Stories by Patty Wetli

"For the first time in a long time, it is not the budget of an agency in a holding pattern, keeping long-term, pressing needs at bay," Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said. "For Fiscal Year 2024, we are moving forward."

COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten announced in June that she would seek to clear the agency’s backlog of cases more than 18 months old, which she said were compromising the ability of the agency to investigate more recent complaints alleging significant misconduct by officers.

Utility customers throughout Illinois will likely see higher natural gas bills beginning in January after staff at the state’s utility regulatory agency recommended rate increases for four gas companies.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra was in its usual top form this past week in a concert that was zestily led by Jaap van Zweden, the Amsterdam-born conductor who is in his farewell season as music director of the New York Philharmonic.

Bills are available online at cookcountytreasurer.com and should hit mailboxes by Nov. 1.

In Bridgeview, which is home to a large and established Palestinian community, family and friends remembered Wadea as an energetic boy who loved playing games. His body was carried in a small white casket — which was at times draped with a Palestinian flag — through packed crowds.

According to police, the person initially ignited several sidewalk autumn or Halloween displays along with some street corner garbage cans. The last three fires have been set with decorations on the front porches of homes.

According to Chicago police, two adult men were attempting to walk across the 800 block of North Lake Shore Drive just before 5:30 a.m. The pair were not in a crosswalk, police said, and one of the men was struck by a BMW X-3 that was heading southbound.

A hate crime investigation into the murder of a 6-year-old boy. And Chicago City Council members on a controversial resolution.

Several alderpeople, from across the political spectrum, asked Budget Director Annette Guzman why the mayor set aside just $150 million in his spending plan to care for the migrants, even though that is less than half of what the city will have spent to care for Chicago’s newest arrivals through the end of 2023.

The first president is the subject of the new book, “To Rescue the Constitution: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment.” It’s the latest in a series of presidential books written by Fox News Chief Political Anchor Bret Baier.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s determination that Gardiner violated the city’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance is the “first-ever finding of probable cause in an inspector general ethics investigation of a sitting member of City Council,” officials said.

Justin Fields was hurt on Chicago’s first possession of the third quarter against Minnesota. He seemed to land awkwardly on his hand trying to throw the ball away while getting sacked by Danielle Hunter. The Bears punted on the next play, and Fields headed to the locker room.

CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid are eliminating some locations as they face rising competition for these items from Amazon, big-box stores with pharmacies like Walmart, and Dollar General in rural areas.

The Justice Department on Sunday announced it has opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the fatal stabbing, after 71-year-old Joseph Czuba allegedly stabbed Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, and his mother, 32-year-old Hanaan Shahin, in a Plainfield Township home.

A favorite of former President Donald Trump and darling of the party’s rabble-rousing base, Jordan’s path to the U.S. government’s third-highest office is by no means certain in a House Republican conference riven by conflict following the ouster two weeks ago of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Johnson concluded his time was better spent in Chicago, grappling with the crisis that has strained the city’s social safety net and exposed deep tension between Chicago’s Black and Latino communities, officials said.  

Less than 9% of the trash produced every year by Chicago residents is kept out of landfills — a rate that has been essentially unchanged for five years, despite repeated calls for the city to do a better job at recycling.

The sheriff’s office said the landlord did not make a statement, but investigators were able to determine the victims were “targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”

According to Chicago Police Department data, 21 people were struck by gunfire in 19 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m Sunday.

Sterling Bay’s first completed structure at its $6 billion Lincoln Yards riverfront development was constructed with bird-friendly glass. The use of the material is one of several features intended to minimize the sorts of deadly bird collisions Chicago just witnessed in record numbers.

More than 3,567 migrants are living in police stations across the city and at O’Hare International Airport with another 11,043 migrants living in city shelters as of Friday, according to city data. 

The supply of education professionals continues to improve in Illinois despite strains brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but persistent issues remain in certain regions of the state and within some teaching fields.

Over the years there have been countless interpretations of “Frankenstein,” Mary Shelley’s extraordinary 1818 Gothic novel. But the Joffrey Ballet’s production of the story that recently opened at the Lyric Opera House might very well be its most stunning interpretation yet.

The family hasn’t heard from either mother or daughter since a week ago, after Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack.

Mayor Brandon Johnson this week unveiled his $16.6 billion spending plan for 2024. Meanwhile, Illinois confirmed its first measles case since 2019, and Chicago’s theater community is facing multiple challenges.