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Starting in 2013, a mysterious sea star wasting disease sparked a mass die-off from Mexico to Alaska. The epidemic has devastated more than 20 species and continues today. Worst hit was a species called the sunflower sea star, which lost around 90% of its population in the outbreak’s first five years.

Two of the most closely followed measures aim to protect the drinking water of a wide swath of central Illinois and boost the pension benefits for first responders in Chicago.

Federal data released Friday, for example, shows COVID-19 is trending up in many parts of the country, with emergency department visits up among people of all ages.

Launched in 2018, CPS based its SCS model around engaging academic curriculum, high-quality teaching, wrap-around supports, restorative justice discipline, parent engagement and inclusive school leadership.

The strike started at Boeing facilities in St. Louis; St. Charles, Missouri; and Mascoutah, Illinois, after about 3,200 local members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted Sunday to reject a modified four-year labor agreement, the union said.

Ferris, one of three chicks hatched at Montrose in 2025, was killed by a red-tailed hawk midday Saturday, according to Chicago Piping Plovers.

Longtime U.S. Rep. Danny Davis says he’s calling it a career — and endorsing a successor. And the Chicago Cubs say goodbye to Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a cornerstone of American culture for three generations, announced Friday it would take steps toward its own closure after being defunded by Congress — marking the end of a nearly six-decade era.

U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin were among 17 lawmakers who signed a letter urging the Trump administration to reinstate Environmental Protection Agency employees placed on leave after they signed a statement criticizing the administration for “recklessly undermining the EPA mission.”

While the jobs numbers are often the subject of political spin, economists and Wall Street investors — with millions of dollars at stake — have always accepted U.S. government economic data as free from political manipulation.

Chicago police, along with the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, announced the child was found with their mother after they had gone missing in 2018.

Gender-affirming care includes a range of medical and mental health services to support a person’s gender identity. It includes counseling and treatment with medications that block puberty, and hormone therapy to produce physical changes, as well as surgery, which is rare for minors.

Research vessel Blue Heron trawls the Great Lakes, gathering data from the water. The floating laboratory’s most recent discovery, however, came from an unexpected location: its own rudder.

American businesses and consumers woke up Friday to find the contours of President Donald Trump’s foreign trade agenda taking shape but without much more clarity on how import taxes on goods from dozens of countries would affect them.

Baseball’s biggest names will be heading to the Friendly Confines in July 2027 as Wrigley Field is set to host the MLB All-Star game for the first time in more than 30 years.

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events will give one-time emergency grants between $10,000 to $25,000 to eligible nonprofit arts and culture organizations in Chicago that have experienced recent federal funding cuts.

Longtime U.S. Rep. Danny Davis says he won’t be running for reelection. And how Pilsen is responding to ICE concerns ahead of its Fiesta del Sol event.

“We need our government officials,” said JaShawn Hill, executive director of Chicago Survivors. “We need philanthropic communities and people who believe in our mission to step in and to help leverage us, because if they don’t, we will not be able to provide the quality of care that we have been able to do.”

People just started gathering in Pilsen for four days of food, music and carnival rides at the Fiesta del Sol festival — an annual Latino cultural celebration drawing more than 1 million people.

The bill requires all school districts to offer mental health screenings to students enrolled in grades 3-12, at least once a year, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year.

It’s the third record-breaking year in a row for the exemption rate, and the vast majority are parents withholding shots for nonmedical reasons.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires settled over Chicago Thursday, with air quality reaching “unhealthy” levels for everyone. Air quality was far worse in parts of Canada closer to the fires.

Construction will begin in September on a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom, his press secretary announced Thursday, fulfilling a 15-year ambition by the president to construct an event space on the White House grounds.

The family of Virginia Giuffre, who was among Jeffrey Epstein’s most well-known sex trafficking accusers, said that it was shocking to hear President Donald Trump say the disgraced financier “stole” Giuffre from him and urged that Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell remain in prison.

The particles are likely the result of the degradation of plastic-filled objects such as carpet, curtains, furniture and textiles and the plastic parts of car interiors, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One.

Compared with eligible people who were not participating in the U.S. Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, SNAP participants showed a slower decline in cognitive function during a 10-year period, essentially maintaining up to three additional years of cognitive health, according to a new study.