July 5, 2017 Chicago's murder rate hits grim milestone After an especially deadly weekend, Chicago’s spiraling violence passed a grim new milestone: more than 600 murders so far this year, up 45% from the same period last year and a level that hasn’t been seen in more than a decade.
July 5, 2017 Chicago students, teachers back to class after strike threat Relieved parents dropped their children off at Chicago schools on Tuesday morning after the Chicago Teachers Union and the nation's third-largest school district averted a strike with a late-night tentative contract agreement.
July 5, 2017 Sheriff: 4 homicides in northeastern Illinois township in less than 36 hours Four homicides, including a triple homicide, occurred in less than 36 hours in a northeastern Illinois township and police said Monday that it appears the crimes are related.
July 5, 2017 Warrant issued in deadly shooting at party on University of Illinois campus An arrest warrant for a first-degree murder charge has been issued for an 18-year-old Champaign man in the deadly shooting at a party near the University of Illinois campus, police said Wednesday.
July 5, 2017 Chicago teachers vote to authorize strike in contract talks Teachers in the nation's third-largest school district announced Monday that they have overwhelming support for a strike, but several steps remain before a possible walkout could take place next month.
July 5, 2017 Chicago to hire more than 500 new police officers, official says The Chicago Police Department plans to hire more than 500 additional officers as it struggles to deal with a violent year full of killings and gun crimes, a city official told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
July 5, 2017 Chicago shooting deaths top 2015 total despite crackdown on illegal guns The number of shooting deaths here has surpassed the total for last year with four months still to go, in a bloody 2016 in which Chicago has outpaced most major U.S. cities in homicides.
July 5, 2017 Terror suspect's alien, Illuminati beliefs show he's unfit for trial, judge rules A judge on Thursday declared a suburban Chicago terrorism suspect mentally unfit to stand trial on charges he placed what he believed to be a bomb outside a bar, concluding that he sincerely believes his rantings that aliens, Freemasons and other shadowy figures are out to get him.
July 5, 2017 Police: Chicago gang member captures his own deadly shooting on video Chicago police say they're investigating the killing of a gang member who appears to have captured his own fatal shooting in a real-time video post on Facebook.
July 5, 2017 Energy firm to pay $61M penalty for costliest inland oil spill in US history Enbridge Energy Partners will pay a $61 million penalty for the costliest inland oil spill in U.S. history -- a pipeline rupture in southwestern Michigan that polluted a nearly 40-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River, federal officials said Wednesday.