Incredibly unusual, the use of U.S. forces to seize a merchant ship was a sharp escalation in the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on President Nicolás Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States.

Cook County has its first new chief judge in more than two decades after Charles Beach was sworn in to the position earlier this month.

The latest on the budget deadlock at City Hall. And tenants of the South Shore building raided by federal agents are being forced to move.

The legislation was designed to favor GOP candidates in the next year’s midterms. Republicans control the state Senate, but many have been hesitant or openly opposed to the idea of mid-decade redistricting.

Over the objections of the mayor, the Chicago City Council agreed to meet Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Dec. 23 in an attempt to hammer out a deal over the $16.6 billion spending plan.

Is the third time a charm? Mayor Brandon Johnson unveils another budget proposal. And Geoffrey Baer shows us why Chicago is known as “the city that works.”

From how the United Center transforms its basketball court into an ice hockey rink to how holiday packages arrive at your front door, the WTTW special “Chicago Works” brings to the forefront the often unseen work that helps keep the city running.

According to a new study from Lincoln Park Zoo’s Urban Wildlife Institute, feral cats aren’t eating a lot of rats.

The law, which takes effect immediately, also provides legal steps for people whose constitutional rights were violated during the federal enforcement action in the Chicago area, including $10,000 in damages for someone unlawfully arrested while attempting to attend a court proceeding.

The current proposal would impose a $33 per employee tax on companies with 500 or more employees to generate $82 million to fund violence prevention and youth employment programs.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is warning Chicago is headed for a shutdown if there’s no budget deal. And Congress votes on Obamacare subsidies this week — what to know.

A group of alderpeople led by 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn is pushing an ordinance to ban the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products in Chicago.

If the extra subsidies expire, the premiums ACA enrollees pay will more than double on average, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.