The standoff between CPS and the teachers union leaves parents in the lurch. Plus, contracts for domestic workers. And meet a local man turning his pandemic hobby into a business. 

In a major announcement this week, longtime Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush announced he will not be seeking another term.

The Chicago Teachers Union on Saturday sent a new proposal to the city hoping to resolve its ongoing labor action in which its members have refused to work in schools in-person during a spike in COVID-19 cases

In the lawsuit, parents claim the union’s action is actually an “illegal strike” — language that’s also been used by Mayor Lori Lightfoot. They want a judge to order teachers to return to their schools and resume in-person learning.

Any hope that a holiday break could reset the raging dispute over the map that will shape Chicago politics for the next decade and determine the balance of power between Black, Latino and Asian Chicagoans was extinguished Friday as members of the City Council clashed during the first of four public hearings scheduled this month.

Chicago schools shut down in a dispute between teachers and administrators. Arne Duncan teases a potential mayoral run. Remembering Jan. 6. And Lightfoot vows a reset on crime in 2022.

Fully vaccinated and mostly masked, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared skeptical Friday of the Biden administration’s authority to impose a vaccine-or-testing requirement on the nation’s large employers. 

Three white men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery were sentenced Friday to life in prison, with a judge denying any chance of parole for the father and son who armed themselves and initiated the deadly pursuit of the 25-year-old Black man.

In response to concerns about putting a see-through glass tower in the path of migrating birds, Carvana revised its plan to incorporate bird-friendly components. Critics called the proposed mitigations “woefully inadequate.” 

U.S. regulators on Friday shortened the time that people who received Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine have to wait for a booster — to five months rather than six.

Chicagoans woke up Friday to sub-zero temperatures, the first time in nearly a year the mercury has dipped into the negatives. In anticipation of the cold snap, officials issued reminders and tips.

The Chicago Principals and Administrators Association said it was “blindsided” by the announcement. “Principals don’t determine the resources and conditions that leave some schools ready to open and others unable to,” it said. 

Interviewed before this week’s anniversary of the attack, 10 of the House members who were in the gallery talked of being deeply shaken by their experience, recalling viscerally the sights and sounds amid the chaos.

One-on-one with Mayor Lightfoot as classes are canceled for a second day. Will there be school tomorrow? Local members of congress and observers reflect on one year since the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

While a few school buildings may be open to students, Chicago Public Schools has once again canceled classes as negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union continue.