You can rag on our region for Crock Pot meals loaded with cream of mushroom soup, or salads mostly made of marshmallows and Cool Whip. But one Chicago chef says the culinary depth and national influence the Midwest has had on America’s taste is underestimated.

The new cash bail law officially takes effect in Illinois. We look at how law enforcement and prosecutors are handling it. Why a system for handling Chicago police misconduct allegations hasn’t yet been implemented. And surprising facts about Midwestern food.

Illinois officially became the first state in the country Monday to officially eliminate the pre-trial practice of requiring that some criminal defendants pay a set cash amount in order to secure their release from custody ahead of trial.

The Chicago Police Department must implement an early-warning system under the terms of the consent decree, the federal court order designed to compel the department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers. CPD is in full compliance with just 5% of that 2019 court order, city data shows.

A half-billion-dollar budget shortfall as Chicago pays millions in wrongful conviction lawsuits. The city forges ahead with shelter plans for migrants and doubles down on a temporary casino.

The long-anticipated elimination of cash bail officially takes effect in Illinois Monday, following extensive delays, legal challenges and pushback from critics who sought to keep the existing system in place.

City Council approves another big payout for wrongful convictions. Illinois’ secretary of state on his trip to DC. And the Chicago-born former first lady of Ukraine on Russia and the future of the region.

Kateryna Yushchenko, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, was born in Chicago and lived much of her early life in Humboldt Park before moving to Mount Prospect. After earning an MBA in international economics from the University of Chicago, Yushchenko had an impressive career in public service.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias was in Washington, D.C., this week to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding a new state law aimed at deterring book bans.

The Englewood Jazz Festival runs through Saturday, Sept. 16. In its 24 years, the festival has worked to cultivate a musical community at what’s said to be the “Ravinia of South Side.”

Why some CHA residents say they’re facing retaliation. Spotlight Politics on the city’s budget shortfall. A fallen firefighter is laid to rest. And a different kind of training for police officers.

A new study from researchers at the University of Chicago Crime Lab has found a training program rooted in behavioral science can dramatically cut the number of use-of-force incidents committed by police while also increasing officer safety.

One longtime CHA resident said the potential sale of her home is part of a longtime pattern of neglect and retaliation from management companies and a failure of proper oversight from the CHA — a pattern echoed by claims from four other leaseholders or resident advocates in neighborhoods around the city.

The budget gap is nearly three times the size of the gap forecasted by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot as she left office, but is still smaller than any projected shortfall since 2019.

Will Chicago’s tipped minimum wage soon be a thing of the past? The U.S. vs. Google in a major antitrust trial. Illinois’s secretary of state testifies in Washington. And glass art from war-torn Ukraine.