Stories by Josh Terry

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

The university said it is cutting approximately 5% of its staff budget through the elimination of 425 positions across schools and units, though officials said about half of those are currently vacant.

Amur leopards are critically endangered, with fewer than 100 estimated remaining in the wild.

Ald. Walter Burnett’s resignation from the City Council will be official on Thursday, according to a letter he sent to Mayor Brandon Johnson on July 17.

The 66th Chicago Air & Water Show is set for Aug. 16-17 along the lakefront.

“It’s on the table,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday at a City Hall news conference. “Everything has to be on the table. Everything has to be on the table.”

Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday signed the two bills into law, which he said will continue Illinois’ efforts to be among the most aggressive states in combating gun violence.

The finger-pointing with more than two months to go in the fiscal year indicates the threat of a stoppage is more serious than usual as a Republican-controlled Congress seeks to make good on its policy priorities, often with no support from the other political party.

The “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,” the leading international authority on food crises said in a new alert Tuesday, predicting “widespread death” without immediate action.

There is no sign Chicago Police Board President Kyle Cooper's pleas will break a legal stalemate that has lasted more than 16 months, keeping the system Chicago officials used for 60 years to hold officers accused of the most egregious misconduct in a deep freeze.

Ryne Sandberg, a Hall of Fame second baseman who became one of baseball’s best all-around players while starring for the Chicago Cubs, has died. He was 65.

Chicago’s persistent violent crime numbers finally take a downturn — we talk about why. Plus, a look at the city’s efforts to hold the Chicago Police Department accountable.

Chicago is seeing a historic drop in violent crime in the first half of the year. According to the Chicago Police Department, homicides and shootings are both down more than 30% in the first six months of the year compared to 2024.

Officials said they are working to identify a cause of the fire that happened along the west bank of the North Shore Channel just south of Peterson Avenue, however fire investigators found multiple gas cans and propane tanks at the site.

Environmental advocates, elected leaders and workers at the Environmental Protection Agency gathered at Federal Plaza downtown Monday to push back against the president’s reported plans to repeal a key federal determination that allows the EPA to help combat climate change.

Community leaders on Monday demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement refrain from targeting neighborhood celebrations in Chicago.

A provision in Trump’s tax bill instructed the federal government to end Medicaid payments for one year to abortion providers that received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023, even to those like Planned Parenthood that offer other medical services.

The one government agency that still reaches nearly every American daily — undeterred by rain, sleet, snow or even gloom of night — turns 250 on Saturday.

Community members and leaders, elected officials, and preservation and national monument partners gathered to commemorate the life of Emmett Till, who would’ve been 84 years old Friday.

Two notorious physicians-turned-fugitives wanted in Chicago live lavishly in Dubai. And Mayor Brandon Johnson tries to take aim at smoking on the CTA.

What does the Chicago Park District owe its community of volunteer natural area stewards? Some say a little respect, and maybe a heads up if the district is going to mow down acres of native plants.

Just as piping plover season was beginning to wind down, volunteer monitors in Waukegan have been called back into action, with four captive-reared chicks released on a Lake County beach earlier this week.

President Donald Trump’s administration had withheld more than $6 billion in funding on July 1, as part of a review to ensure spending aligned with the White House’s priorities.

Forcing Chicago and Illinois law enforcement officials to help federal agents conduct deportation operations is unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Lindsay Jenkins ruled.

The plan says to combat “radical climate dogma,” a number of restrictions — including clean air and water laws — could be lifted, aligning with Trump’s “American energy dominance” agenda and his efforts to undercut clean energy.

Critics have condemned the South Florida facility as cruel and inhumane. DeSantis and other Republican officials have defended it as part of the state’s aggressive push to support President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.