Complete coverage of the novel coronavirus from WTTW News and “Chicago Tonight.”

Think things are bleak on planet Earth? At lease it’s not raining metal. That’s the kind of bizarre climate scientists recently observed on an ultra-hot exoplanet they’ve dubbed WASP-76b, located 640 million light-years away.

Mass at all Archdiocese of Chicago churches will be suspended starting Saturday until further notice in an effort to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. “This is not a decision I made lightly,” Archbishop Blase Cupich said in a statement. 

The spotted lanternfly, oak wilt, gypsy moth and boxwood blight are among the latest threats in the plant world. And citizen scientists have a role to play when it comes to stopping the next plague.

You’re washing your hands countless times a day to try to ward off the coronavirus. You should also wash that extension of your hand and breeding ground for germs — your phone. But cleaning your phone improperly can damage it. 

Lawyers for a short-order cook shot by Chicago police trying to arrest him for using a subway train’s gangway doors filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging officers used excessive force in violation of policies laid out in court-monitored police reforms.

Healthy students should still go to school, but for the next 30 days there should be no more parades, professional sports game, rock concerts and no banquets anywhere in Illinois as officials seek to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus.

If it hasn’t already, an invitation should be arriving in the mail any day now – an invitation to participate in the 2020 U.S. Census. And for the first time, it’s possible to respond to the census over the internet.

The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic is being felt by industries and businesses in Chicago and across Illinois, from large hotel chains and restaurants to independent movie theaters and music venues. 

U.S. stocks on Thursday recorded their biggest single-day fall since the notorious Black Monday crash of 1987 as coronavirus fears accelerated.

United Airlines is already reeling from the coronavirus impact on travel to Asia. It’s getting another abrupt shock Thursday from President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend travel from Europe.

Political ads have been flooding the airways for months in the race for Cook County state’s attorney. And they have been getting increasingly nasty.

Watch the March 12, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

A committee of Chicago City Council members on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution calling on state lawmakers to take action on Peoples Gas rates, calling out the company for its multibillion-dollar System Modernization Program.

Southwest Side residents are mobilizing to pump the brakes on MAT Asphalt’s application for a 10-year permit from the Illinois EPA, and say they don’t trust the agency to put people over profit.