A federal judge has overturned Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, leaning on recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that strictly interpret the Second Amendment right to keep and bear firearms.

Max Brosmer threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Geers and Dragan Kesich kicked his fourth field goal of the game in the final five minutes, rallying Minnesota to a 25-17 victory over No. 24 Illinois.

Missouri voters are considering whether to make the state the 40th jurisdiction to legalize sports betting.

Luke Altmyer threw for a touchdown and ran for another, leading No. 22 Illinois to a 21-7 victory over No. 24 Michigan.

The nation's unique Electoral College system for electing a president, which replaces the popular vote, puts disproportionate voting power in the hands of a relative few states.

The former Illinois House Speaker once lauded as the longest-serving legislative leader in American history will enter a federal courtroom this week on charges he used his vast influence to run a “criminal enterprise” to amass even more wealth and power.

Survivors of child sex abuse at juvenile detention facilities in Illinois are hoping for justice.

More than 200 men and women allege they were sexually abused as children while in custody at youth detention centers in Illinois.

The Mega Millions jackpot has risen to an estimated $800 million with a cash option of $401.8 million.

Advocates for domestic violence survivors in Illinois celebrated earlier this month when Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law making it easier for those who are incarcerated to get reduced sentences.

As a heat wave stretched into a second day this week, residents in more than half a dozen states are looking for ways to beat the heat amid hot soupy temperatures approaching triple digits.

Illinois will soon become just the fifth state in the nation to prohibit corporal punishment in all schools.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign a proclamation designating a national monument in Springfield, Illinois, at the site of a 1908 race riot that later fueled the formation of the NAACP.

A new report shows the number of monthly abortions in the U.S. went up slightly in the first three months of 2024 compared with before the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade.

An Associated Press analysis of county tax data across three states — Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska — found wind companies rank among the biggest taxpayers in many rural communities, with their total tax bills at times outstripping that of large farms, power plants and other major businesses.

Severe storms in the Midwest have overtopped a dam in southern Illinois and left the Chicago area cleaning up.

The Supreme Court has sidestepped a new set of Second Amendment fights.

A giant sinkhole has swallowed the center of a soccer field in Illinois.

Illinois is poised to right a 175-year-old wrong by returning land in northern Illinois guaranteed to a Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation chief in 1829.

Facial recognition startup Clearview AI has reached a settlement in a lawsuit alleging its massive photographic collection of faces violated the subjects’ privacy rights.

States are looking to increase their take from the $16 billion online sports gambling industry as it expands across the country with big partnerships.

Located on 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois, the house hit the market over the weekend for the second time since the 1990 film was released.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is under the spotlight again after a manager failed to consult a collections committee before purchasing a 21-star flag, supposedly from 1818 when Illinois became the 21st state to join the Union.

The 2024 cicada emergence is underway in Illinois.

Several tornadoes have been reported in Iowa and Illinois as storms downed power lines and trees.

A man has been found fit to stand trial on charges of killing four people and injuring seven others during a series of frenzied attacks in northern Illinois in March.

A baby girl who weighed just over one pound when she was born prematurely has beaten the odds and gone home with her parents after six months at a Chicago area hospital.

Three men who say they were sexually abused as children while incarcerated at Illinois juvenile detention centers have stepped forward with their stories as part of a lawsuit chronicling decades of disturbing allegations of systemic child abuse.

A lawsuit alleges that child sexual abuse at Illinois juvenile detention centers was pervasive and systemic for decades.

Illinois Gov_ J_B_ Pritzker’s office says the Chicago Bears' proposal to fund a new lakefront stadium remains a “non-starter."

March Madness is racing toward the national championship game.

Defending national champion UConn powered its way back into the Final Four behind a 30-0 run led by Donovan Clingan, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Huskies crushed Illinois 77-52.

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 29 points and Illinois reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005, beating Iowa State 72-69 in an East Region semifinal on Thursday night.

