Stories by Patty Wetli

Chicago's total for the 2025-26 snowfall season already stands at 17.1. That's almost as much as Chicago notched in all of 2024-25.

CPD officers have now shot 21 people, killing eight, since the start of the year, records show. In 2024, CPD officers shot 12 people, killing six, records show.

President Donald Trump announced a $12 billion farm aid package Monday — a boost to farmers who have struggled to sell their crops while getting hit by rising costs after the president raised tariffs on China.

Of 439 positions in the Chicago Police Department charged with implementing the consent decree, 179 positions were empty at the beginning of December, according to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by WTTW News.

Mayor Brandon Johnson says a rival budget plan put together by a group of alderpeople is a nonstarter. And the Cook County state’s attorney says it’s time to take a hard look at who gets released on electronic monitoring.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin described Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s co-sponsoring of the bill as “an extraordinary act of political courage.” Durbin has spent more than two decades pushing for the Dream Act, which he first introduced in 2001.

Frank Gehry’s fascination with modern pop art led to the creation of some of the most striking buildings ever constructed, including the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago.

The state’s 2025 report card showed only 38.4% of Illinois students overall scored proficient or better in math, compared to 52.4% in English language arts.

The justices will hear Trump’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down the citizenship restrictions. They have not taken effect anywhere in the country.

For decades, the government has advised that all babies be vaccinated against the liver infection right after birth. The shots are widely considered to be a public health success for preventing thousands of illnesses.

Since the shooting, Chicago taxpayers have paid $591,500 to resolve four lawsuits that allege the officer, who was promoted in June 2025, violated the rights of other Chicagoans, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.

Northwestern University has agreed to pay $75 million to the federal government. The settlement with the Trump administration would restore $790 million in federal research grants that were frozen earlier this year, and end investigations on discrimination.

Northwestern University is set to get its research grants back after a controversial deal. And the Bears prepare for their biggest test yet.

This weekend the Chicago Bears face the Green Bay Packers. With nine wins and three losses so far this season, Bears fans are amped for what comes next.

Households with an income up to 300% of the federal poverty level will qualify for benefits on a tiered schedule. Those with incomes less than or equal to 50% of the federal threshold will see the largest discounts.

The latest back-and-forth between the mayor’s office and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s critics leaves no clear path to a deal with just 26 days left before the deadline to avoid an unprecedented shutdown of city government.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis on Thursday did not yet grant a motion to dismiss that class action lawsuit, brought forth this week by the plaintiffs themselves.

At 130 years old, the Chicago Transit Authority's State/Lake Loop elevated station has had a good run, but that run is ending in January.

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

The Trump administration plans to exclude nursing as a professional degree — what that could mean for students. And the CDC is changing its longstanding stance on vaccines and autism.

An advisory committee overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine advisory board will meet Thursday to discuss the medical guidance of the hepatitis B vaccine, which is currently given at birth.

The proposal has drawn pushback from the nursing community, which argues the reclassification could limit students’ financial access to advanced nursing degrees.

Chicago’s Board of Education approved a whopping $17.5 million payment to settle a lawsuit brought by a former Little Village student who was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a school official for years.

Nathan Griffin, 24, is now the latest person to have been charged during what the federal government called “Operation Midway Blitz” in a blaze of publicity only to have prosecutors quietly dismiss the case.

Air travelers in the U.S. without a REAL ID or another acceptable document, such as a passport, will be charged a $45 fee beginning in February, TSA announced earlier this week.

The License and Consumer Protection Committee voted 10-6 to send the measure to the full City Council, where it faces an uncertain fate and the opposition of Mayor Brandon Johnson.