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• First Lady heads to Chicago for youth violence event

  April 10, 2013 2:59 AM

  First Lady Michelle Obama will be in her hometown of Chicago today to attend a youth violence event. Chicago has been hit hard by gun violence which has led to the deaths of many young people. Mrs. Obama will urge business and civic leaders there to invest in more opportunities... more »

• Rihanna drops in on Chicago-area high school

  March 23, 2013 6:35 PM

  BARRINGTON, Ill. (AP) - Pop star Rihanna has dropped in on high school students in a northwestern Chicago suburb. Barrington High School earned Friday's visit as a reward for winning the singer's "Shine Bright Like a Diamond" video contest. The five-minute, student-produced video highlighted the school's volunteer and community service... more »

• Winter storm rolls through the Midwest, Chicago works to keep roads clear

  March 5, 2013 4:10 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - One Chicago woman says she "thought it was just media hype." But the storm that's brought a blast of wet snow to the city appears to be living up to the advance warnings. It's expected to dump more snow than Chicago has seen since the 2011 blizzard.... more »

• Drug overdose deaths up for 11th consecutive year

  February 19, 2013 6:19 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Drug overdose deaths rose for the 11th straight year, federal data show, and most of them were accidents involving addictive painkillers despite growing attention to risks from these medicines. "The big picture is that this is a big problem that has gotten much worse quickly," said Dr.... more »

• First lady meets with slain Chicago teen's family

  February 9, 2013 12:32 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - First lady Michelle Obama is meeting privately with the family of a 15-year-old Chicago honor student before attending the girl's funeral service. Obama is among the dignitaries attending the service for Hadiya Pendleton, whose death has brought national attention to Chicago's staggering gun violence. Pendleton was a... more »

• Family quarrels add intrigue to lotto winner death

  January 12, 2013 1:15 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - In the week since news surfaced that a Chicago man was poisoned to death before he was to collect a lottery payout, surprising details about his convoluted family saga have trickled out daily. Urooj Khan's widow and siblings fought for months over the businessman's estate, including the... more »

• Chicago lottery winner died from cyanide poisoning

  January 7, 2013 8:38 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - With no signs of trauma and nothing to raise suspicions, the sudden death of a Chicago man just as he was about to collect nearly $425,000 in lottery winnings was initially ruled a result of natural causes. Nearly six months later, authorities have a mystery on their... more »

• School stumped by mail addressed to Indiana Jones

  December 16, 2012 1:48 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - University of Chicago officials are puzzled by a mystery piece of mail seemingly linked to the Indiana Jones movie series. The Chicago Tribune reports that the university's admissions department received a package last week addressed to "Henry Walton Jones Jr." That's the main character's name in the... more »

• 2012 projected to be most expensive ever for gas prices

  November 29, 2012 8:02 PM

  CHICAGO - With one month left in the year, the gasoline price tracking website GasBuddy.com predicts that 2012 will be the most expensive ever for US consumers. The Chicago-based website reports the yearly national average for a gallon of unleaded gas is running at $3.63 per gallon, 12 cents... more »

• Cheerleading needs sports safety rules, docs say

  October 22, 2012 12:16 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Cheerleading isn't just jumping and waving pompoms - it has become as athletic and potentially as dangerous as a sport and should be designated one to improve safety, the nation's leading group of pediatricians says. The number of cheerleaders injured each year has climbed dramatically in the... more »

• Ex-Bears QB Jim McMahon talks of early-stage dementia

  September 26, 2012 8:54 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon is suffering from early-stage dementia, and he says if he could do it over, he wouldn't play football. In an interview with Chicago's Fox Network affiliate WFLD-TV, airing Wednesday, the 53-year-old McMahon says he knows where he's going when in an... more »

• Chicago students will go back to school after teachers' strike

  September 18, 2012 6:47 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago Teachers Union president says the city's students will be back in class Wednesday after delegates voted overwhelmingly to suspend a seven-day teachers strike. Karen Lewis spoke during a Tuesday evening news conference after delegates met to consider a tentative contract proposal. The teachers walked out... more »

