Two Illinois residents who tested positive for West Nile virus have been hospitalized with a “more serious, neuroinvasive” form of the virus, according to health officials. The Kane County Health Department reported two Aurora residents tested positive for the virus, becoming the county’s first human cases for the 2026 mosquito season. These ...

A gigantic plume of smoke could be seen billowing from a fire on Chicago’s West Side on Friday afternoon. Around 3:50 p.m., aerial video captured by NBC Chicago Sky 5 showed dark smoke rising from what appeared to be a recycling center near the 1200 block of North Cicero Avenue in the city’s West Humboldt Park neighborhood. Large flames could be ...

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked Illinois’ ‘medical aid in dying’ law that was set to start this weekend. With the judge’s approval, a temporary restraining order requested by Catholic leaders now stands in the way of the law, which would allow patients with terminal illnesses to seek aid-in-dying medication, from taking effect on ...

Editor’s Note: This story was first published on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Adam Mayblum worked on the 87th floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower, just below where American Airlines Flight 11 struck, and he was one of the few who made it out. Shortly after he walked down all those flights of stairs, past firefighters going ...

A bridge over Interstate 290 in Chicago was blocked on Friday by a crumpled semi-truck trailer, video showed. Around 12:40 p.m., video posted to social media showed a semi-truck that appeared to have gotten stuck in the intersection of West Congress Parkway and South Independence Boulevard in the city’s Garfield Park neighborhood after a trailer it was ...

A massive police response that included SWAT surrounded a Chicago home on Friday morning. Around 12:20 p.m., video posted to social media showed a large police presence near the 100 block of East 112nd Place in the city’s West Pullman neighborhood. Officers with long guns, several marked police cars and at least one armored vehicle could be seen ...

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon always brings buzz and excitement to the city. But of course, it also brings lots of traffic — and road closures. One thing spectators who are hoping to watch from the grounds should keep in mind is how to make their way to and from the marathon. Despite street closures, which are announced as race day gets closer, ...

The largest cyclospora food poisoning outbreak in U.S. history is over, U.S. health officials said Friday. U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said they are confident that all recalled iceberg lettuce related to this specific outbreak is off the market. Nearly 13,000 reported cyclospora cases were tied to the multistate outbreak, federal ...

Two Illinois high schools abruptly canceled their varsity football seasons amid “significant” concerns about their players’ safety. Clinton Community Unit School District No. 15 announced Wednesday that it has “made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the varsity football season,” citing student-athlete safety, participation ...

Parents know how convenient packaged snacks can be for feeding hungry kids. But whats actually in those products may go beyond whats written on the label. A new Consumer Reports investigation found potentially harmful contaminants in some popular childrens snacks. Earlier this summer, Consumer Reports testing found high levels of additives and ...

Rosh Hashanah, which celebrates the Jewish New Year and marks the start of what’s known to many as the Jewish “High Holidays” begins Friday at sundown. The holiday, which continues through Sunday, is the start of a ten-day period of repentance and reflection that culminates with Yom Kippur on Monday, Sept. 21. Also known as the Day of Atonement, ...

Twenty-five years after two hijacked planes brought down the World Trade Center in clouds of dust, Lower Manhattan is thriving. The Financial District is now FiDi, with twice as many residents, and new bars and restaurants in a neighborhood that once closed up when Wall Streets trading day ended. The observatory at the rebuilt One World Trade Center looks ...

Don’t throw out that old car seat or stroller yet, parents. Target’s popular fall Car Seat Trade-in Event for fall 2026 begins this month, giving parents and caregivers the chance to trade in their used baby gear for a coupon. According to the retailer, the fall trade-in event runs from Sept. 20 through Oct. 13. It’s Target’s final baby gear ...

Americans are commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11, remembering the shock, the dead and the sweeping consequences of the al-Qaida attacks on symbols of U.S. might and prosperity. Fridays milestone anniversary will bring memorial rituals wreath-laying, flag-flying, moments of silence, vigils and readings of victims names and volunteer projects in ...

What to KnowMore than 3,000 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, when Islamic terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial planes and flew directly into the lifeblood of our nation. It was the deadliest terror attack in history.The vast majority of those victims came from lower Manhattan; nearly 2,800 people died when two jets crashed into the World Trade Center’s ...

When the planes crashed and the buildings fell on that sunny September morning 25 years ago, the shock waves of dismay and grief went far past downtown New York City, rural western Pennsylvania and just outside Washington, D.C. They radiated through every part of the United States in communities large and small, tearing at Americans’ sense of safety ...

A new documentary showcases the unbelievable bravery and heroic life of an La Grange F-15 pilot who was given orders to take down one of the hijacked planes before it crashed 25 years ago on 9/11. John Scaletta, filmmaker and high school friend of Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Nasty Nash, created the documentary “NASTY” to tell not only tell the story of ...

Remember the days when you can order a hamburger at a restaurant and not pay $27? Because I view my position as your “Food Guy” as both a serious job and a civic obligation, we’re introducing a new semi-recurring segment this week: Great dishes you can find around Chicago for $12 and under. On the docket this week: From Indian street food to ...

A plan to overhaul the front entrance to Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry gained approval on Thursday. The museum, located at 5700 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood, will undergo renovations on its North Portico as part of a project to create a new primary entrance that still preserves the building’s historic ...

Two men from California who were allegedly transporting 220 pounds of cannabis in a rental minivan were arrested after a traffic stop in northwest Indiana on Thursday, authorities said. A 34-year-old man and a 27-year-old man, who were not named by police, were arrested after an officer stopped their rental van on the Indiana Toll Road in Porter County ...

The lead defense attorney in a case that has been tinged with references to the Mafia tonight says the men and woman charged are “not the Sopranos,” but federal prosecutors say they have amassed such a large collection of evidence that needs to be processed, duplicated and shared among 22 defense teams that the case feels like it could run as long as ...

Anthropic said Thursday it has blocked efforts by bad actors to use its artificial intelligence models for malicious activity such as cyberattacks, surveillance, and research that could have led to biological weapons. As AI models grow more powerful, elaborate cyberattacks no longer require sophisticated skills and even lone individuals can create ...

Debs Law, which will allow patients with terminal illnesses to seek aid-in-dying medication, will official take effect in Illinois this week. Under provisions of Senate Bill 1950, the law authorizes a qualified patient with a terminal disease to request that a physician prescribe aid-in-dying medication that will allow the patient to end the patients ...

Is 20 minutes enough time to eat lunch? Parents in a suburban school district are saying no after learning the lunch period for their middle school students was shortened. Carlos Lopez is among a group of parents not happy about the change to the lunch schedule, shortening the period from 30 minutes to 20 minutes, at Daniel Wright Junior High School, ...

The Chicago White Sox have stumbled a bit in recent days, but they still control their own playoff destiny as the regular season nears its end. With 17 games to go in the regular season, the White Sox still have not only a lead in the American League Central, but they also still hold an edge in the battle for a bye through the Wild Card Series. So ...