Stories by WTTW News

How potential gas rate hikes could impact your bill. And the impact of Black male role models in the classroom.

Peoples Gas is asking the Illinois Commerce Commission to approve a $202 million rate increase, while Nicor Gas is seeking its own rate hike of $221 million.

Juan Espinoza Martinez is set to go on trial Tuesday on charges alleging he placed a bounty on the head of Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino last fall.

“The more children can see folks that look like them, that talk like them, that understand the cultural nuances they have, the easier it becomes to teach them, the easier it becomes to reach them,” longtime South Shore educator Wayne Issa said.

The Chicago Police Department must work faster to complete internal affairs investigations, Supt. Larry Snelling told a federal judge.

A new lawsuit over heavy-handed immigration enforcement tactics in Chicago. And what’s on the agenda as state lawmakers head back to Springfield.

The annual Department of Energy evaluation shows Fermilab’s leadership and safety grades rose from C+ to B in 2025, yet finance‑system gaps and transformer shortages caused concern. Argonne posted strong marks and earned a $6 million fee despite lower publication output and an accelerator shutdown.

Illinois will begin a process to automatically seal criminal records for millions of adults in the state, after Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Clean Slate Act on Friday.

The Bears are meeting the Rams in another playoff game. We go back to 1986 to relive the NFC Championship Game the Bears won against the Rams on their way to Super Bowl XX.

Efforts to hold federal immigration agents accountable. And do the Bears have enough juice to get past the league’s top offense?

A new project is underway with the goal of holding accountable federal immigration agents accused of misconduct. Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is behind the initiative called the ICE Accountability Project, which allows community members to submit their own documentation of incidents.

The Cinderella season continues as “Da Bears” gear up for a divisional round showdown against the Rams on Sunday. Caleb Williams and company kept their Super Bowl hopes alive against the Green Bay Packers last Saturday, overcoming an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit.

A Chicago tow truck driver is accused of helping steal multiple vehicles while he worked for the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation.

“ICE has not made any city that they’ve gotten into safer,” U.S. Sen Tammy Duckworth said.  “In fact, in every city they’ve gone into, they’ve created chaos.”

The Chicago Department of Transportation added 140 new Divvy stations with more than 2,000 new docks last year, along with expanding in-station charging for e-bikes and e-scooters, according to a news release.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis on Thursday granted a motion from Chicago and Illinois attorneys who sought to reassign their case to her.

“DePaul University is deeply disappointed that former student-athletes were named in the indictment for alleged gambling activities during the 2023-2024 men’s basketball season,” a university spokesperson said.

“I continue to believe that people cannot both work for the government and defraud the government,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said.

Democrats across the country are proposing state law changes to rein in federal immigration officers and protect the public following the shooting death of a protester in Minneapolis and the wounding of two people in Portland, Oregon.

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

Joseph Mapp heads Chicago’s Office of Reentry. The office is tasked with investing in formerly incarcerated people and providing access to services — including housing, mental health support and job training.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on the clash between the federal and state governments. And what resources are out there for the formerly incarcerated.

Illinois is locked in a series of legal battles with the Trump administration, challenging everything from federal funding freezes to what the state calls aggressive and unconstitutional immigration enforcement tactics.

President Donald Trump, on the first day of his second term, issued an executive order instructing federal agencies to recognize only a person’s sex assigned at birth. It disregarded the concept of gender identity as a “false claim.”

“Any student of CPD’s modern history can recognize that there have been these groups of officers that have contributed more than their fair share of harm and misconduct,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg told WTTW News Wednesday.

The budget request for the upcoming fiscal year calls for only a minimal increase in K-12 education spending, a reflection of the state’s tightening fiscal condition.