Stories by Nick Blumberg

The Chicago Transit Authority says the $1.9 billion in federal funding it’s been promised for the Red Line Extension should be secure, despite the Trump administration’s sweeping freeze of grant money Tuesday.

If Mayor Brandon Johnson refuses to appear as requested, it could open a new front in the ongoing battle with the GOP-controlled U.S House and the Trump administration, which is attempting to strip self-proclaimed sanctuary cities of all federal funding.

Could a blanket pardon for Jan. 6 rioters lead to more political violence? And a tool to file taxes for free hits Illinois — what that means for taxpayers.

More than 1,500 people received a “full, complete, and unconditional” pardon from the president last week. The assault on the Capitol — which injured more than 140 police officers — has been one of several displays of political violence in recent years.

“I am the first paraplegic to be elected to state office in Illinois history,” said Dan McConchie, who suffered a spinal cord injury during a 2007 hit-and-run crash. “I recognize some needs of things that needed to be done.”

The IRS Direct File program, which lets eligible taxpayers file their taxes directly with the IRS for free, is now available in Illinois.

To reduce the number of formerly incarcerated citizens returning to prison, some communities are turning to restorative justice — a practice promoting accountability and healing for all parties affected by crime.

A ribbon cutting was held Monday for the Lookingglass Theatre Company's new multi-purpose lobby at its home in the Water Tower Water Works building on Michigan Avenue.

Monday marked the fourth day of closing arguments in Michael Madigan’s landmark corruption trial at the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago.

Experts say President Donald Trump’s moves to step away from global climate action, ramp up domestic oil and gas production and remove incentives for electric vehicles are worrisome as the planet continues to heat up.

Ald. Jim Gardiner spent nearly three times as much on legal fees during 2023 and 2024 than any other member of the Chicago City Council, according to a WTTW News analysis of records filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Few details of the operation were immediately made public, including the number of arrests. But the sheer number of federal agencies involved showed President Donald Trump’s willingness to use federal law enforcement beyond the Department of Homeland Security to carry out his long-promised mass deportations.

A statement from the Secret Service said the agents were investigating a threat against an official they are charged with protecting.

Donald Trump returns to the White House and immediately exercises his executive powers. And the Chicago Bears name a new head coach.

Snowy owl sightings have been thrilling people across northern Illinois this winter, but these occasional visitors from the Arctic face a lot of hazards — including humans and cars — when they venture outside their normal isolated tundra environment.

The K-12 online school had planned to start classes for its first 200 enrollees last fall, with part of its mission to evangelize its students in the Catholic faith. A group of parents, faith leaders and a public education nonprofit sued to block the school.

Prosecutors concluded their final summations Friday on Day 3 of closing arguments in the former speaker’s landmark trial by presenting an overview of how the various bribery and corruption schemes alleged in the government’s 23-charge indictment all come together under count one: racketeering conspiracy.

The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in a case centered on whether a state law passed in 2023 violates the due process rights of Illinoisans outside Sangamon and Cook counties. A 2023 law restricts certain types of lawsuits – namely challenges to a law’s constitutionality – to courts in those two counties. The law came in response to challenges to the state’s COVID-19 response, a state law ending cash bail and the state’s ban on assault weapons, among others.

An executive order President Donald Trump signed on his first day back in office offers a new federal government definition of the sexes that could have a major impact on transgender people nationwide. Many of the provisions are likely to be challenged in court.

Four Chicago teens have been charged with conservation-related violations in the killing of a coyote earlier this month near the Mount Greenwood neighborhood, according to a statement from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

How officials are preparing immigrants as deportation threats loom. Mexico launches an app to help people facing deportation. And the debate over ending birthright citizenship.

Chicago’s immigrant communities are preparing for the worst amid President Donald Trump’s promises of mass deportation for undocumented immigrants.

The app is designed to provide resources and to alert relatives, lawyers and officials at the nearest consulate when someone is being detained or deported.

The temporary restraining order sought by Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Washington was the first to get a hearing before a judge and applies nationally.

“We are not going to be intimidated by those acts of terror to radically shift our way of living,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “That’s what individuals who stoke fear into people want to see happen.”

In the face of a Trump administration directive to investigate state and local officials who don’t toe the line on the president’s orders on immigration, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said they will stand up for law-abiding residents regardless of their legal status.