A worker prepares a drink infused with delta-8-THC at Wake-N-Bakery in the Lake View neighborhood. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file Hemp entrepreneurs are asking Illinois legislators to take a mellower approach to regulating delta-8 THC and other intoxicating, weedlike substances derived from the plant that have proliferated at smoke shops and convenience stores nationwide thanks to a loophole in federal law. Pushing back against proposed legislation that would effectively ban them, purveyors of the pot-adjacent products rallied this week in Springfield behind a bill sponsored by West Side stat ..read more

A young Palestinian with several bandages from injuries in Israeli air strikes is shown with others at Kuwait Hospital on Jan. 8, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza. Doctors say the humanitarian crisis is worsening in the city. Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty An American doctor volunteering in Gaza says the humanitarian crisis is becoming increasingly dire as the Israeli army begins to invade the southern town of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are trying to shelter. “Our patients are dying because of the lack of supplies, resources and shortage of staff,” the doctor says in a video dispatch share ..read more

Agentes del Departamento de Policía de la Universidad de Chicago permiten que los manifestantes vuelvan al patio el martes después de desalojar el campamento propalestino durante la noche en el campus del lado sur. Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times La policía del campus de la Universidad de Chicago desalojó a primera hora de la mañana del martes un campamento propalestino en la universidad, poniendo fin a una manifestación de ocho días que llevó a los estudiantes manifestantes y a las autoridades universitarias a una situación de estancamiento en relación con las demandas de los manifestantes. La a ..read more

A demonstrator is arrested Saturday by Chicago police officers as they cleared an encampment set up for several hours by students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to protest the Israel-Hamas war. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Chicago’s police oversight agency has received three complaints alleging excessive force by police at the pro-Palestinian protest outside the Art Institute over the weekend that ended with nearly 70 arrests. One protester said they were hit by an officer and taken to Thorek Memorial Hospital for treatment, according to a complaint filed with the Civilian Of ..read more

Even after dropping out of the presidential primary, Nikki Haley garnered a noticeable number of votes. Theo Wargo/Getty Donald Trump has a woman problem. That sounds like an obvious statement about the thrice-married former president who is currently defending himself against charges he paid off a porn star he slept with just months after his wife gave birth to their son. But Stormy Daniels — said porn star — isn’t the only woman stalking the embattled mogul, tying up his time and money, and threatening to upend his chance at a second term. There’s E. Jean Carroll. A jury found Trump li ..read more

Iris Chavez, sister of Irene Chavez, speaks at a February 2022 news conference about her family’s lawsuit over her sister’s death while in police custody. Brian Rich/Sun-Times file photo Chicago taxpayers will spend $1.75 million to compensate the family of a 33-year-old woman found hanged inside a police holding cell on the South Side. Irene Chavez was arrested in December 2021 for simple battery after an incident at the Jeffery Pub in South Shore. The $1.75 million settlement, on the agenda for Monday’s meeting of the City Council’s Finance Committee, will resolve a federal civil right ..read more

President Joe Biden arrives at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on Wednesday. Evan Vucci/Associated Press STURTEVANT, Wisc. — President Joe Biden raced into yet another battleground state Wednesday, continuing to push a contrast with Donald Trump on economic policy as his own reelection campaign readies a new $14 million advertising blitz aimed in part at Black, Latino and Asian American voters. Biden traveled to Sturtevant, Wisconsin, where he'll highlight a decision by Microsoft to build a $3.3 billion data center that is expected to create roughly 2,000 jobs. It's also the spo ..read more

Judge Charles Beach in the lobby of the Leighton Criminal Courthouse. Paul Beaty/For the Sun-Times Cook County Judge Charles Beach has presided over hundreds of pretrial hearings since Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail last fall. Despite all the anguish over the Pretrial Safety Act, Beach says he has been struck by how proceedings have significantly changed for the better in his courtroom. “I think we’ve come a very long way in the right direction,” he said in an interview last week. “Things are working well.” Under the old system of cash bail, Beach wa ..read more

President Joe Biden’s campaign has rolled out a massive operation in battleground Wisconsin, with 46 offices and more than 80 staffers on the ground. Biden barely beat former President Donald Trump in Wisconsin in 2020. Associated Press WASHINGTON — If you wonder about the timing of why President Joe Biden will be fundraising in Chicago on Wednesday — with Vice President Kamala Harris collecting campaign cash at a North Shore reception aimed at women donors May 16 — the reason is simple.  Chicago is a short hop from Milwaukee and Racine in battleground state Wisconsin. Biden and Har ..read more

Abortion-rights supporters yell at an anti-abortion counter-protester (in blue shirt) at an abortion rights rally in October 2021. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times For the second time in six months, a City Council committee is moving to shield women from intimidation and abuse from bullhorn-bearing protesters on their way into a West Loop abortion clinic. At the behest of Planned Parenthood and local Ald. Bill Conway (34th), the Committee on Public Safety once again agreed to establish a “quiet zone” around the abortion clinic operated by Family Planning Associates at 659 W. Washington Blvd. A sligh ..read more