Anti-violence programs could be seeing more federal dollars. Exploring country music’s roots in Black culture. And the ex-chair of the state Prisoner Review Board speaks out after a tragic death.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday announced his department’s plan to spend $78 million to support community violence intervention programs and research in Chicago and across the country.

Get to the airport early and do your research ahead of time about what you can pack, TSA officials said.

“Like many cities, we are in the process of recovering from the impact of the pandemic, resulting in vacancies, particularly our storefronts and offices,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “We have to respond to these changes. As a city, we have to do it in a creative and collaborative way.”

Sixteen tornadoes were reported Tuesday and Wednesday morning across Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, along with dozens of damaging wind reports, including gusts topping 100 mph in Kentucky. The Illinois tornado was reported by a trained weather spotter Tuesday near Manteno in Kankakee County, according to the National Weather Service.

Johnson makes a change to his administration. A meeting of two WWII veterans more than 80 years in the making. And we explore the surge of interest in women’s basketball.

Since Mayor Brandon Johnson took office, Cristina Pacione-Zayas has served as his first deputy chief of staff, charged with overseeing the city’s response to the arrival of nearly 38,500 migrants from the southern border.

Challenger Sharon Waller has bested incumbent Daniel “Pogo” Pogorzelski in the Democratic race to claim a seat on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s board of commissioners, according to unofficial results from the Chicago Board of Elections released Tuesday evening.