A 22-year-old man has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in a frenzied deadly rampage that unfolded in a matter of minutes in a northern Illinois city.

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 30 points, Marcus Domask added 22 and No. 3 seed Illinois made fast work 11th-seeded Duquesne in an 89-63 victory to reach the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005.

A federal judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit by ex-governor and ex-con Rod Blagojevich seeking a return to public office by quoting Dr. Seuss.

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a career-high 40 points for a Big Ten Tournament record to lead a second-half surge by 13th-ranked Illinois in a 98-87 victory over Nebraska in the semifinals.

Severe storms with suspected tornadoes have damaged homes and businesses and killed at least three people in the central United States.

Zach Edey had 28 points and eight rebounds as No. 3 Purdue rallied in the second half to beat No. 12 Illinois 77-71, becoming the first team in 17 years to win consecutive outright Big Ten regular-season championships.

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump have appealed an Illinois judge’s decision ordering election officials to remove the Republican’s name from the state's March 19 primary ballot.

Wild fluctuations in temperatures are being recorded across much of the United States this week.

Studies show premature babies who get formula made with cow’s milk are more likely to get necrotizing enterocolitis - NEC for short.

February’s end is bringing wild weather to much of the United States.

Caitlin Clark scored 24 points on the way to her 16th career triple-double, Hannah Stuelke added 20 and No. 4 Iowa defeated Illinois 101-85.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is outlining a $52.7 billion state spending plan with more money for the migrant crisis, education and quantum computing.

Donald Trump is cheering a decision keeping him on the primary ballot in Illinois.

A retired judge has recommended to an Illinois election board that former President Donald Trump's name should be removed from the Illinois primary ballot, but he says the decision should be left to the courts.

A man suspected of shooting and killing eight people in suburban Chicago this weekend was related to most of the victims, authorities said Tuesday, a day after the 23-year-old fatally shot himself during a confrontation with law enforcement in Texas.

The last time it happened was 229-years ago, but experts said we are not going to see it here at home.

Justin Harmon scored 18 points and Terrence Shannon Jr. added 16 in his return to lead five Illinois players in double figures as the No. 14 Illini beat Rutgers 86-63.

A federal judge has reinstated Illinois basketball star Terrence Shannon Jr., who had been suspended from the team since he was charged with rape in Kansas.

States are seeing increased demand for their cash amid high interest rates.

Illinois is adding tens of thousands of people to its population total, and California is getting misplaced sailors on an aircraft carrier put in the right location.

Jahmir Young scored 28 points and Julian Reese had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Maryland to a 76-67 victory over No. 10 Illinois.

A judge has postponed the trial of an Illinois man accused of killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago in 2022 after his lawyer on Wednesday asked for more time to review evidence.

The viral video of a 73-year-old man who says he got boarded up inside his low-income apartment is sparking an investigation.

Trey Kaufman-Renn scored a season-high 23 points, Lance Jones added 17 and top-ranked Purdue held off a late comeback bid to beat No. 9 Illinois 83-78.

Illinois will usher in 320 new laws on New Year’s Day.

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Illinois has suspended basketball player Terrence Shannon Jr. after he was charged with rape for an alleged incident that happened when the football team played at Kansas in September.

The Supreme Court has declined to put on hold a new Illinois law that would ban high-power semiautomatic weapons like the one used in the mass killing of seven people at a 2022 parade in a Chicago suburb.

Stellantis plans to build a new midsize pickup truck, along with battery-run versions of six Jeep, Ram and Dodge vehicles.

A shortage of half-pint milk cartons is affecting school meals in cafeterias across the U.S. School officials from New York to California are scrambling for backup options after a main supplier of cartons said demand has outstripped supply.

Officials in a suburban Chicago community have issued municipal citations to a local news reporter for what they say were persistent contacts with city officials seeking comment on treacherous fall flooding.

The Illinois governor is taking his abortion-rights advocacy nationwide.

One of the two biggest proposed carbon dioxide pipeline projects in the Midwest is being put on hold so the company can reevaluate the route.

