The Get Stuff Done PAC has raised $1.74 million since early December, including $1 million from Michael Sacks, one of Chicago’s richest men and a frequent donor and adviser to former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

The staffing shortfall is one of a plethora of issues plaguing the CTA in recent months. Frustrated riders and alderpeople have slammed agency leadership for late or missing buses and trains, inadequate cleaning, safety issues and not providing social services to unhoused people.

The Chicago-area connection to one of the balloons Biden shot down. Big changes proposed to help Cook County homeowners struggling with property tax debt. And an illegally built museum in Humboldt Park.

It’s been months since the Chicago Park District discovered the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture started construction on an unauthorized building in Humboldt Park. The half-finished cement box is still there. Is there an end in sight?

If homeowners are delinquent more than a year on making property tax payments, they’re at risk of owing large interest payments to private investors who buy up that debt. “It’s the poorest people paying the richest people,” Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said.

While the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade has not blamed the U.S. government for taking out one of its 32-inch-wide “Pico Balloons,” the group of hobbyists notes in a blog post that its last transmission was near where an unidentified object wash shot down.

Dark money flows along with the attacks in the mayor’s race. Florida Gov. DeSantis’ visit to the area draws rebuke. The Bears close on the Arlington Heights property. And Pritzker’s budget spends big on education.

We're live in Evanston as neighbors fight back against a redevelopment plan for Ryan Field. Which guns would be affected by the state's proposed assault weapons ban. And artists fight back against AI technology.

Saxophone player Jim Gailloreto with the Metropolitan Jazz Octet arranged some of the songs on the group’s new album, saying their lyrical interpretation of Bowie’s music informed their musical “adjustments.”

Powerful AI models that can realistically simulate the style of virtually any artist have many in the art world worried. In fact, some artists believe the technology has for them become an existential threat.

Guns classified by the state of Illinois as "assault weapons" have been banned since Jan. 11. That means that hundreds — perhaps thousands — of guns can no longer be legally sold in Illinois. Those who already own guns and ammunition covered by the ban can keep them; they must be registered with the state.

Northwestern University is proposing to give its more than 100-year-old Ryan Field a major makeover. The change is said to make the field accessible for people with disabilities, offer green spaces and — to some community members’ dismay — have the option for concerts and similar events.

The Bears’ major announcement about Arlington Heights. Mayoral candidates go after Brandon Johnson. Dissecting what’s in the governor’s proposed budget. And what city leaders can learn from the botched smokestack implosion.