Stories by Matt Masterson

Pedro Villarreal was ordered detained at Cook County Jail pending trial after he was charged Monday with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and other felony charges stemming from the Dec. 23 shooting.

The lawsuit claims the ongoing “assault” on the state’s sovereignty amid the administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration enforcement violates the Tenth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Officials at Get Covered Illinois announced Monday they would extend the open enrollment deadline by 16 days. For coverage beginning Feb. 1, 2026, consumers must enroll by Jan. 31.

So far, Chicago taxpayers have paid approximately $11.9 million to settle and defend lawsuits sparked by the conduct of CPD officers during protests that swept the city in 2020 and erupted into unrest, according to court records.

Reporters found the 60-year-old governor did roughly 100 one-on-one media interviews in 2025, his most of any year in his tenure as governor. Of those, 81% were with national media outlets, podcasters, social media influencers or television entertainment hosts — a major uptick from early in his tenure.

The City Council’s Finance Committee on Wednesday is set to consider the proposed settlement, which calls for taxpayers to pay $20 million and the city’s insurance company to pay $2 million. A final vote of the City Council could come Jan. 21.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability determined police were not justified in stopping the man’s car and should not have searched him or his car after handcuffing him in Chicago’s River North neighborhood on March 18, 2024.

National outrage after an ICE agent fatally shoots a woman in Minneapolis. And Illinois sues after the Trump administration moves to freeze $10 billion for low-income families.

Consumer advocates expressed outrage with the move, calling on state regulators to reject the request, which comes only days after Peoples Gas filed for a $202 million rate hike on Monday.

Video captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross gives a raw, up-close perspective of the pivotal moments surrounding his fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis.

Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard is back after missing 12 games with a right shoulder injury.

Policing experts say some of the choices the officer made in that moment defy practices nearly every law enforcement agency have followed for decades.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Thursday announced the state had joined on to a lawsuit that seeks to halt what plaintiffs claim is the Trump administration’s unconstitutional freeze of funding that allows families to access food, safe housing and child care.

Chicago’s FBI Field Office on Friday said it is offering up to $10,000 for information, weeks after a 49-year-old guard was shot and wounded outside a Chase Bank branch in the 4300 block of South Archer Avenue.

According to the Chicago office of the National Weather Service, Thursday's rainfall was a record-setter, with 1.92 inches of precipitation measured at O'Hare Airport, the city's official weather station.

The shooting escalates tensions in a city that has long had a contentious relationship with President Donald Trump, including Trump’s recent, failed effort to deploy National Guard troops there.

Chicago police officers have faced pointed questions from residents and elected officials for more than six months about their actions during a series of increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement actions ordered by President Donald Trump.

Are Chicago police officers violating city law by helping federal immigration agents? And federal funding is frozen for some early childhood programs in Illinois amid allegations of widespread fraud.

The Trump administration announced Tuesday its decision to withhold billions of federal dollars from five Democrat-led states, including Illinois, intended to provide child care and support for low-income families.

Will it be “Bear Down” or Bears down and out? That’s what fans are wondering as the Chicago Bears head into the postseason against none other than their archrival Green Bay Packers.

The bill will fund battery storage, grant greater authority to state utility regulators, create new options for “virtual power plants” and lift a longtime ban on new large-scale nuclear power plants.

President Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency disbanded less than a year into Trump’s second term and appeared to have caused more chaos than actual savings to the federal government.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis on Thursday raised concerns about the dismissal request in a class action lawsuit brought by the Chicago Headline Club and local journalists who fought for a broad injunction to limit federal agents’ use of force in an effort to protect legal observers.

Four Illinois sheriff’s offices defied the state’s sanctuary laws and transferred individuals into Department of Homeland Security custody in 2024, according to a new report.

The Trump administration is now seeking to control Venezuela’s oil resources and its government, but the war powers resolution would require congressional approval for any further attacks on the South American country.

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