News - Chicago Sun-Times

City Hall

What happened before Mayor Brandon Johnson finally agreed to stay away from slain offcer's funeral?

John Catanzara, police union president, discussed the maneuvering with the Sun-Times. When the mayor’s office began “pushing back” against staying away, Catanzara said, the slain officer’s sister told him if the mayor showed up, she would “make a scene and throw him out myself.”

By Fran Spielman

Pinned on a blue police form is a button picturing and honoring Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca.

Crime

Gun of slain Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca found at Far South Side home of suspect's relative

Caschaus Tate, 20, stopped investigators at the door of a home in Morgan Park, then went out the back and tossed a gun over a fence, police said.

By Rosemary Sobol and Matthew Hendrickson

Israel-Hamas War

Illinois Holocaust Museum calls out antisemitism at campus protests

“Bad actors are using the cover of free speech in this moment of tension to normalize dangerous ideas that cause real harm to Jewish students and communities,” the museum said. But a member of Chicago’s Jewish Voice for Peace said the protesters are saying what Jewish institutions are “afraid to say.”

By Isabel Funk and Violet Miller

Crime

Man fatally shot outside Logan Square Walgreens

The man, 28, was found with multiple gunshot wounds around 3:15 a.m. Sunday in a parking lot of the Walgreens, 2001 N. Milwaukee Ave., officials said.

By Sun-Times Wire

Hundreds of police officers from Chicago and elsewhere gather outside St. Rita Cascia Shrine Chapel on Monday, April 29, 2024 for the funeral of Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca, who was killed earlier this month.

City Hall

Family of Officer Luis Huesca didn't want Mayor Brandon Johnson, Gov. J.B. Pritzker at funeral

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, whose brother is a Chicago police officer, spoke with the mother and sister of Officer Luis Huesca at Sunday’s wake and passed their wishes along to the mayor’s office that night.

By Fran Spielman and Tina Sfondeles

Transportation

CTA, Metra and Pace could be merged into one transit agency under bill proposed in Springfield

State Sen. Ram Villivalam and state Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado are calling for the creation of the Metropolitan Mobility Authority to oversee all public transit operations and replace the RTA.

By Violet Miller

Iza Redlinski holds a bouquet of garlic mustard, an invasive plant she picked out of Red Gate Woods in the Cook County Forest Preserves on April 25, 2024.

Suburban Chicago

Cook County Forest Preserves is launching a $10 million makeover of Palos Preserves

Officials say the project is the biggest ecological restoration project ever for the preserves.

By Kristen Schorsch | WBEZ Chicago

SOLITARY-041924_5.jpgJoseph Moore, an apprentice at Restore Justice who advocates for the abolishment of solitary confinement, stands in the middle of an alley in the 300 block of West Erie Street in River North, Thursday, April 18, 2024. Moore spent 15 months in solitary confinement while serving a 60-year prison sentence. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Politics

Solitary confinement in Illinois prisons violates human rights, Chicago lawyers group says

“Prisons exist to punish and rehabilitate people — not to torture and destroy them,” says the report from the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.

By Kaitlin Washburn

Crime

SWAT incident concludes after woman shot in South Shore

The alleged gunman fled into a nearby building and a SWAT team responded, police said.

By Sun-Times Wire

Crime

Man fatally shot in South Chicago

The man was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

By Sun-Times Wire

Chicago

Hundreds gather at visitation for Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca

The line of mourners who paid their respects to the slain officer stretched around Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn. A combined reward of $100,000 is offered for the arrest of his attacker.

By Emmanuel Camarillo

Crime

Chicago man charged with opening fire on I-94

A Chicago man allegedly fired shots at another vehicle following a road rage incident. No injuries were reported.

By Sun-Times staff

Crime

Man charged with wounding 24-year-old in Washington Park

Miram Chapman, 42, has been charged with shooting a 24-year-old after an argument inside a home in the 5700 block of South Wabash Avenue.

By Sun-Times staff

David Vargas and his wife, Daryenis, dance after getting married with 14 other couples in a joint celebration.

Immigration

After long journey, 15 migrant couples marry in group ceremony in Chicago

The couples, mostly from Venezuela, gathered at Park Community Church for the nearly two-and-a-half-hour ceremony. The afterparty went on even longer.

By Adriana Cardona-Maguigad | WBEZ

Crime

14-year-old boy, woman wounded in Belmont Cragin shooting

They were with a group of people in the 6100 block of West Dickens Avenue when someone in a dark sedan fired shots.

