Chicago Public Schools is planning to cut staff positions at schools across the city this summer as it seeks to close a budget deficit that tops $730 million. https://to.wttw.com/49H8DsQ

BREAKING: The end of the tipped minimum wage in Chicago would be delayed for an additional two years under a compromise measure advanced Tuesday by a key City Council panel. @wttw.bsky.social

NEW: Lawyers for the city of Chicago convinced a federal jury in December that a police officer did not violate the civil rights of the unarmed man she shot twice. But that victory still cost Chicago taxpayers $1.37 million. @wttw.bsky.social

BREAKING: A Cook County jury determined Chicago police officers were not liable for the injuries suffered by an Uber driver and his passenger who were struck in March 2023 by a man fleeing a traffic stop, officials said. @wttw.bsky.social

Federal agents were reportedly spotted at multiple Cook County courthouses in a move community activists are calling a “significant ramp up” of immigration enforcement in and around Chicago.

BREAKING: Attorneys for the city of Chicago have agreed to settle a lawsuit from a second man who alleged disgraced former Chicago Police Department Detective Reynaldo Guevara coerced him into confessing he committed a gruesome double murder and kidnapping in 1998, records show. @wttw.bsky.social

The remaining four defendants in the “Broadview Six” criminal case no longer face felony charges after a federal judge Thursday morning officially dismissed the top count in the politically charged case. https://to.wttw.com/4eEbzdn

PITCHES: @blockclubchi.bsky.social is looking for Pride Month stories based in Chicago! Think: 🌈 Feature on a Chicago LGBTQ+-owned business. 🌈 Looking back on a piece of lesser-known local LGBTQ history. 🌈 Highlighting how locals are fighting for LGBTQ+ rights & protections etc.

🦅🦅🦅🦅

BREAKING: A key city panel on Wednesday advanced Mayor Brandon Johnson’s nomination of Anjanette Young, a social worker who was handcuffed while naked during a botched 2019 Chicago Police Department raid, to serve on the city’s police oversight board. @wttw.bsky.social

EXCLUSIVE: My latest story for @theatlantic.com : www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

What's your favorite Mexican restaurant in Chicago? Your response could be included in our newsletter, the Daily Chicagoan. Subscribe here: to.wttw.com/4axsYlD

Illinois State Police have launched an investigation into the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas González, who was killed by federal immigration agents during a traffic stop in suburban Franklin Park early on in “Operation Midway Blitz.” https://to.wttw.com/4w9VBhn

State lawmakers should be focused on making sure cities and towns can fund essential services while making life more affordable for residents — not crafting a plan to give the Chicago Bears a property tax break on a stadium in Arlington Heights, Mayor Johnson said. @wttw.bsky.social

I wrote in the past about the ISP public integrity task force, which did not show much evidence of holding suburban departments accountable for shootings over the years. projects.bettergov.org/taking-cover...

Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday state lawmakers should be focused on making sure cities and towns, including Chicago, can fund essential services — not crafting a plan to give the Chicago Bears a property tax break on a stadium in Arlington Heights. https://to.wttw.com/4wdiMXQ

BREAKING: A key Chicago City Council committee advanced a plan Tuesday to ban so-called sweepstakes machines over the objections of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration. @wttw.bsky.social news.wttw.com/2026/05/05/k...

Shootings have also increased this year, with 115 recorded last month (up from 106 in April 2025) and 421 recorded thus far in 2026. That total is up 5% compared to last year. https://to.wttw.com/4tXwNaM

By comparison, the city spent $80.2M on overtime between Jan. 1, 2025, and April 30, 2025, according to the inspector general's database.

As a joint session of the City Council's Police & Fire and Budget committees examines CPD overtime costs, the city has spent at least $79M on overtime in 2026, according to updated records published by the city’s watchdog. CPD has $200M for the *entire* year. Background, for @wttw.bsky.social:

NEW: A federal jury is set to decide whether a disgraced ex-CPD detective coerced a man into confessing he committed a 1998 double murder, even as city lawyers reached a settlement with another man wrongfully convicted of the same crime and sent to death row, records show. @wttw.bsky.social

Chicago Tonight | Week in Review: Illinois Commission Releases ‘Midway Blitz’ Report; Government Shutdown Ends, with @heathercherone.bsky.social @monicaeng.bsky.social Mack Liederman @jake-sheridan.bsky.social & host @ndblumberg.bsky.social news.wttw.com/2026/05/01/w...

