Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez has threatened to file a lawsuit against the Board of Education and all seven of its members hours before they plan to fire him at a hastily called special meeting this evening. Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Relations was in Chicago this week strategizing with local agencies about what he called “challenges the local Mexican community faces.” A dramatic influx of immigrants over the past year helped Illinois witness its highest single-year population growth in decades.

One parent says she feels shut out of the debate about whether to keep the Chicago Public School chief in his job. Cook County might help more Chicagoans with guaranteed income now that the city has cut its own program. The Council on American Islamic Relations of Chicago, Sacramento and New Jersey announced a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department to demand it evacuates Palestinian-American citizens from Gaza.

A Cook County commissioner is calling for support for Amazon workers on strike. The Council on American Islamic Relations in Chicago is joining two other chapters to sue the U.S. State Department. The Chicago Cubs and Sammy Sosa are mending fences after years apart.

On the agenda for a special Chicago Board of Ed meeting Friday: the CEO's potential ouster. Cook County’s new top prosecutor drops charges against a cop recorded on video repeatedly punching an Arab American teenager. A news study found factors like gender, education and income are influencing one’s feeling of loneliness.

The prosecution is resting in the federal corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and co-defendant Michael McClain. A church on Chicago’s North Side wants to help people dealing with grief and sadness during the holidays through a Blue Christmas service tonight. Demolition is underway on a building that housed the E2 nightclub.

The head of Chicago’s Film Office is out of a job. It’s the latest in an ongoing staff shakeup at the city’s cultural arts department. Officials at Columbia College Chicago say program cuts are necessary to the school’s future. How Chicago’s 2025 budget will affect your pocketbook.

Advocate Health Care is making a $1 billion investment on Chicago’s South Side. Food delivery app GrubHub will pay nearly $25 million to customers, drivers and restaurants nationwide thanks to a multi-year investigation from the Illinois Attorney General’s office and the Federal Trade Commission. Chicago’s police oversight commission is asking residents to share their experiences with traffic stops this evening.

Chicago’s new budget avoids a property tax increase that the mayor had initially proposed. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announces who will serve on the partly elected, partly appointed school board that takes over this January. A measure in Springfield would make sure insurance companies aren’t relying on artificial intelligence to deny claims.

A lobbyist aligned with former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is testifying about the joke-worthy job expectations of a clout-heavy AT&T subcontractor. The Chicago Department of Public Health reports eight cases of mpox in the last three months. Illinois Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is sounding an alarm over the incoming president’s immigration plans.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is offering a fourth version of his budget proposal to the City Council he hopes will end weeks of tense negotiations and delays. Chicago Department of Public Health officials are closely monitoring hospitalizations from repertory viruses. The ACLU of Illinois is raising concerns about free speech at two north suburban public library systems.