explain how details that current and former U.S. officials have said would have been classified wound up on an unclassified Signal chat that included Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg,

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

Eight ballot measures will likely be decided by voters who live in wealthy communities where the majority of residents are White and own a home, according to a new report from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.

Calls for firings after Trump Cabinet members discuss sensitive war plans in a group chat. And debate over whether families who homeschool should face more oversight.

Supporters say a bill to regulate homeschooling is aimed at ensuring kids are getting the education they need and are better protected from potential neglect. Opponents are concerned that the bill would be government overreach and could criminalize homeschooling parents.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth previously called U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unqualified to lead the Defense Department and said he should either step down or be fired.

A Chicago Police Department spokesperson blamed data collection errors and lax supervision for the unreported stops.