Stories by Matt Masterson

The Texas representatives, who are entering their second week of their quorum break, stood with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in Chicago Monday, days after a pair of bomb threats were called in to their St. Charles hotel.

With U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Comptroller Susana Mendoza and others not seeking reelection in 2026, robust fields are growing in the Democratic primaries for the open seats. But on the Republican side, it’s a ghost town in primary races for statewide offices so far.

Recent suggestions by U.S. President Donald Trump that there will be some “swapping of territories” — and media reports that it would involve Ukrainian troops leaving the Donetsk region where they have fought for years defending every inch of land — have stirred confusion and rejection among the soldiers.

The company that brought the internet to the masses in the 1990s and early 2000s recently posted a notice on its website saying that it “routinely evaluates its products and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet” on Sept. 30, ending more than three decades of operations.

President Donald Trump said Monday that he’s deploying the National Guard across Washington and taking over the city’s police department in the hopes of reducing crime, even as the city’s mayor has noted that crime is falling in the nation’s capital.

Texas Democrats hightail it to Illinois to stymie a redistricting effort. And Chicago Public Schools grapples with its fiscal crisis as a budget deadline approaches.

Walter Burnett, who represented parts of the West Side and the West Loop for 30 years on the Chicago City Council, retired July 31.

James Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13 who helped turn a failed moon mission into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering, has died. He was 97. Lovell died Thursday in Lake Forest.

Chicago’s bungalows may be modest in size, but that doesn’t keep their owners from having grand ambitions when it comes to gardening.

Most of the funding went to organizations outside the Chicago metro area. Nonprofit outlets received 30% of the money. The vast majority of news organizations in Illinois are for-profit.

President Donald Trump signed the tax increase into law last month as part of his signature spending bill.

Any changes in the conduct of a national census, which is the biggest non-military undertaking by the federal government, would require alterations to the Census Act and approval from Congress, which has oversight responsibilities, and there likely would be a fierce fight.

Kristi Noem, whose office oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), visited suburban Lombard on Friday to criticize Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, whom he claimed have “worked so hard to protect these dangerous criminals” through their refusal to cooperate with ICE officials.

The district's goal is to continue to provide Chicagoans with cooling options to the extent possible, even as many of its lifeguards head back to school.

The ruling, which is likely to be appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, endorses the effort backed by the city’s largest police union to upend the system used for 60 years to punish officers.

News Media Corp., which owns local newspapers across five states, said it will close 14 operations in Wyoming, seven in Illinois, five in Arizona, four in South Dakota and one in Nebraska.

A wide-ranging one-on-one with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. And Illinois wildlife just got more interesting — we explain.

Longtime lawmaker Dick Durbin announced plans to retire after five terms in the U.S. Senate. He joined “Chicago Tonight” for a wide-ranging interview.

The event will mark the first open water swim in the Chicago River in nearly 100 years, according to organizers.

All transgender members of the Air Force are being separated from the service under the Trump administration’s policies.

On Saturday, people of all ages are invited to join the rodeo in Kane County and wrangle the rusty crayfish, an invasive species that's infiltrated local waterways.

Pritzker’s comments came amid escalating tensions over the Texas redistricting drama. Earlier in the day, according to the New York Times, Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, of Texas, said the FBI had agreed to his request to help locate the absent Texas lawmakers.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Elias Rodriguez, 31, with several new counts including murder of a foreign official, hate crimes, first-degree murder and assault with intent to kill more than two months after he allegedly killed Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim outside the Capital Jewish Museum.

Democrats push back against Texas redistricting — despite a potential bomb threat. And an economic boost for a Far South Side community.

A $693 million investment into the Pullman neighborhood has generated a $1.5 billion economic impact, according to a newly released study commissioned by the nonprofit real estate developer Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI).

Bishop Yehiel Curry will start his new role in October. “In many ways, this is an example of the church saying, ‘We see you,’” Curry said.