Kim Geiger –

A proposed location for a Waukegan casino is shown on Dec. 17, 2019, in the 28-acre city-owned Fountain Square site bordered by Lakehurst Road and Northpoint Boulevard.

Waukegan’s decades-old casino dreams could hinge on bidders with key figures who’ve been denied before

June 14, 2024 at 6:40 p.m.

After 30 years of failure, Lake County's largest city finally is on the cusp of getting a casino thanks to a major gambling expansion in Illinois. But two of the...

Woman accused of shooting 14-year-old girl who attacked her was trying to sell her dog

December 1, 2019 at 5:29 p.m.

A 21-year-old woman who was attacked Friday has been charged with a gun crime because she shot the attacker with a gun she wasn't licensed to carry. Araceli Diaz, of...

Police body-slam was an ’emergency takedown’ after man spit in officer’s eye, prosecutors say

December 2, 2019 at 8:04 a.m.

The body-slamming of a 29-year-old man by a Chicago police officer on Thursday was an "emergency takedown maneuver" prompted by the man licking the officer's face and spitting in his...

Sexual encounter leads to murder charge after man accused of killing 17-year-old’s guardian in Burnside home, police say

November 11, 2019 at 7:10 a.m.

A sexual encounter between a 25-year-old man and a teen girl ended Thursday night with the death of the girl's 65-year-old guardian after the young man confronted the guardian while...

Man charged in 2018 shooting death had previously pointed a loaded gun at police, authorities say

November 10, 2019 at 3:54 p.m.

A man who goes by the nickname "Elmo" was extradited from Georgia and charged in Chicago on Sunday with first-degree murder in the 2018 shooting death of 31-year-old Jasmyne Shoals....

Chicago Teachers Union members and supporters sit on the road in the 300 block of North Damen Avenue during a civil disobedience training outside the CTU Center on Oct. 24, 2019, in Chicago.

Will Chicago schools have to add days to the end of the year because of the teachers strike?

October 31, 2019 at 11:11 a.m.

Chicago Public Schools will have to open school for three days at the end of June — or add days elsewhere in the school calendar — to make up for...

How did some CPS classrooms end up with more than 30 kids? Here’s a breakdown of one of the central issues in the Chicago Teachers Union strike.

October 25, 2019 at 9:58 p.m.

Chicago Public Schools employs just over 21,000 teachers for a population of just under 300,000 kids at district-run schools, a ratio of about one teacher to every 14 students. So...

The Chicago Teachers Union has made the number of students in classrooms — such as this one at Woodson South Elementary — a central issue in contract talks.

CPS strike: Chicago Teachers Union wants class size caps. Are smaller classes worth the cost to taxpayers?

October 23, 2019 at 1:47 p.m.

Former Chicago Public Schools teacher Elisa Tavares Bell remembers fielding calls from her son's kindergarten teacher at Belmont-Cragin Elementary, who was having trouble getting the boy to succeed in class....

As community advocate Helen Thomas talks to a television reporter, representatives of the Chicago Teachers Union hold up signs and shout slogans after holding a press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019, outside Simeon Career Academy in Chicago to protest against class sizes they say are too large.

CPS teachers out-earn many in other districts, but union says pay isn’t the whole picture and numbers can be misleading

October 13, 2019 at 4:24 p.m.

In their push for a new contract with reduced class sizes and more support staff, Chicago teachers have twice rejected pay raise proposals from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, keeping the dispute...

Pamela Nicandro-Osorio, who teaches third grade in Chicago during the school year, reads a book to a group of younger children during a summer program session at Portage Park Elementary School. She said she doesn't have sufficient curriculum materials for the subjects that she teaches.

Chicago teachers routinely create their own lesson plans — sometimes off Pinterest. But does that justify CPS spending $135M on a new curriculum?

July 24, 2019 at 6:03 p.m.

When Andrea Varmatos opens her science lab at Richards Career Academy, she steps over cracked and crumbling floors and under ceiling tiles that need regular replacing from leaky pipes above....

All Stories