Stories by Nick Blumberg

The state starts tracking immigration agents accused of abusing their power. And Chicago City Council members start kicking the tires on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed budget.

It's been 125 years since the Chicago River was famously reversed by creating the 28-mile Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Voting is open to give the canal a new, less sewage-adjacent name.

In an October interview with a downstate radio station, state Sen. Terri Bryant said she gave a list of undocumented individuals currently being held in Illinois state prisons to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

The judge’s order came less than 24 hours after Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino fired tear gas at a crowd during an aggressive raid in Little Village.

City crews are going to have to sharply increase efforts to remove the lines from homes and two- and four-flats to comply with state and federal requirements, Department of Water Management Commissioner Randy Conner said.

Nearly all the mpox cases in Chicago this year have been among males, and most who have provided their sexual orientation identify as gay or bisexual, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health.

The incident, which took place in the heart of one of Chicago’s wealthiest and most tourist-friendly neighborhoods, marks the second straight day that federal agents have deployed tear gas against Chicagoans and the sixth time in 21 days.

Documenting alleged abuse by federal immigration agents. The latest on an immigration raid in Little Village. And Stacy Davis Gates on her new role as head of a statewide teachers union.

Stacy Davis Gates was unanimously elected president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) on Saturday. The organization is one of two major statewide umbrella teachers unions in the state.

If agents deployed tear gas without a warning, that would violate an order issued by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis two weeks ago.

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

Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $267 million to resolve lawsuits alleging Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct so far this year, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.

No elevated trains will run in the Loop from 4 a.m. Saturday through 2 a.m. Monday due to track maintenance.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday it is providing a base of operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in the San Francisco area as part of its effort to support federal efforts to track down immigrants in the country illegally.

resident Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and served prison time after failing to stop criminals from using the platform. He has deep ties to World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture that the Republican president and his sons Eric and Donald Jr. launched.

Darren Bailey, the former state senator who is running to become Illinois’ next governor, announced early Thursday that his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were killed in a helicopter crash in Montana.

“Donald Trump is counting on your silence,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. “We are counting on your courage.”

Little Village residents push back as federal immigration raids ramp up. And state lawmakers on their priorities in the second week of the veto session.

Illinois lawmakers head back to Springfield next week to finish out their fall veto session with plenty on the agenda.

“These federal agents are operating lawlessly, demonstrating utter disregard for our constitutional rights,” Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd Ward) said.

The Illinois sheriff’s deputy who killed Sonya Massey in her Springfield home last year eschewed his training and the principles of policing when he shot the Black woman who had called 911 for help, a prosecutor said Wednesday in Sean Grayson’s murder trial.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ push for Illinois Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional map as a counter to President Donald Trump’s mid-decade redistricting project in GOP-led states has met a cool reception with state lawmakers.

In a phone hearing Wednesday, attorneys agreed to extend a temporary restraining order halting that deployment sought by President Donald Trump until a final judgment is issued.

Ruben Torres Maldonado has been held at the Broadview ICE Facility since Saturday, according to attorney Kalman Resnick, who is representing Maldonado's family. Maldonado, who has lived in Chicago since 2003, is scheduled to have an immigration court hearing Thursday, according to Resnick.

Rick Heidner, a Barrington Hills real estate developer and the owner of Gold Rush Gaming, formed a gubernatorial campaign committee on Tuesday, according to a filing with the State Board of Elections.

The USDA said each Farm Service Agency office will have two workers who will be paid even though the government remains shutdown. Thousands of other federal employees like air traffic controllers are working without pay during the shutdown.