COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities, but the opioid crisis is also taking a “devastating toll” on Chicago-area residents this year, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said.

A new set of 75 dispensary licenses, judged in part on social equity factors, was to have been awarded by May 1, but has been indefinitely delayed due to the coronavirus.

As theme parks across the country begin reopening, how are Chicago attractions faring?

They’re rare now, but rooftop water tanks once stood sentinel atop every large building in the city, keeping them safe from threat of fire.

The government reported Thursday that retail sales rose a sharp 7.5% in June, but the positive trend was undercut by more recent data showing that credit card spending has stalled. 

The Chicago Cubs got the green light Thursday to play home games on weekend nights, the “extraordinary circumstances” imposed by the coronavirus pandemic breaking a decadeslong ban on games under lights on Fridays and Saturdays.

Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey said Thursday the school district must begin the 2020-21 academic year with remote learning until there are firm guidelines and protocols in place to ensure kids and staff alike are protected from COVID-19.

The CTA’s ambitious Red and Purple Line modernization program will impact service for riders on the North Side for a four-week period starting Friday. And the agency’s plan to relocate a historic building takes a step forward.

After finding arsenic and lead in the soil at the Hegewisch Little League Field, the EPA tested a second a ball diamond in the neighborhood and found manganese. “We fight for every breath we take here,” said one resident.

Watch the July 16, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The hearing is expected to end on Friday with McHenry County Judge Robert Wilbrandt sentencing 37-year-old JoAnn Cunningham. She has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the beating death of her son, Andrew “AJ” Freund.

Inspector General Joseph Ferguson released a report Thursday that concluded Former Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson lied repeatedly about the incident and what happened afterward.

Museums and aquariums can now reopen their doors — with restrictions — but few of them have, and at least one Chicago institution says it will remain closed until phase five of Illinois’ reopening plan.

Will an uptick in COVID-19 cases lead to more restrictions across the city and state? Our politics team takes on that story and more in this week’s roundtable.

Even if you practice safe habits, there’s always a chance you’ll come into contact with someone who has COVID-19. There’s no guarantee you’ll get it too, but there’s also no guarantee you won’t. So what then?