• Gas prices rise 18 cents nationwide

  August 12, 2012 4:48 PM

  CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) - The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has increased 18 cents over the past two weeks. The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices puts the average price for a gallon of regular at $3.69, about 8 cents higher than the same time last year. Nationally,... more »

• New optimism about stemming spread of AIDS virus

  July 7, 2012 11:03 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) - An AIDS-free generation: It seems an audacious goal, considering how the HIV epidemic still is raging around the world. Yet more than 20,000 international HIV researchers and activists will gather in the nation's capital later this month with a sense of optimism not seen in many years... more »

• Obama family takes an evening stroll in Chicago

  June 15, 2012 9:58 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - It didn't take long for President Barack Obama to feel at home. Obama and the rest of the immediate first family took a neighborhood stroll Friday night after returning to their Chicago house for the weekend. They made the walk largely out of the view of news... more »

• Lung cancer CT scans: Just for older heavy smokers

  May 20, 2012 1:35 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - New lung cancer screening guidelines from three medical groups recommend annual scans but only for an older group of current or former heavy smokers. The advice applies only to those aged 55 to 74. The risks of screening younger or older smokers or nonsmokers outweigh any benefits,... more »

• UPDATE: 2 more activists charged related to NATO summit

  May 20, 2012 1:23 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Prosecutors say two men will make initial appearances in court in Chicago as part of what they describe as an ongoing investigation of activists who planned to take part in demonstrations at the two-day NATO summit. The Cook County State Attorney's office said in a statement Sunday... more »

• Detained protesters accused of Chicago terror plot

  May 19, 2012 1:32 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Prosecutors say three men arrested in a raid on a Chicago apartment had planned to attack President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home and other targets, including police stations and police cars. The trio was arrested Wednesday in a nighttime raid in the Bridgeport neighborhood... more »

• Former Broncos, Bears wide receiver arrested on battery

  April 15, 2012 11:43 AM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Former Chicago Bears player David Terrell is being held on $10,000 bond for a domestic battery charge. Court documents allege he grabbed his ex-girlfriend during an argument inside his high-rise Chicago apartment and threatened to throw her off a balcony. The 33-year-old was charged with misdemeanor domestic... more »

• Study: Long use of any hormones poses breast cancer risk

  April 1, 2012 1:30 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - New research suggests that long-term use of any type of hormones to ease menopause symptoms can raise a woman's risk of breast cancer. It is already known that taking pills that combine estrogen and progestin - the most common type of hormone therapy - can increase breast... more »

• African-Americans have trouble clearing cervical cancer virus

  April 1, 2012 11:48 AM

  CHICAGO (AP) - New research might help explain why black women are so much more likely than whites to develop and die from cervical cancer. The research finds that blacks seem to have more trouble clearing HPV, the virus that causes the disease. Researchers have long thought that less access... more »

• Studies: Surgery can put diabetes into remission

  March 26, 2012 11:54 AM

  CHICAGO (AP) - New research provides clear proof that weight-loss surgery can reverse and possibly cure diabetes. Doctors say it should be offered sooner to more people with the disease - not just as a last resort. Two studies compared stomach-reducing operations with medicines alone for obese people with Type... more »

• Doctors doubt favoritism in Cheney transplant

  March 25, 2012 12:54 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Doctors say it is unlikely that former Vice President Dick Cheney got special treatment when he was given a new heart that thousands of younger people also were in line to receive. After spending nearly two years on a waiting list, Cheney received a transplant Saturday. The... more »

• Docs ask out patients online; some get reported

  March 20, 2012 4:54 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - New research suggests doctors are contacting patients on Internet dating sites and engaging in other unprofessional online behavior - and sometimes getting caught. That's according to a survey of most state medical boards that license and discipline doctors. Most boards said they'd received at least one complaint... more »

• UPDATE: Blagojevich leaves home to report to Colo. prison

  March 15, 2012 8:28 AM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has left his Chicago home and is heading to Colorado to begin a 14-year federal prison term for corruption. The one-time golden boy of Illinois politics with a penchant for television cameras is expected to report to the prison by 2 p.m.... more »

• United Airlines gets delay problems mostly fixed

  March 5, 2012 8:07 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - It looks like United Airlines fixed its computer problems just in time for busy weekday travel. United dealt with significant delays over the weekend as it integrated its passenger records data with Continental Airlines. United and Continental merged in 2010 but the company didn't finish merging all... more »

