Governments at the local, state and federal levels run a vast number of anti-poverty programs, but poverty rates remain high. The two political parties rarely consider solutions that do not involve spending more public money. Our leaders would be better off eliminating barriers to work rather than fussing over finances, according to Josh Bandoch, head of policy at the Illinois Policy Institute.

Bandoch works extensively within the Illinois Policy Institute’s Center for Poverty Solutions, which researches poverty trends. Through a meticulous comparison of poverty studies, Bandoch found surprising agreement between left- and right-leaning think tanks on seven issues that could reduce the poverty rate in the United States. He discusses these findings in detail on the Overton Window podcast.

It looks like the ShotSpotter system will be taken offline in Chicago before proponents of the gunshot detection system can make a last attempt to save it.

Rules Committee Chair Michelle Harris (8th) made certain of it on Friday by placing on Monday’s agenda an ordinance giving Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling the power to extend the existing ShotSpotter deal or enter into a new contract for similar technology.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has made little progress hiring civilians to new administrative positions in the Chicago Police Department this year, leaving mostly unfulfilled his promise to move the cops now doing that work to the street to fight crime.

A year ago, the mayor earned plaudits from fiscal watchdogs and policing experts for pledging to create 398 civilian positions in his 2024 budget plan. It was part of a bid to shift desk duty roles away from sworn personnel, thereby freeing up them to do police work while cutting costs.

Jam-packed Metra cars and CTA platforms. Fewer expresses and more milk-run trains. A one-hour lag between Pace buses.

Those are some of the worst-case scenarios that could happen when federal COVID-19 aid runs out in 2026, leaving a $730 million transit budget hole, a Regional Transportation Authority analysis finds.

The FBI is investigating what it said is an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump at his Florida golf club Sunday, the second time in two months there’s been an apparent attempt on the former president’s life.

Trump is safe and was not harmed in the incident, his campaign said. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said during a Sunday news conference that his office was informed at 1:30 p.m. ET of shots fired by the Secret Service, when agents fired at a man who had a rifle in the bushes along the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club.