David Schaper

The recent deadly attack at an airport in Istanbul underlines one of the biggest challenges for airport security: so-called, soft targets, the areas before you pass through security.

A Chicago program announced two years ago that allows homeowners in impoverished neighborhoods to buy vacant lots on their block for a dollar is off to a very slow start. Residents hoping to spruce up the lots, plant community gardens or turn them into gathering places are frustrated by slow city bureaucracy.

Gun control advocates in Chicago, where gun violence has reached epidemic proportions, are energized by this week's sit-in by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

EgyptAir flight 804 crashed into the Mediterranean in May while traveling from Paris to Cairo — killing all 66 people on board. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been recovered.

Accidental deaths are up by more than 15 percent from a decade ago. Safety officials point to opioids and heroin, but also to falls. Car crashes aren't killing as many people as they did a decade ago.

Some experts say replacing the TSA with private airport security firms wouldn't solve the problems causing long wait times and would do little to help this summer's busy travel season.

The head of the TSA is in Chicago Friday, trying to mend fences with city leaders and angry airline passengers who have been stuck waiting for hours to get through security checkpoints.

Investigators caution it is too soon to jump to conclusions about what brought down an EgyptAir flight over the Mediterranean Wednesday night. But there are early indications terrorism played a role.

The National Transportation Safety Board has scheduled a meeting next week to detail the probable cause of the accident, which killed 8 people and injured more than 200.

Lawmakers in Illinois and other states are considering legislation that would lengthen or eliminate statutes of limitations on crimes of sexual abuse of a child.

Dennis Hastert, the longest serving speaker of the House, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison in a hush money case tied to sexual abuse.

A man who says former House Speaker Dennis Hastert sexually molested him decades ago has sued Hastert. He says he wants the rest of a multimillion-dollar payoff that Hastert promised him.

The Chicago Police Department needs to acknowledge its racist history and use of excessive force, and it needs a major overhaul in the way it investigates officers and holds police accountable. That's according to a scathing report from a task force appointed by the city's mayor to issue recommendations for sweeping reform.

Chicago has a bad rat problem, and it gets worse when old buildings are demolished. Residents of a Chicago neighborhood decided to counter the rat invasion with natural enemies — feral cats.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has chosen a new interim police superintendent. Officer Eddie Johnson, currently chief of patrol, will take over what many see as the toughest police chief job in the country.

Authorities around the world are boosting security at airports and train stations after the suicide-bombings in Belgium. One option, used in other countries, is screening passengers at the front door.

This week's Metrorail closure in the nation's capital is another example that mass transit systems across the country suffer years of neglect, delayed and deferred maintenance, and inadequate funding.

Chicago police are under scrutiny for misconduct, and arrests and street stops are down. But more than 100 people have already been murdered there in 2016, double the number compared to last year.

Dr. Quentin Young, civil rights activist and public health advocate, died this week at the age of 92. The longtime Chicago resident was also a physician to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

New federal numbers show that amid falling gas prices, Americans drove a record 3.15 trillion vehicle miles last year. This also means more pollution and traffic gridlock.