• Chicago Hospital Shooting

  November 25, 2011 5:27 AM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Authorities say a woman has died after being shot at the parking garage of a hospital complex in Chicago. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the fatality early Friday to The Associated Press but provided no other information about the victim. The University of Illinois... more »

• Fire officials: 3 hurt in Chicago house explosion

  November 13, 2011 1:05 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - An explosion has flattened one home in Chicago, burned others and sent two people to the hospital with serious burns. Chicago police and fire officials say a woman in her 50s and a man in his 40s were seriously burned in the blast shortly before 7... more »

• Babies on obesity path? New sign may offer answer

  November 7, 2011 6:39 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - By the time your baby is two years old, you may be able to tell if he or she is likely to become obese later on. Researchers say babies that have passed two key milestones on doctors' growth charts by the age of two face double... more »

• Missing da Vinci may soon be uncovered Play Video

  October 1, 2011 2:14 PM

  CHICAGO - New technology being developed in the United States could help solve one of the great art mysteries of all time. A lost Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece, in Italy, could finally be uncovered all thanks to a new device developed in Chicago. In 1505, da Vinci began creating... more »

• Fans will continue to cheer Cubs, drink Old Style

  September 7, 2011 11:00 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago's iconic workingman's brew will continue to have a place at Wrigley Field. Old Style-maker Pabst Brewing Co. and the Chicago Cubs announced Wednesday that the brew that has been available to fans since 1950 will be peddled at the Wrigley Field through 2013. Pabst threatened earlier... more »

• Gas prices drop slightly over past 2 weeks

  July 10, 2011 5:19 PM

  CAMARILLON, Calif. (AP) - The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has dropped about a penny in the past two weeks. That's according to the Lundberg Survey of fuel prices, released Sunday, which puts the price of a gallon of regular at $3.62. Midgrade costs an... more »

• AMA: Doctors shortchanged by insurers' mistakes

  June 20, 2011 11:33 AM

  CHICAGO (AP) - The nation's largest doctors' group says about one in five payments of medical claims by commercial health insurers is inaccurate, shortchanging physicians. The American Medical Association released its annual report card on insurers Monday. The AMA says eliminating mistakes would save doctors and insurers $17 billion... more »

• Miller helping Heat, while thoughts with daughter

  May 25, 2011 4:20 PM

  MIAMI (AP) - Mike Miller is heading to Chicago with concerns about his new daughter's health. Miller and his wife welcomed a new daughter named Jaelyn last week, who has remained in the pediatric intensive care unit of a South Florida hospital. Miller says her condition is improving, and... more »

• Emanuel sworn in as Chicago's new mayor

  May 16, 2011 5:18 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has been sworn in as Chicago's first new mayor in two decades. Emanuel took the oath of office during an inauguration ceremony at the downtown Millennium Park. He replaces Mayor Richard M. Daley, who retired after 22 years... more »

• Man pleads guilty in murder-for-hire case

  April 28, 2011 6:11 PM

  DENVER (AP) - A Chicago developer accused of flying to Denver to arrange the murder of a business associate has pleaded guilty to one charge in exchange for others being dropped. Brooks Kellogg appeared Thursday in federal court in Denver where he pleaded guilty to interstate travel with intent... more »

• Rahm Emanuel back on the Chicago ballot

  January 27, 2011 7:10 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - The Illinois Supreme Court has put Rahm Emanuel back on the ballot for Chicago mayor. Thursday's decision revives the campaign of the former White House chief of staff who was thrown off the Feb. 22 ballot by an Illinois appellate court for not meeting a residency requirement... more »

• Appeals Court: Rahm Emmanuel can't be on Chicago ballot

  January 24, 2011 1:27 PM

  CHICAGO (AP) - An Illinois Appeals Court has ruled that Rahm Emanuel's name can't appear on the ballot for Chicago mayor because he didn't live in the city in the year before the election. The voted 2-1 on Monday to overturn a lower court ruling to keep Emanuel's name... more »