Authorities say a suburban Chicago man has been charged in connection with a June shooting where one person died and 22 others were injured.

An Illinois man who attacked a police officer and a Reuters cameraman during the U.S. Capitol riot has been sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Illinois says an invasive insect called the spotted lanternfly has been confirmed in the state for the first time.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has obtained an original 1858 photograph of the future president with an interesting backstory.

Planned Parenthood has resumed offering abortions in Wisconsin at clinics in Madison and Milwaukee.

Cam Miller, Abdul Carter, Daequan Dixon and Johnny Hardy had interceptions and No. 7 Penn State took advantage of five Illinois turnovers to beat the Illini 30-13.

Critics of cash bail as a condition of pretrial release say it is especially unfair to Black people and other people of color.

Authorities say one man was killed and seven people were wounded in three separate shootings hours apart in Peoria.

A man who set a fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Illinois has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

A judge has sentenced a former contestant on the television game show “Family Feud” to life in prison after he was convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying of his estranged wife in western Illinois.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed a law banning firearms advertising that officials determine produces a public safety threat or appeals to children, militants or others who might later use the weapons illegally.

Illinois will soon outlaw advertising for firearms that officials determine produce a public safety threat or appeals to children, militants or others who might later use the weapons illegally.

A federal judge has blocked a new Illinois law that allows the state to penalize anti-abortion counseling centers if they use deception to interfere with patients seeking the procedure.

Crisis pregnancy centers in Illinois that are popping up near abortion facilities to offer information about alternatives face penalties if they disseminate misleading or untruthful information.

On Tuesday at about noon, President Joe Biden is expected to sign a proclamation that establishes the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley national monument in Illinois and Mississippi.

Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail as a condition of pretrial release from jail on Tuesday.

A National Weather Service team will survey damage in northeast Illinois, where fierce winds from suspected tornadoes ripped roofs from buildings, downed trees and sent residents scrambling for safety as sirens sounded.

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Smoky haze, hot weather and powerful storms brought dangerous and uncomfortable conditions to parts of the U.S. heading into a long July Fourth weekend that typically draws Americans to outdoor gatherings.

The middle of the country is extraordinarily dry.

At least six people are dead and dozens injured in a string of weekend violence and mass shootings across the U.S. The shootings — in suburban Chicago, Washington state, Pennsylvania, St. Louis, Southern California and Baltimore — follow a surge of violence over the past several years that experts say accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic.

Authorities say one person is dead and at least 22 are wounded in suburban Chicago after a shooting early Sunday during a large gathering in a strip mall parking lot.

The longtime host of “Wheel of Fortune,” Pat Sajak, announced he would be retiring from his hosting duties at the end of the next season.

Tens of thousands fewer women were incarcerated in the U.S. between 2019 and 2020 due to COVID-19, but as prison populations creep back to pre-pandemic norms, more children are being separated from their mothers, putting them at greater risk of health and behavioral problems, and making them vulnerable to abuse and displacement.

Illinois’ attorney general has released the results of a sweeping investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, saying investigators found that 451 clergy sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950.

Illinois is more protective of abortion access than most any state.

The Supreme Court says that Illinois can, for now, keep in place a new law that bars the sale of certain semiautomatic guns and large-capacity magazines.

A windstorm has kicked up clouds of dust in southern Illinois and caused numerous crashes on Interstate 55.

Democrats have chosen Chicago to host their 2024 national convention.

Storms are isolated Wednesday but more widespread Thursday

Temperatures rise to around 80 before rain arrives

Residents across a wide swath of the U.S. are racing to assess the destruction from fierce storms that spawned possibly dozens of tornadoes from the South and the Midwest into the Northeast.

Storms that dropped possibly dozens of tornadoes killed at least 21 people in small towns and big cities across the South and Midwest.

The last of three ex-correctional officers convicted in the beating death of an Illinois prison inmate has been sentenced to six years in federal prison.