The former owner of the Budlong Hot Chicken chain and other restaurants in Chicago and Denver has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after admitting he fraudulently obtained more than $2.3 million in COVID relief funds and failed to turn over more than $430,000 in taxes withheld from his employees.

A Chicago Police sergeant who was accused of using excessive force against protesters at a children’s storytime event featuring comedian Tiffany Haddish in 2024 has been cleared of nearly all misconduct allegations, including the central claim that he unjustifiably tackled a demonstrator. Investigators instead found that the officer was the victim in the confrontation, having hot coffee thrown on him and being battered by multiple people at the scene. The woman who filed the complaint, officials said, wasn’t even present at the protest.

A Chicago alderman has launched his reelection campaign and continued his push to get on the ballot for Congress, even after recently-unsealed divorce records showed his ex-wife claimed he previously spent marital funds on prostitutes and pornography.

The armed parolee whom Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera was chasing when her partner unintentionally shot and killed her last year is now facing federal drug distribution charges, one of five men charged in a major undercover federal drug investigation that, according to a law enforcement source, was prompted in part by Rivera’s on-duty death in June 2025.