• DA says Pueblo teen will face adult murder charge

  January 11, 2011 6:55 PM

  A 17-year will be charged as an adult in the murder of a Pueblo West man, according to the Pueblo's District Attorney's office. Torey Kuznicki is from Pueblo, but he was arrested on December 27, 2010 outside of Chicago. News First 5 has now learned Kuznicki has waived extradition... more »

• Hit man for hire case could go to trial in January

  November 9, 2010 7:02 PM

  DENVER (AP) - A Chicago businessman is tentatively scheduled to stand trial Jan. 3 for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to murder a business associate. Brooks Kellogg pleaded not guilty last week to using interstate commerce facilities and mails in the commission of murder-for-hire and solicitation to... more »

• Winds halt flights at O'Hare airport

  October 26, 2010 8:57 AM

  CHICAGO (AP) - High winds have forced authorities to stop flights at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. A spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation says officials issued a temporary ground stop at O'Hare on Tuesday, meaning no flights are departing. Aviation Department spokeswoman Karen Pride says more... more »

• Chicago developer hires hit man to kill Colorado resident

  October 22, 2010 8:29 AM

  DENVER (AP) - Federal authorities say a real estate developer from Chicago hired a hit man to kill a Colorado man over a court dispute. The hit man turned out to be an undercover agent. The U.S. District Attorney's office says Brooks Kellogg paid $2,000 to an undercover agent... more »

• 5 states make final pitch in Asian carp case

  October 18, 2010 12:34 PM

  Attorneys for and against closing Chicago-area shipping locks to stop the spread of Asian carp are making their final pitches to a federal judge. Oral arguments Monday are the last step before Judge Robert Dow decides the issue. Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin say the action would... more »

• Search halted for missing hiker

  October 13, 2010 11:01 AM

  The search for a Chicago hiker missing in the Colorado mountains near Vail has been suspended. The search for James Nelson, 31, in the rugged Holy Cross Wilderness near Vail ended at midnight Tuesday. Eagle County sheriff Joe Hoy said he and search and rescue volunteers made the... more »

• No sign of missing hiker near Vail

  October 12, 2010 8:35 AM

  Colorado authorities are searching for a Chicago hiker who hasn't been heard from for a week. The search for James Nelson resumed Monday at the Mount of the Holy Cross near Vail. A Colorado National Guard helicopter dropped off a search team and another helicopter was looking for... more »

• Chicago hiker missing near Mount of the Holy Cross

  October 11, 2010 1:55 PM

  VAIL, Colo. (AP) - Colorado authorities are searching for a Chicago hiker who hasn't been heard from for a week. The search for James Nelson resumed Monday at the Mount of the Holy Cross near Vail. A Colorado National Guard helicopter dropped off a search team and another helicopter... more »

• Colorado rescuers search for hiker near Vail

  October 11, 2010 8:25 AM

  Colorado authorities say they're searching for a Chicago hiker who hasn't been heard from for a week. The Eagle County Sheriff's Office says a search and rescue effort began Saturday for James Nelson. The 31-year-old set out on a five-day hike of Mount of the Holy Cross near Vail... more »

• Chief of Staff Emanuel says goodbye to White House

  October 1, 2010 12:37 PM

  President Barack Obama has formally announced the departure of his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, praising him as "extraordinarily well-qualified" for his new challenge - a run for mayor of Chicago. Emanuel stood next to Obama as the president gave him a high-profile send-off in the East Room. ... more »

• Sources: Emanuel leaving White House on Friday

  September 30, 2010 1:05 PM

  Two people close to Rahm Emanuel say he will resign as White House chief of staff Friday. They say he will begin his campaign for Chicago mayor by meeting with voters in the city on Monday. Emanuel's plans have been the source of widespread speculation both in Chicago... more »

• Spurred by NY, 10 cities launch volunteer programs

  September 29, 2010 8:18 AM

  Ten U.S. cities are recruiting volunteers to help with local challenges as part of a nationwide emphasis on service led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Volunteers will work on problems such as flood recovery in Nashville, Tenn., and childhood obesity in Newark, N.J. Bloomberg is scheduled to... more »

• United, Continental shareholders vote on deal

  September 17, 2010 8:29 AM

  Shareholders of United's parent company and Continental Airlines are voting on a deal that would create the world's biggest airline. Results of the voting will be announced Friday. If shareholders approve, the deal is expected to close in the next two weeks. Then the real work begins, including... more »

