According to data released Thursday by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, 1,026 people died last year from opioid overdoses, a nearly 44% drop from 2023. The vast majority of overdose deaths, about 87%, involved fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is about 100 times more potent than morphine.

A major winter storm is slated to wallop a large swath of the U.S., dumping heavy snow from Kansas to Maryland and bringing some regions what could be the heaviest snowfall in more than a decade.

Starting around midnight Sunday, a band of snow that could leave as much as six to more than 12 inches of snow is possible across the middle portion of Illinois, including Springfield, with the southern counties getting hit with icing conditions.