Former Ald. Carrie Austin (34th Ward) leaves the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (WTTW News)

U.S. District Court Judge John Kness has yet to set a trial date for Austin, who pleaded not guilty after her June 2021 indictment. The hearing, which lasted less than 15 minutes, was the first time Austin has appeared in a federal courtroom since her indictment.

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Wrongful convictions have long been the most expensive kind of police misconduct in Chicago, costing taxpayers $29.25 million in 2024, or nearly 40% of the total amount spent to resolve allegations of police misconduct, according to WTTW News’ analysis.

Top left: Mayor Brandon Johnson takes “Chicago Tonight” co-host Brandis Friedman around the Austin community on April 13, 2023. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News) Top right: The state Capitol. (WTTW News) Bottom left: Field Museum staff collected 1,000 dead birds Oct. 5, 2023, from the grounds of McCormick Place. (Courtesy of Taylor Hains) Bottom right: File photo of guns. (WTTW News)
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Chicago elected a new mayor, Illinois banned so-called assault weapons and the Boss played at Wrigley Field. Here’s what people were reading in 2023.

Members of the Chicago City Council meet on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (WTTW News)

A probe by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that aldermanic prerogative has created a hyper-segregated city rife with racism and gentrification.

(WTTW News)

The board’s ruling could also complicate efforts to hold public officials or candidates responsible for other kinds of violations, unless the City Council acts to change the law, sources told WTTW News.

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel appears on “Week in Review” on Nov. 24, 2023. (WTTW News)

“The most fundamental thing is you don’t allow someone’s hatred to infiltrate how you see people,” Rahm Emanuel said. “There is a fundamental goodness in people. I have seen it, I have been a product of it. Have I had antisemitism directed at me? Yes, but I’ve also had the American story.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot appears on "Chicago Tonight" on Jan. 3, 2023. (WTTW News)

Michael Dorf, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s attorney, said the board’s decision “avoided setting a dangerous precedent.”

Chicago City Hall. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Mayor Brandon Johnson is backing the creation of a new subcommittee to study reparations and is agreeing to earmark $500,000 in his 2024 spending plan to fund the panel’s work.

An empty pedestal in Grant Park in July 2020, where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood. (WTTW News)

Mayor Brandon Johnson has been noncommittal about the fate of the statues, saying in June that he would follow the “direction” of the people of Chicago about their ultimate fate.

Olga Bautista, the executive director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force, lauded Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposal. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)
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“The time to act on environmental justice is now,”  Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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That toll is set to grow in the coming weeks, as the Chicago City Council considers paying $25 million to resolve separate lawsuits filed in 2016 by two men who spent a combined 34 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of killing a basketball star in 1993.

Bally’s opened a temporary casino at Medinah Temple, 600 N. Wabash Ave. (WTTW News)
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Chicagoans and tourists feeling lucky can play 800 slot games and 56 table games in the century-old Shriner’s temple at 600 N. Wabash Ave., with its distinctive domed ceilings and stained-glass windows.

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The unanimous vote by the interim Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability caps an effort that began in 2017 to stop the Chicago Police Department from using databases to track Chicagoans they believe to be in a gang.

Chicago Police Department Headquarters, 3510 S Michigan Ave. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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Chicago spent $197.7 million to resolve lawsuits alleging more than 1,000 Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Of that total, $91.3 million came from settlements involving 116 officers whose conduct led to multiple payouts.

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“We are writing enormous checks and leaving a tremendous opportunity for reform on the table,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said. “It is a staggering amount of money.”

Members of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless rally in support of the Bring Chicago Home ordinance on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

Supporters of the proposal say the change will help the nearly 66,000 Chicagoans who are unhoused by generating approximately $160 million annually — enough to address the root causes of homelessness by building new permanent housing that offers wraparound services like substance abuse counseling.