By Sun-Times Wire

Crime

Man sought by police after allegedly following girl, 10, into bathroom at Museum of Science and Industry

Police have released a detailed description of a suspect after the incident on Thursday.

By Sun-Times Wire

Chicago

Volunteers repair Englewood, Park Forest homes for National Rebuilding Day: 'It’s like I’m in a new home'

Rebuild Together Metro Chicago and its network of 1,500 volunteers from local unions and businesses completed work ranging from installing mobility aids like grab bars to overhauling electrical and plumbing systems.

By Violet Miller

Crime

Arrest warrant issued for Aurora man charged with killing Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca

Xavier L. Tate Jr., 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Huesca in the 3100 block of West 56th Street, court records show.

By Tom Schuba

Close-up of someone's hands typing on a laptop.

Consumer Affairs

Federal broadband program helping more than 300,000 Cook County residents set to expire

The Affordable Connectivity Program offered eligible households $30 per month toward their broadband internet bill, but with the program ending, some service providers are offering their own options.

By Amy Yee

Israel-Hamas War

Columbia protesters say they're at an impasse with administrators, will continue anti-war camp

As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities all over the U.S. are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict.

By Associated Press

University of Chicago students, faculty members and their supporters protest in support of Palestine and march around the South Side campus, Friday, April 26, 2024. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Israel-Hamas War

Hundreds join pro-Palestinian protests at Chicago universities; Northwestern encampment continues for 2nd night

Hundreds of protesters from the University of Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago and Roosevelt University rallied in support of people living in Gaza.

By Isabel Funk, Sophie Sherry, and 1 more

Environment

Whoops! Rare crane rescued in Wilmette, returned to Wisconsin

The crane was captured and relocated by the International Crane Foundation and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

By Kade Heather and Mary Norkol

Food and Restaurants

Plymouth Restaurant, rooftop bar closing after 20 years downtown; rooftop to reopen as Mexican cantina

The owner hopes the rebrand will appeal to more customers after the spot suffered losses in recent years. The restaurant downstairs, for now, will be used for private events and catering.

By Jessica Ma

News

First bison babies of year born at Fermilab: ‘Calving season is the most rewarding time of the year’

Two bison were born Friday at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia. The facility’s 30-acre pasture has long been home to the grazing mammals.

By Kade Heather

Cook County Democrats selected Monica Gordon on Friday to appear on the November ballot as the party's nominee for Cook County Clerk in a special election.

Politics

Cook County Democratic leaders pick Monica Gordon to run for county clerk: 'I have some big shoes to fill'

Gordon will run in the November general election to fill the rest of the late Karen Yarbrough’s term as Cook County clerk.

By Kristen Schorsch | WBEZ Chicago

From left, Pilipili and Lomelok, large lion cubs, lounge side by side on the highest rock of their outdoor enclosure at Lincoln Park Zoo.

Picture Chicago: 12 can't miss photos from Sun-Times photographers

By Sun-Times staff

La Voz Chicago

15 parejas de migrantes venezolanos contraerán matrimonio en iglesia de Chicago

Todas las parejas son miembros de la Iglesia Cristiana La Vid, 4750 N. Sheridan Road, en Uptown, que brinda servicios a los recién llegados.

By Emmanuel Camarillo

How Realtors deal will affect homebuying

By Abby Miller

Work

Former Foxtrot workers rally, demand back pay after grocer's sudden closure

The former employees contacted workers rights organization Arise Chicago and filed charges with the Illinois Department of Labor, according to the organization.

By Abby Miller

La Voz Chicago

Se declara culpable agente de seguridad de Boston que apuñaló fatalmente a Marine de Gage Park

Álvaro Larrama fue sentenciado a entre 17 y 20 años en una prisión estatal después de perseguir y apuñalar a Daniel Martínez, un ex sargento de la Marina.

By Violet Miller

Education

Arlington Heights school nurse placed on leave amid probe into possible medicine swap

One student has suffered health problems after blood tests showed signs of excessive aspirin intake and fentanyl, lawyers for the child’s family say.

By Daily Herald

Cristina Nichole Iglesias, who received gender affirming surgery in March 2023 while she was serving her prison sentence, sits among the flowers at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Garfield Park, Friday, April 5, 2024. Iglesias said that going through gender dysphoria was “traumatic” and “torture.” The surgery was made possible by a settlement she reached with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

LGBTQIA+

After fighting to have gender-affirming care, a former prisoner adjusts to life in Chicago as a woman

Cristina Nichole Iglesias sued the federal Bureau of Prisons for the right to have the surgery and get the agency to pay for it and won.

By Stefano Esposito