Stories by Nick Blumberg

A jury acquits a Chicago man accused of placing a bounty on Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino. And the City Council moves to ban some hemp products.

If the investments proposed are approved in full by the ICC, ComEd expects residential customers to see an increased average cost of between $2.50 to $3 per month starting in 2028.

A federal judge has agreed to dismiss a class action lawsuit brought by Chicago journalists and protesters who sought to limit federal agents’ use of force amid expanded immigration enforcement operations.

This development marks a dramatic reversal from 2021, when the number of expressway shootings spiked at 310. Since then, incidents have dropped 80% to 61 shootings last year. Of the 89 shootings in 2024, 12 were fatal. In 2025, the number of shootings decreased by 31%, with no fatalities, police said.

An Illinois doctor indicted on murder charges in the December shooting deaths of his ex-wife and her dentist husband in their Columbus home pleaded not guilty to the killings in an Ohio courtroom.

Exploding trees have taken the country by storm. Let’s separate fact from fiction.

With an extreme cold warning in effect and actual air temperatures below zero in Chicago on Friday morning, several of the city's major cultural institutions have announced closures to the public.

The bitter cold rolls into Chicago, canceling some classes. And the Bears stadium saga is still playing out — where things stand.

The Chicago Bears’ season officially ended Sunday in an overtime thriller against the Los Angeles Rams, but the saga of the team’s future home is still playing out.

“Rieles y Raíces: Traqueros in Chicago and the Midwest” takes a closer look at Mexican railroad workers and how the roots they planted still shape communities today.

In all, $1.59 billion poured into the city’s 108 TIF funds in 2024, according to the annual report from the clerk’s office posted online Wednesday.

A 12-person jury reached its verdict Thursday afternoon in the case of Juan Espinoza Martinez, who was charged in a murder-for-hire plot after prosecutors alleged he offered $10,000 for someone to kill Greg Bovino.

Gov. JB Pritzker had directed agencies to “identify immediate spending reductions, including efficiencies that will result in reduced spending” in a September executive order.

The number of people visiting the temporary casino at River North’s Medinah Temple failed to grow from 2024 to 2025, leading to a 1.3% drop in tax revenues,

CPS cited “dangerously frigid temperatures” expected Friday in making its decision, saying the possible wind chills of -35 degrees will make it unsafe for students and staff to travel to school.

In the less than nine years the Civilian Office of Police Accountability has existed, its investigators have probed 138 deaths caused by CPD officers, records show.

Forecasters are warning Chicagoans to prepare for “dangerously cold temperatures” in the coming days as a deep freeze settles over the region.

The Illinois Department of Human Rights will investigate whether the three firms that own and manage the building at 7500 S. South Shore Drive committed housing discrimination, officials said.

Every Thursday, WTTW News newsletter producer Josh Terry highlights his picks for the week’s must-see cultural events.

Chicago alderpeople ban the sale of intoxicating hemp — with some exceptions. And President Donald Trump says he reached a deal on Greenland, backing off his tariff threat.

The president said he was asking for territory that was “cold and poorly located" and that the U.S. had effectively saved Europe during World War II while declaring of NATO: “It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades.”

The new proposal does not mention the city’s curfew, but gives the city’s top cop the power to issue what it calls “a dispersal declaration” in areas where police leaders have determined they have probable cause to believe there will be a “disruptive youth gathering.”

The proposal immediately bans the sale of intoxicating hemp products to those younger than 21, while exempting the sale of beverages, topical creams and pet products with intoxicating hemp from the larger ban set to take effect April 1.

Six bison released onto prairie in Kane County carry the weight of interwoven hopes: that they can heal both the land and the deep trauma borne by Indigenous people.

The memo authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections and upends years of advice given to immigrant communities.

The grant is part of a $25 million commitment by the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation to expand or establish five Ralph Lauren-named centers in the U.S.