Stories by Amanda Vinicky

Illinois is giving municipalities the ability to reinstitute the 1% grocery tax locally starting in January, when the state one disappears. Municipalities are now asking the state to give them more taxing authority.

The Chicago City Council is set to vote on the proposal Wednesday, after a week-long delay fueled by outrage whipped up on social media, the budding 2027 race for mayor and the lack of trust many alderpeople have in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s ability to steer the city through rough financial seas.

The Department of Government Efficiency, run by Trump adviser Elon Musk, published an updated list Monday of nearly 2,300 contracts that agencies terminated in recent weeks across the federal government.

Joseph Czuba is charged in the fatal stabbing of six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of Hanan Shaheen. Authorities said the family was targeted because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The Acero charter network announced last year plans to shutter Cruz K-12 as well as Casas, Cisneros, Fuentes, Paz, Santiago and Tamayo elementary schools due to declining enrollment, increasing personnel and facilities maintenance costs.

The Cook County Creative Placemaking program will award grants of $50,000 to $250,000 to suburban-based nonprofit organizations. Applications are being accepted through April 7.

Southwest Flight 2504 landed safely at the Chicago airport after the flight crew had to perform a go-around to prevent a potential incident, according to Southwest. The FAA is investigating the incident, which took place at around 8:50 a.m. local time.

Come Fat Tuesday every year, “Paczki Day” is celebrated across Chicago and the Midwest, and the doughnuts are recognized as a symbol of Polish culture and pride.

We separate fact from hype about the upcoming “planet parade.”

The trial begins for the accused gunman in the Highland Park parade shooting. And the head of the Chicago Fed on inflation, tariffs and Chicago’s economy.

Monday marks three years since Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, resulting in thousands of people being killed and millions displaced. Chicago’s Ukrainian Village is home to one of the largest populations of Ukrainians in the U.S.

Costs of everyday essentials like groceries and gas are steadily climbing while wages remain largely stagnant, which is particularly true in the Chicago area where the inflation rate is higher than anywhere else in the country — an unwanted first-place position.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in a Lake County courtroom where Robert Crimo III will stand trial on 117 charges, including 21 counts of first-degree murder, representing three charges for each person killed.

The reversal is the latest example of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s chaotic approach to cost-cutting, which has resulted in several agencies firing, and then scrambling to rehire, employees responsible for nuclear weapons, national parks and other government services.

Lawmakers are considering legalizing a controversial medical practice that proponents say could ease suffering for the terminally ill. It’s sometimes called “assisted suicide,” although physicians and advocates for the practice prefer the term “medical aid in dying.”

Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recordings artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88.

The Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a pair of cases from abortion opponents who say laws limiting anti-abortion demonstrations near clinics violate their First Amendment rights.

The updated lawsuit is trying to block mass layoffs pursued by Musk and President Donald Trump, including any connected to the email distributed by the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday.

Chicago officials would have an additional $87 million to spend on a host of programs designed to repair the city’s tattered social safety net, but the Chicago City Council used those funds to balance the 2025 budget and avert a property tax hike.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker escalates his attacks on President Donald Trump. And the local impact of federal cuts to clinical trials.

The effects of President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on allies and rivals are yet to be seen, but farmers in Illinois are bracing for their impact — even as they wait years for Congress to pass long-term federal spending legislation.

The new National Institutes of Health policy would strip research groups of hundreds of millions of dollars to cover so-called indirect expenses of studying Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and a host of other illnesses.

Jerry Butler was a former Cook County board commissioner who would still perform on weekends and identify himself as Jerry “Iceman” Butler, a show business nickname given for his understated style.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in four rats submitted for testing.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg urged Mayor Brandon Johnson in July to form a task force as part of an effort to “implement a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to preventing, identifying and eliminating extremist and anti-government activities and associations within CPD.”

A 1,300-acre restoration project at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie has ground to a halt after federal grant funds, awarded in 2023, were frozen by the Trump Administration.