Something new is coming to Portillo’s, and the popular Chicago-area fast casual restaurant teased the upcoming release in a cryptic social media post. Portillo’s shared posts featuring images of solid colors and the caption “1.27.26” on their social media profiles Wednesday. The colors in the post on X are a cherry red, a dark maroon almost ...

The Chicago area will be dealing with extreme cold this week, but a loud and frightening phenomenon known as icequakes could also occur. An extreme cold warning is in effect for the entire area beginning Thursday night and running through Friday afternoon, with wind chills plummeting to 30 degrees or more below zero and air temperatures struggling to ...

Illinois residents convicted of non-violent crimes could soon have their records automatically sealed under provisions of a new act. The Clean Slate Act, signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in recent days, will automate the process of record-sealing for individuals who have served their sentences for non-violent crimes, and who dont re-offend during a ...

From this Friday through Sunday, a winter storm is expected to affect millions of people in the United States, impacting air travel. When adverse weather conditions or other uncontrollable events affect your flight and travel dates, you may be able to change your trip without an additional charge, American Airlines states on its website. As thousands ...

Suburban ski jumper Kevin Bickner was named to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Olympic team Thursday morning. The Wauconda, Illinois, native will represent Team USA for the third time at the 2026 Winter Olympics, which begin next month in Italy. Bickner qualified for the team by performing well on the world cup circuit, earning enough points to be one of three ...

Brutally cold wind chills are set to grip the Chicago area this week, and warming centers are opening around the region. From Chicago to the suburbs, those warming centers will offer relief from wind chills that could drop to as much as 40 degrees below zero in some locations. Here is a list of information on warming centers around the area, and how ...

It may be in the 20s Thursday, but don’t be fooled: an Arctic front headed to the Chicago area by nighttime will send temperatures plunging overnight, with perilous wind chill values that could cause frostbite in as little as 10 minutes. According to the National Weather Service, the coldest conditions will come starting at about 3 a.m., when an ...

Broadway comedy hit “Oh Mary!” is bringing its tour to Chicago. The Tony Award-winning hit will make its way to Chicago in 2027, Broadway in Chicago announced. Broadway had announced Wednesday that the show would embark on a North American tour starting in fall 2026, but only two dates had been announced so far: Hartford, Connecticut, in ...

Chicago Public Schools, the largest school district in the state, announced Thursday afternoon it would be shut down Friday “due to severe weather,” with no classes or e-learning scheduled and buildings closed to the public. About 11:30 a.m., district officials said it make the decision to cancel classes Friday “after closely monitoring the ...

A public school district north of Minneapolis said ICE agents detained four of its students in recent weeks, including a 5-year-old. Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, said in a Wednesday news conference that four of the district’s students had been “taken” by ICE agents in recent weeks, Two of the students were on ...

A winter storm with “the potential to be historic” is eyeing a large strip of the U.S. and it appears Illinois and the Chicago area could now be a part of its path. While confidence surrounding the snowy and icy system’s track and intensity remain uncertain, new projections appear to have the storm shifting slightly north, which could leave the ...

Frozen pipes, frostbite and hypothermia were all possible as part of the dangerous, extreme cold set to hit the entire Chicago area Friday, the National Weather Service warned, and some parts of northeastern Illinois will have it worse than others. The Arctic front, set to arrive late Thursday and into Friday morning led the NWS to upgrade its extreme ...

Residents in a portion of Joliet were asked to shelter in place during an “active incident” in the southwest Chicago suburb, police said. An alert sent out around 9 a.m. warned that police were conducting an active investigation in the 1000 block of North Raynor Avenue. “Residents in that immediate area are being requested to shelter in ...

And the 2026 Oscar nominees are. Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced live Thursday morning from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles by actors Lewis Pullman and Danielle Brooks. This year the Academy will recognize casting directors for the first time, adding the new category last year. ...

Some Chicago-area schools have already announced closures or shifts to e-learning for this week in advance of dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills as low as -40. The announcements come as the National Weather Service issued an extreme cold warning for all of northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin, with expected wind chills as low as ...

An extreme cold watch issued for the entire Chicago area this week has been upgraded by the National Weather Service to an extreme cold warning, with some schools already announcing closures ahead of what’s expected to be one of the coldest days the Chicago area has seen in years. The dangerously cold weather for Illinois comes as millions of people ...

Chicago-based law firm Romanucci and Blandin released an independent autopsy of Renee Good, the Twin Cities mother shot dead by federal immigration agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis earlier this month. The autopsy found Good was shot three times in her head, the right side of her chest and her right forearm and suffered one graze wound, according to a ...

A former Uvalde police officer was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he failed in his duties to confront the gunman at Robb Elementary during the critical first minutes of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours before finding Adrian Gonzalez, 52, not guilty in the first trial over the ...

The restaurants and chefs named as semifinalists for the 2026 James Beard Awards were announced Wednesday and nearly every category had Chicago representation. The culinary awards are set to take June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Though the award ceremony takes place in Chicago, restaurants and chefs from around the country are considered. ...

The Chicago Bears thrilled the city in coach Ben Johnson’s first season. They pulled out one comeback win after another on their way to capturing the NFC North championship after finishing last in the division. They advanced in the playoffs for the first time in 15 years by rallying to beat Green Bay in a wild-card game before losing an overtime ...

Snapchat messages a Chicago man accused of soliciting the murder of a top Border Patrol commander unknowingly sent to a government informant took center stage Wednesday at the opening day of the mans federal trial. Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, faces one count of murder-for-hire in the first criminal trial stemming from the immigration crackdown that ...