Peter Nickeas

Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson speaks at a 2013 rally in Springfield in for the right to carry concealed fire arms.

Gun rights groups sue Illinois State Police, saying delays in FOID and concealed carry applications infringe on right to bear arms

February 7, 2020 at 6:44 p.m.

Two prominent gun rights groups in Illinois have filed a lawsuit against state police, alleging that delays in the processing of concealed carry and gun ownership cards are violating the...

Chicago firefighter Collis Maddox, center, rallies with co-workers Wednesday in protest of a promotional exam that they called "plagued by errors."

Chicago firefighters protest promotion exam ‘debacle’: ‘We just want a fair shake’

February 5, 2020 at 5:22 p.m.

About 70 Chicago firefighters protested the city's handling of a recent promotional exam that had to be canceled because of technical issues. The group gathered at 35th and State streets,...

Lee County State's Attorney Matthew T. Klahn looks on as shooting suspect Matthew Milby, making his appearance via video, is arraigned at the Lee County Courts Building in Dixon on May 18, 2018.

Man accused of opening fire in Dixon school again found unfit to stand trial, but prosecutor suggests he’s ‘gaming the system a little bit’

January 29, 2020 at 11:32 a.m.

The man who authorities say walked into an Illinois high school and fired a rifle at a teacher and a school resource officer has again been found mentally unfit to...

The property in tiny Thawville, Illinois, that used to house an animal sanctuary is now abandoned.

Piles of bones, a deadly fire, an animal cruelty arrest: Unraveling what went wrong at a former Illinois animal sanctuary

January 24, 2020 at 11:20 a.m.

A tangle of rusting animal cages and the piled wreckage of a burned-down barn sit behind an old house, left to gray as paint peels and wood siding rots in...

9-year-old boy charged with murder in central Illinois fire that killed 5 will be evaluated by Chicago-area expert to see if he is fit to stand trial

December 20, 2019 at 6:33 p.m.

A 9-year-old boy charged with five counts of murder in a central Illinois fire will be evaluated by a Chicago-area childhood trauma expert to see if he is fit to...

Max Schachter, whose son Alex was one of 14 students killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, is hugged by Cathy Milhoan, director of communications for the Secret Service, after a news conference regarding Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence at the Rosemont Theatre on Nov. 13, 2019.

Getting help for youths showing risk factors could help prevent violence in schools, experts say at conference in Rosemont

November 13, 2019 at 7:06 p.m.

A study of school violence by the Secret Service determined there is no definitive profile of the typical student attacker or of a school that is being targeted. But officials,...

A Chicago police officer takes down crime scene tape in the the Roscoe Village neighborhood following a fatal shooting along School Street near Claremont Avenue on Nov. 3, 2019.

The many adults now in his life are trying to figure out best living arrangements for 9-year-old boy charged with murder in central Illinois fire

October 26, 2019 at 6:26 p.m.

A 9-year-old boy charged with murder and arson in an April fire in which five people died will remain with foster parents for the foreseeable future while the court figures...

All Stories