Stories by Amanda Vinicky

“More focus on learning will bring even greater success for kids across the state,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “Furthermore, cyberbullying has expanded at alarming rates, and it’s time for Illinois to take measures to protect our kids.”

Debate over a $175 million pension payment is heating up. And a local nonprofit is suing the Trump administration over its anti-DEI order.

The new 21-member, partially elected CPS board is set to vote Thursday on whether to make that pension payment and figure out how to pay for new contracts with the unions representing teachers and principals.

The lawsuit challenges two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders ending government support of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The orders call DEI programs illegal and immoral discrimination.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has removed the 2024 surgeon general’s advisory on gun violence from its website.

Lollapalooza will be held from July 31-Aug. 3 in Grant Park. The four-day music festival includes more than 170 artists on eight stages.

resident Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a lengthy phone conversation on Tuesday as the White House pushes for Russia to sign off on its 30-day ceasefire proposal aimed at ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In an extraordinary display of conflict between the executive and judiciary branches, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching federal judges shortly after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of a judge who ruled against his deportation plans.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw five strong innings, Shohei Ohtani had two hits and scored twice, and the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 on Tuesday in Major League Baseball’s season opener at the Tokyo Dome.

A pharmacy benefit manager negotiates prices with wholesalers, sets reimbursement rates on drugs and compiles the lists of which medicines an insurer will cover. But critics describe the industry as focused on self-enrichment and in need of regulation.

What you should know about the Kennedy construction starting tonight. And how Illinois says it can save you money on prescriptions.

It’s one more Hail Mary attempt to keep the Chicago Bears in the city and have them ditch their suburban plans.

Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and had been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.

Jayden Perkins, an accomplished young dancer, was stabbed to death last March while his mother, Laterria Smith, sustained “multiple life-threatening stab wounds to her neck, back, and chest while desperately trying to protect her children,” according to one of the lawsuits she filed last week.

This morning, I took my first-ever Irish dance lesson and got my butt kicked from here to Killarney. At the Irish American Heritage Center, two “Riverdance” dancers led a workshop of 35 to 40 dancers of varying age and experience.

They really don’t create musicals like “Guys and Dolls” anymore. So, head straight to the superb Music Theater Works production of the show that debuted on Broadway in 1950.

A group of microscopic sunflower sea star larva arrived at Shedd Aquarium last year and have been bulking up behind the scenes ever since. Now, after growing 16,000%, they’re ready to make their public debut.

Preckwinkle cited building upon efforts of her current tenure such as criminal justice reform, expanding health care access and relieving medical debt. The election will be held in 2026.

The Trump administration’s tariffs on imported goods from Canada, Mexico and China — some already in place, others set to take effect in a few weeks — are already driving up the cost of building materials used in new residential construction and home remodeling projects.

The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members.

Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist, was to start work at Brown University as an assistant professor of medicine.

A high wind warning is in effect for Chicago through noon on Saturday, with the potential to bring down trees and power lines, according to the National Weather Service.

What Trump’s Education Department overhaul could mean for Illinois students. And could an earlier downtown curfew cut crime?

Disability rights group Equip for Equality filed a motion Thursday for a preliminary injunction to immediately transfer the last 12 men incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center out of the facility.

USPS listed such issues as mismanagement of the agency’s retirement assets and Workers’ Compensation Program, as well as an array of regulatory requirements that the letter described as “restricting normal business practice.”

After Sen. Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that he would reluctantly support the bill, he bore the brunt of that anger, including a protest at his office, calls from progressives that he be primaried in 2028 and suggestions that the Democratic Party would soon be looking for new leaders.