The hotels were originally used as temporary solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Housing advocates said the hotels are turning out to be significantly more effective than a traditional shelter approach.

The program has connected dozens of people to housing or shelter, but officials say it needs more funding and time to make a bigger impact.

Confusion over the end of the city’s ShotSpotter contract. State and county leaders agree to spend millions more in migrant care — but did Johnson renege on his commitment?

Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez on Thursday cut the ribbon on her office’s new Expungement Department, housed at the Leighton Criminal Court Building at 26th Street and California Avenue.

After a spirited debate, Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) — once the leading progressive voice on the Chicago City Council — was the only alderperson to change their position since the December vote.

Voters in two precincts of the 7th Ward will be asked whether Ald. Greg Mitchell (7th Ward) and Mayor Brandon Johnson should “support a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) ordinance to prevent the displacement of renters, condo & home owners in South Shore in light of the impact of the Obama Center and growing development in the area.”

As questions about age resurface in the presidential race, what you should know about brain health. Johnson moves to end the city’s controversial ShotSpotter contract. And a Chicago-area baker shows us how she makes hundreds of paczki at home.

“Aging is not a uniform phenomenon that happens equally,” said Jay Olshansky, professor of public health at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Chicago will stop using the ShotSpotter technology by Sept. 22 — one month after the Democratic National Convention takes place in Chicago and after the summer months that are often the most violent period of the year, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced.

The paczki many Polish Americans grew up eating, made with plum, rose or raspberry fillings, aren’t the only kind available these days. We take a look at the Fat Tuesday tradition. 

Aster Hasle, a conservation scientist at the Field Museum, said, “Our role in the Midwest is to build that population back up. There is a lot that we can do here to provide habitat that’s going to help.”

Under a new proposal introduced last week in Springfield, all tipped workers in the state would have to be paid the equivalent of the Illinois’ regular minimum wage through a combination of wages and tips. If the tips fall short, their employers would have to make up the difference.

A WTTW News analysis finds the city has spent just 29% of the COVID-19 relief money meant to transform Chicago. The push to eliminate subminimum wage expands to Illinois. And why you can’t buy cars on Sundays. 

His lawyers have indicated they will file an emergency appeal with the court, just four days after the justices heard Trump’s separate appeal to remain on the presidential ballot despite attempts to kick him off because of his efforts following his election loss in 2020.

Chicago spent less than $160 million on a host of programs including affordable housing, mental health, violence prevention, youth job programs and help for unhoused Chicagoans through Dec. 31, 2023, according to reports to the federal government.