From my story: Kevin Jackson served 23 years before his exoneration. Prosecutors want to block a court order formally clearing his name. He wants that in-part because he hopes it will help him get a passport. He's set on visiting Bora Bora, which he learned about in prison via Anthony Bourdain.

Happy May Day ✊

NEW: Attorney General Kwame Raoul tapped former Inspector General Deborah Witzburg to serve as his chief of staff.

Federal prosecutors have dismissed felony conspiracy charges against the remaining members of the “Broadview Six,” and instead intend to proceed to trial on lesser misdemeanor counts in the politically charged case. https://to.wttw.com/4n7JvkM

NEW: Chicago taxpayers spent approximately $544.4M on employee overtime in 2025 — 6.3% less than in 2024, with more than half of the total amount used to compensate police officers for working extra hours, @jaredrutecki.bsky.social and I report for @wttw.bsky.social.

New analysis: Chicago taxpayers spent approximately $544.4M on employee overtime in 2025 — 6.3% less than in 2024, with more than half of the total amount used to compensate Chicago Police Department officers for working extra hours. (with @heathercherone.bsky.social)

A federal appeals court has upheld Michael Madigan’s landmark corruption convictions, meaning the former Illinois House speaker will remain in prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence. https://to.wttw.com/49bdtOM

BREAKING: Mayor Brandon Johnson tapped David Glockner, the former federal prosecutor hired by ComEd to clean up the utility giant after officials admitted that it engaged in a yearslong bribery scheme, to serve as the city’s watchdog. @wttw.bsky.social

NEW: 3 of the 5 CPD officers who pulled over Dexter Reed and killed him in a barrage of gunfire after he fired at officers in March 2024 violated the constitutional rights of another driver 6 months before the fatal shooting and should be suspended, officials agreed, records show. @wttw.bsky.social

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were evacuated out of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner minutes after it began. USA TODAY reporters inside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel say they heard loud bangs and chants of "USA." bit.ly/3R2oJ9W

look I'm all for roasting the correspondents who went to the dinner but it does usually take more than 10 minutes to report news accurately

After months without a permanent leader, a key piece of Chicago’s development pipeline is moving again. "Chicago Tonight" sat down with Ald. Gilbert Villegas, who will lead the City Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards. https://to.wttw.com/4cAfDKh

More than a craftsman: Celebration of life for Lake Zurich fixture John Bafaloukos

FULL STORY: The significant increase in the number of times Chicago police officers have used force against members of the public since 2022 merits a “full-scale review,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office told a federal judge. @wttw.bsky.social

Illinois state employees will be barred from using nonpublic information obtained from their job to aid in their wagers on prediction markets under an executive order issued by Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday. https://to.wttw.com/4toFQ46

Are you a Chicago-obsessed reporter with lots of story ideas and a passion for neighborhood news? @blockclubchi.bsky.social is hiring a GA reporter blockclubchicago.org/were-hiring-...

What would be your advice for someone moving to Chicago? Your response could be included in our newsletter, the Daily Chicagoan. Subscribe here: to.wttw.com/4axsYlD

A federal judge will toss out a lawsuit brought by Illinois and Chicago officials last year that sought to bar the Trump administration’s plans to deploy National Guard troops, finding the case is moot after the U.S. Supreme Court refused such a deployment.https://to.wttw.com/48fqbf3

New: A CPS employee flagged as ineligible for rehire over an alleged time fraud scheme is now earning six figures at the CTA. Records show overlapping hours, weak oversight — and a hiring gap between agencies. Read more:

NEW: A Chicago police officer who used his department-issued radio to strike a man in the head three times in July 2024 should be suspended for 89 days, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling and the agency tasked with investigating police misconduct agreed, records show. @wttw.bsky.social

BREAKING: The family of Adam Toledo, the 13-year-old who was shot and killed by an officer after a brief foot chase in March 2021, dropped their wrongful death lawsuit against the city and Chicago Police Department on Friday — but their lawyers vowed to refile the case. @wttw.bsky.social

The Chicago police officer who fatally shot his partner Krystal Rivera during a June 2025 foot pursuit waited approximately two minutes before responding to her as she lay dying inside a Chatham apartment building, body camera video of the incident shows. https://to.wttw.com/4tkZ5vD

Chicago Public Schools will hold classes on May 1 after reaching an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union that will allow students and staff to attend a rally as part of the annual “May Day” labor holiday. https://to.wttw.com/4cPi6QN