Stories by WTTW News

Will the mayor break his campaign promise in tomorrow’s budget address? And a midseason look at where the Bears go from here after last week’s heartbreaker.

Staying warm during Chicago’s frigid winters will get more expensive if Peoples Gas is permitted to resume its massive pipe replacement program, according to a report released Tuesday by the Citizens Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group.

The Chicago Bears snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on Sunday in Washington, D.C. Now instead of the playoffs, the talk is of a heartbreaking and improbable loss that some Bears players are calling the worst they’ve ever experienced.

Members of the Illinois Flag Commission have nearly 5,000 designs to wade through, as the state moves onto a new phase of potentially overhauling its flag.

Brown founded her first company and namesake, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, at a time when the industry rarely catered to a large array of skin tones. Her approach offered shades for women of every color, helping to establish a standard for inclusivity. 

Warm temperatures combined with strong winds are also creating a fire hazard in northern Illinois, the National Weather Service warned.

A look at police reform efforts 10 years after Laquan McDonald’s death. And a front-row seat to history — a journalist takes us inside the courtroom for Trump’s hush-money trial.

This month marks 10 years since the police murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Advocates say efforts to hold the Chicago Police Department more accountable and to change the way officers interact with residents have not shown much progress.

Jonathan Alter, who grew up in a politically active Chicago family, was among the small group of journalists in the courtroom in April for former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial.

Angela Hurlock, the chair of the CHA Board of Commissioners, will serve as the agency’s interim CEO, while a search for a permanent leader takes place, according to a statement from the agency.

Jay Johnston, 56, of Los Angeles, joined other rioters in a “heave ho” push against police officers guarding a tunnel entrance to the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Johnston also cracked jokes and interacted with other rioters as he used a cellphone to record the violence around him, prosecutors said.

PepsiCo said the decision was difficult but it described the 60-year-old building as a facility with “physical limitations.” The company said it would pay workers for the next 60 days even though they won’t be required to work.

Testimony resumed Monday in the fourth week of the former Illinois House speaker’s corruption trial inside Chicago’s Dirksen Federal Building. Michael Madigan, 82, and his longtime confidant Michael McClain, 77, are charged with racketeering, bribery and wire fraud.

Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, has been charged with six counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm toward a police officer or firefighter and one count of aggravated battery.

The endorsement of the city’s Transportation and Public Way Committee sends the nominations of Natasha Jenkins, Thomas Kotarac, Jarixon Medina, Dennis J. Mondero and Nora Cay Ryan to the full Chicago City Council for confirmation.

Forecasts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that this respiratory disease season will be similar to last year’s — which brought more than 20 hospitalizations for every 100,000 people in one week at its peak — and far worse than in pre-pandemic years.

In the spring of 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the longstanding abortion protections established under Roe v. Wade, leaving decisions about the reproductive health care procedure up to the states. For Hoosier Abbey Hall, she never imagined such a change would impact her.

Uncertainty reigns entering the final full week of the 2024 campaign with Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump locked in a fiercely competitive presidential contest. What happens in the coming days will be pivotal in deciding the winner.

While Puerto Ricans cannot vote in general elections despite being U.S. citizens, they can exert a powerful influence with relatives on the mainland. Phones across the island of 3.2 million people were ringing minutes after the speaker derided the U.S. territory Sunday night, and they still buzzed Monday.

Between March 2021 and June 2024, Chicago spent more than $238.8 million on a host of programs including affordable housing, mental health, violence prevention, youth job programs and help for unhoused Chicagoans, according to the most recent reports filed with the U.S. Department of the Treasury as required by federal law.

Voters will consider a non-binding referendum that seeks to impose a 3% tax on income over $1 million to fund property tax rebates for homeowners. It’s different from the contentious 2020 graduated income tax amendment that sparked an expensive campaign battle.

Inside the courtroom where former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is on trial. And Chicago gets an entirely new school board.

The final bit of work will take place Monday and Tuesday on the stretch between LaSalle Drive and Hollywood Avenue.

Lil Durk, 32, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in the slaying of Saviay’a Robinson, 24, who was gunned down on Aug. 19, 2022, according to an FBI affidavit released Friday.

Prosecutors paint picture of Mike McClain’s extreme loyalty to ex-Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan as the trial wraps up for the week.

The special was shot live at the Vic Theatre in Chicago where Meyers got big laughs when talking about mundane things like not knowing how to fold a stroller and the risks of playing board games with his children, who are 8, 6 and 3 years old.