Stories by Heather Cherone

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Wednesday he will not seek a sixth term in the U.S. Senate, setting off a scramble for a rare open seat that will reshape Illinois politics.

More than 90 bands will be performing during the three-day festival held Sept. 19-21 in Douglass Park.

The president’s fight to end birthright citizenship is headed to the Supreme Court. And possible signs of life on a faraway planet.

President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of people who are in the U.S. illegally has been halted nationwide by three district courts around the country. Appeals courts have declined to disturb those rulings.

The task force, formed in February, has met twice, and the next meeting is set for Wednesday, Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood said.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers said they were able to detect signs of sulfur-based molecules called dimethyl sulfide or DMS, which on Earth are only produced by life, primarily marine phytoplankton.

Leaders from several Illinois universities signed onto a public statement Tuesday, alongside more than 200 university leaders across the U.S., speaking out against the Trump administration’s efforts to change university policies under the threat of cutting federal funding.

The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 9-0 in favor of selecting the embattled CPS chief from a pool of three finalists to become the state’s next Department of Elementary and Secondary Education commissioner.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra took their place on stage for three performances led by visiting conductor Jaap van Zweden. The sheer immensity of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 7” was immediately evident.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has made supporting LGBTQ rights a regular part of his platform as governor, including speaking at dinner events for the HRC and Equality Illinois in recent months. He’s set to speak to the New Hampshire Democratic Party on Sunday – one of the first Democratic presidential primary states.

“The Emanuel administration had immense disdain for public education, particularly for Black, Brown and poor children, and he was vocal about it,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “And now he is prancing around this country, asking people to reconsider him. It is not just frustrating. It is beyond offensive.”

The top producer at “60 Minutes” said Tuesday that he is quitting the show, saying that it has become clear that he would no longer be able to run it as he has in the past.

The new LP “Johnny Iguana – At Delmark” includes standards such as Junior Wells’ “Messin’ With the Kid” and unexpected tunes like Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” and AC/DC’s “Riff Raff” — all instrumental and all on piano.

Monarchs left Mexico in late March and have now crossed into Illinois, according to reports.

Nearly half of U.S. teens say social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age — and almost the same proportion say they’re cutting back on social media use, according to a Pew Research Center report.

TGI Fridays didn’t directly comment to CNN about the closures but said in a statement that the company is “now led by franchisees, with a franchisee advisory board empowering and shaping brand-wide decisions.”

The latest turmoil threatens to engulf the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pushed out top advisers and faces fresh controversy over sharing sensitive information about airstrikes in Yemen outside of classified channels.

Eighty years after the Holocaust, more than 200,000 Jewish survivors are still alive but 70% of them will be gone within the next 10 years — meaning time is running out to hear the voices of the last generation who suffered through one of the worst atrocities in history.

Pope Francis will be laid to rest Saturday after lying in state for three days in St. Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff.

Roger Snyder, who worked at the Department of Energy for decades, will leave the Fermi Site Office in May, WTTW News has confirmed. The site manager works closely with the director of the national lab as part of the federal government.

Remembering the life of Pope Francis. And why some advocates are speaking out against the Trump administration’s approach to autism research.

In a speech last week, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed kids with autism will “never pay taxes, hold a job,” play sports or participate in the arts.

“We’re certainly going to mourn the loss of a truly wonderful leader, someone who was a great example, who lived their faith in word and action,” Auxiliary Bishop Lawrence Sullivan said. “But it’s also a time to really be grateful for his phenomenal leadership.”

The visitor center reopened Monday after closing for repairs in November 2023 following damage from a fire.

Harvard University announced Monday that it has filed suit to halt a federal freeze on more than $2.2 billion in grants after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to limit activism on campus activism on campus.

The FTC said Uber also made it extremely difficult for subscribers to cancel Uber One. The agency said Uber requires customers to take at least 12 different actions on at least seven screens to cancel the service.