Friday, January 2, 2026

Homicides and opioid deaths dropped in Cook County in 2025, and the news comes as Chicago had its lowest number of homicides in 60 years. One new Illinois law that went into effect at the start of the new year will regulate how employers use artificial intelligence when hiring new workers. Melissa Nunez and Elizabeth Branske were chosen in a raffle out of nearly a thousand couples to receive Cook County’s first marriage license of 2026. Plus, in the U.S., Black men who start college are up against a huge deficit of resources when it comes to finishing and getting their degree. In the majority-Black Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, just one in four who make it to campus graduate within six years. Three generations of Black men with ties to Austin who have helped each other overcome this disparity.