Stories by Maggie Dougherty — Capitol News Illinois

Households with an income up to 300% of the federal poverty level will qualify for benefits on a tiered schedule. Those with incomes less than or equal to 50% of the federal threshold will see the largest discounts.

The latest back-and-forth between the mayor’s office and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s critics leaves no clear path to a deal with just 26 days left before the deadline to avoid an unprecedented shutdown of city government.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis on Thursday did not yet grant a motion to dismiss that class action lawsuit, brought forth this week by the plaintiffs themselves.

At 130 years old, the Chicago Transit Authority's State/Lake Loop elevated station has had a good run, but that run is ending in January.

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

The Trump administration plans to exclude nursing as a professional degree — what that could mean for students. And the CDC is changing its longstanding stance on vaccines and autism.

An advisory committee overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine advisory board will meet Thursday to discuss the medical guidance of the hepatitis B vaccine, which is currently given at birth.

The proposal has drawn pushback from the nursing community, which argues the reclassification could limit students’ financial access to advanced nursing degrees.

Chicago’s Board of Education approved a whopping $17.5 million payment to settle a lawsuit brought by a former Little Village student who was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a school official for years.

Nathan Griffin, 24, is now the latest person to have been charged during what the federal government called “Operation Midway Blitz” in a blaze of publicity only to have prosecutors quietly dismiss the case.

Air travelers in the U.S. without a REAL ID or another acceptable document, such as a passport, will be charged a $45 fee beginning in February, TSA announced earlier this week.

The License and Consumer Protection Committee voted 10-6 to send the measure to the full City Council, where it faces an uncertain fate and the opposition of Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The plan, if finalized next year, would significantly reduce fuel economy requirements, which set rules on how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline, through the 2031 model year.

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday shared for the first time what he was thinking when the votes started going his way during the conclave that elected him, saying he resigned himself to the inevitable and put the rest in God’s hands.

Republicans held onto a reliably conservative U.S. House district in Tennessee’s special election, but only after a late burst of national spending and high-profile campaigning helped them secure a margin less than half of last year’s race.

Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.

Prepare for overnight lows in the negative single digits and wind chills of -15° to -20°. Thursday will be the coldest, with daytime highs in the teens, the weather service said.

The event will take place Saturday and Sunday and features a variety of film screenings, discussions, a game night and a master class taught by Townsend himself. 

A federal appeals court is deliberating whether hundreds of undocumented immigrants arrested in the Chicago area in recent months should be released from detention and sent home with electronic monitoring.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson rejects a rival budget proposal. And what you should know about crowd limits for one of your favorite holiday attractions.

Attorneys representing the Chicago Headline Club and local journalists who fought for a broad injunction limiting federal agents’ use of force have abruptly moved to dismiss their lawsuit as the Trump administration’s vastly increased immigration efforts across Illinois appear to have “ended.”

For over 50 years, the Chicago-based organization has worked nationally on anti-poverty advocacy by litigating, shaping policy and training networks of lawyers, community leaders and advocates.

The bill signing comes ahead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee meeting later this week for an expected vote on potential changes to the childhood vaccination schedule and how hepatitis B shots are administered.

Speaking at the City Club of Chicago on Tuesday to mark her first year as the county’s top prosecutor, O’Neill Burke said her office will be looking into possible improvements to the electronic monitoring system.

Even as City Council members returned to City Hall on Tuesday after the Thanksgiving holiday, there is no clear path to a deal with just 28 days left before the deadline to avoid an unprecedented shutdown of city government.

If approved, it would bring the total amount spent by taxpayers in 2025 to compensate those wrongfully convicted based on evidence developed by Chicago police officers to $204.6 million, according to a WTTW News analysis.