The Latest Breaking News from Cook County

A measure sent to the governor would let public agencies take action on vacant homes before they get lost in Cook County’s tax sale process.

Jail programs are still able to use reading and writing materials, and individuals in custody also receive legal mail and documents from their attorneys, after it is screened for drugs and contraband. There is no ham-fisted ‘book banning’ or denying legal material.

Banning flavored e-cigarettes is a good start to protecting public health, but the ban should be comprehensive and include menthol and mint flavors.

Since last year, 129 people on electronic monitoring were rearrested while on furlough days that allow for free movement without constant monitoring. ‘Essential movement’ is a dangerous gamble. Sheriff Tom Dart plans to ask lawmakers to get rid of it.

Chicago hosted an international conference on teaching chess to detainees in jails and prisons. Officials from the International Chess Federation and corrections agencies from around the world are exploring how chess can be used to help rehabilitate incarcerated people.

About 6:50 p.m., the 25-year-old man was in the 700 block of East 133rd Place when he was shot, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Cook County Judge Charles Burns, who’s presided over 23 graduations in 13 years running the court, sped the process for the 10 participants to get felonies removed from court records.

The sheriff points to 129 rearrests of people on “essential movement” furloughs since the reform took effect Jan. 1, 2022. The public defender’s office says the laws rightly lets people go to the doctor, do laundry and shop.

After an appellate court ruling that said the sheriff was ambiguous on restrictions, Dart’s office says residents on EM “are not permitted to be in common areas of multi-unit buildings, including but not limited to vestibules, laundry facilities, mailrooms or other units unless authorized.”