Stories by Heather Cherone

U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis used a blistering 233-page ruling to painstakingly detail how agents falsely asserted in court and in official reports that they had been confronted with unrelenting and life-threatening violence every time they attempted to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $16.6 billion budget proposal faces a major setback. And Dexter Reed’s family is asking a judge to reinstate a lawsuit against the city.

The commission is tasked with producing a public record of alleged abuses perpetrated by federal agents during “Operation Midway Blitz.” It will also examine the impact of such conduct on Illinois residents and communities.

Nearly six decades after becoming a lawyer, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has been disbarred following his convictions on federal corruption charges earlier this year.

Instead of approving the full $314 million requested by Nicor and $129 million requested by Ameren, the ICC cut 47% and 43% from the requests, respectively.

The arctic visitors have drawn bird watchers from surrounding states.

A pregnant Chicago woman was discharged from an Indiana hospital while in labor. Her contractions were just a minute apart, and she gave birth in a car eight minutes later.

The Felony Review Bypass Pilot Program was “an unqualified success,” Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said.

Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Davis is weighing whether to overturn the conviction of Anthony Garrett in connection with the murder of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis, who was shot and killed by a sniper at Cabrini-Green in 1992 as he and his mother walked to school.

Meet Patty Garcia, who’s running for Congress in a political move sparking controversy. And the Trump administration moves to dismantle the Department of Education.

Since he took office, President Donald Trump has called for the dismantling of the Education Department, saying it has been overrun by liberal thinking. In July the U.S. Supreme Court upheld mass layoffs that halved the department’s staff.

Patty Garcia, 40, is likely to be the only Democrat on the March ballot, but could face a serious challenge during next November’s general election.

These two recent cases are bringing renewed attention to the treatment of Black pregnant women and igniting conversations around medical racism.

Texts from the Border Patrol agent who fired at Martinez revealed he apparently bragged about the shooting to others, stating in one message that he’d “fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.”

Just 43 days after Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle introduced the spending plan that closed a $102.6 million gap in its general fund and a $108.8 million gap in its health fund, it sailed to final approval with little drama.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings had ordered the release of as many as 615 people based on a 2022 consent decree outlining how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can make so-called warrantless arrests.

The change is the latest move by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to revisit — and foster uncertainty about — long-held scientific consensus about the safety of vaccines and other pharmaceutical products.

President Donald Trump seems to be scaling back his ambition to repeal and replace the law. But he is struggling to ease voters’ concerns over the high cost of living — combined with a looming deadline to extend expiring subsidies that help people pay for their “Obamacare” premiums.

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

An order restricting the use of force by immigration agents in Chicago is halted. And a pregnant woman is discharged from a hospital — giving birth in a car just eight minutes later.

Some homeowners are searching for answers as they grapple with hefty property tax bills. A new report from the Cook County Treasurer’s Office said declining values for downtown commercial properties are shifting the tax burden onto homeowners.

Officials announced Wednesday that $25 million in funding had been secured to demolish Ogden Park’s existing fieldhouse and replace it with a new building.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposal to impose $623 million in new taxes on the wealthiest Chicagoans and largest firms remains in purgatory, with no clear path to a deal with just 41 days left before the deadline to avoid a shutdown of city government.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to stay an order issued by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis that sought to rein in agents’ use of tear gas, pepper balls and other crowd control measures against protesters, journalists and others.

Lawrence Reed, 50, was charged in a federal complaint Wednesday with a terrorist attack on a mass transportation system, two days after he allegedly doused a woman with gasoline and ignited a blaze on a CTA train.

The city and its lawyers will now have to convince a jury that four officers did nothing wrong when they fired 96 shots at Dexter Reed, hitting him 13 times, and fatally injuring him, records show