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Had the settlement been even one dollar more, it would have required Chicago City Council approval under city rules. Instead, it was authorized by Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson Lowry.

Former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler was sentenced to four days in jail as part of a plea deal on Tuesday, after being charged with driving under the influence and possession of a firearm in 2024.

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

Clock’s ticking for the Chicago Board of Education to balance the budget. And we sit down with Michelin-starred chef Curtis Duffy to discuss his new memoir, “Fireproof.”

Decorated chef Curtis Duffy has made his mark on Chicago’s food scene over the past 25 years. His new book outlines his rise to success and dives deep into challenging and traumatic events he faced throughout his childhood.

Chicago Public Schools is set to finalize its fiscal year 2026 budget this week, but questions remain about how the cash-strapped school district intends to plug a $734 million shortfall.

The Reader announced it would be introducing Noisy Creek’s event discovery platform, EverOut, as well as entertainment ticketing service Bold Type Tickets to Chicago as a way to help diversify revenue sources, with goals to launch those services early next year.

A study of how three popular AI chatbots respond to queries about suicide found they generally avoid answering questions that pose the highest risk to the user, such as for specific how-to guidance. But they are inconsistent in their replies to less extreme prompts that could still harm people.

A federal judge in Chicago sentenced Yousef Abu Alhawa to 42 months in prison after he pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and tax charges.

Legal experts say the Republican president’s claim that he can fire Lisa Cook, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, is on shaky ground. But it’s an unprecedented move that hasn’t played out in the courts before, and the Supreme Court this year has been much more willing to let the president remove agency officials than in the past.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias raised concerns and announced Monday that an audit found Customs and Border Protection had accessed Illinois data, although he didn’t say that the agency was seeking immigration-related information. A 2023 law the Democrat pushed bars sharing license plate data with police investigating out-of-state abortions or undocumented immigrants.

Local leaders push back against calls to send the National Guard to Chicago. And what do the city’s crime stats really show?

Chicago Police Department data shows that compared to last year, violent crime in the city is down 22% through the end of July. There have been 36% fewer shootings, and homicides are down 32%.

Experience360 is the first satellite branch for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, which is currently under renovation. The new space in River North, just steps from Marina Towers, opens to the public Tuesday.

Federal officials are continuing to press their demand for Illinois’ unredacted voter registration database, which includes sensitive personal information, and are now giving state officials until Monday, Sept. 1, to comply.

President Donald Trump signed an order threatening to freeze federal funding to governments and jurisdictions that have eliminated the use of cash bail as a means of holding defendants in jail pretrial. Local officials say the system put in place in Illinois in 2023 is working.

Gov. JB Pritzker vowed Monday to stop President Donald Trump from deploying the National Guard to Chicago, dismissing Trump’s latest pledge to combat crime as cover for an unconstitutional federal overreach.

The statement in it is noteworthy not only for its content but for its overall existence; a fierce approach toward critics by the Trump administration has caused many in the federal government to hesitate before locking heads with the White House.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued an injunction late Friday to that will prevent the Trump administration from blocking funding for some of the nation’s largest cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston and Baltimore.

A Defense Department official who was not authorized to speak publicly said some units on certain missions would be armed — some with handguns and others with rifles. The spokesperson said that all units with firearms have been trained and are operating under strict rules for use of force.

President Donald Trump again floats the idea of sending troops to Chicago. And residents call for aid after getting slammed with storms and flooding.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said he takes Trump’s statement seriously, but claimed the city has not received any word from federal authorities about the deployment of any additional law enforcement into Chicago.

In response to the uproar over a Proud Boys message displayed on a billboard near Central Community High School, the United Methodist Church has a simple message: “Hate Divides, Love Unites.”

Two bills aimed at further protecting reproductive rights in Illinois were signed by Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday, expanding protections to health care providers and making contraception and medication abortion more accessible to college students.

Extreme heat isn’t just uncomfortable; it’s the top cause of weather-related fatalities nationwide.

A state law designed to prevent lawsuits that curtail public participation in government now explicitly protects the news media.