• WH Chief of Staff eyeing Chicago mayor's office

  September 8, 2010 2:25 PM

  White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says being mayor of Chicago isn't something that rolls around often. And he says he's sure chief of staff Rahm Emanuel will take some time to weigh his options. Emanuel has made no secret of wanting to run for Chicago mayor one day. ... more »

• Dutch arrest 2 men after flight from US

  August 31, 2010 8:21 AM

  A cell phone taped to a Pepto Bismol bottle, and a knife and boxcutter. Those are the 'suspicious' items found in the checked luggage of two men who flew aboard a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Amsterdam. One man went through security in Birmingham, Ala., on his way... more »

• Alligator spotted in Chicago River

  August 24, 2010 11:06 AM

  The Chicago River is beginning to resemble the Everglades. For the second time in a month an alligator has been spotted sunning himself along the banks of the North Branch of the Chicago River. The most recent gator is a little less shy, coming into view of neighbors and... more »

• Frontier Airlines to keep Denver-Aspen flights

  August 18, 2010 8:48 AM

  Frontier Airlines will fly between Denver and Aspen this ski season after all. Frontier originally said it wouldn't fly the route after September as it phased out its Q400 turboprop planes. But on Tuesday, the Republic Airways subsidiary said it will keep three Q400s so it can serve Aspen... more »

• Gunmen kill 8-year-old Chicago girl as she plays

  August 11, 2010 9:51 AM

  Police say two gunmen on bicycles killed an 8-year-old girl and wounded her younger cousin as the children were skipping rope in a Chicago neighborhood. Deputy Police Superintendent Ernest Brown says the shooting happened Tuesday evening in Roseland on Chicago's South Side. Brown says the two men rolled up... more »

• Blagojevich will not testify

  July 21, 2010 11:13 AM

  CHICAGO (AP) - Rod Blagojevich's attorneys say the ousted Illinois governor will not testify at his corruption trial. Blagojevich had long pledged to take the stand in his own defense, saying for months that he wanted to do so to set the record straight. But his attorneys initially said... more »

• Airline passengers restrain unruly flyer

  July 6, 2010 3:45 PM

  An unruly passenger aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City forced the pilots to make an unscheduled landing in Denver. Southwest Airlines spokesman Chris Mainz said the pilots aboard Flight 3655 declared an emergency Monday night and landed at Denver International Airport. Other passengers... more »

• Key witness takes stand in Blagojevich trial

  June 9, 2010 1:33 PM

  A longtime member of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's inner circle has taken the stand in his corruption trial to testify against him. Alonzo Monk is considered a key witness. Prosecutors say he was part of a tight group around Blagojevich who pressed companies for campaign cash on Blagojevich's... more »

• Heaviest contestant ever wins The Biggest Loser

  May 26, 2010 12:23 PM

  Michael Ventrella is half the man he used to be, and for that the Chicago DJ is the newest champion of "The Biggest Loser." He lost 264 pounds on his way to winning $250,000. When he walked onto the show's ranch with his mother, Maria, Michael weighed 526 pounds.... more »

• Chicago couple found buried alive under trash

  May 25, 2010 10:15 AM

  Authorities say two people in their 70s were found buried under mounds of trash in their home on Chicago's South Side. Police Lt. Dale Kingsley says their home was "packed from floor to ceiling" with garbage and may have to be condemned. Chicago Fire Department paramedics conducting a well-being... more »

• Chicago's mayor sorry about off-color gun comment

  May 21, 2010 8:45 PM

  Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says he's sorry he suggested he'd put a rifle up the butt of a reporter who'd asked him about the effectiveness of the city's handgun ban. Daley said Friday while he regrets his exact words, he hopes his comments will get people thinking about the dangers... more »

• Toy dart guns recalled after 2 deaths

  May 17, 2010 9:17 AM

  The government is recalling 1.8 million toy dart gun sets after two boys choked to death on the darts. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says a 9-year-old boy in Chicago and a 10-year-old boy in Milwaukee died after they chewed on the one-inch, soft-plastic darts, which slipped into their... more »