Pfizer Inc. said Friday that its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in high-risk adults, as the drugmaker joined the race for an easy-to-use medication to treat the coronavirus.

The House passed the measure 228-206 late Friday, prompting prolonged cheers from the relieved Democratic side of the chamber. Thirteen Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation while six of Democrats’ farthest left members opposed it.

Following controversial remarks by McDonald’s CEO, a new campaign asks the company to do more than apologize. That story and more with Crain’s Chicago Business reporter A.D. Quig.

The Biden administration framed its vaccine mandate for private employers in life-and-death terms Monday in a legal filing that sought to get the requirement back on track after it was halted by a federal court.

Opponents of the measure are concerned that greenlighting sports betting lounges at Wrigley Field, United Center, Wintrust Arena, Solider Field and Guaranteed Rate Field would stunt the growth of a casino-resort in Chicago.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner did not elaborate on his specific safety concerns voiced Friday at the Astroworld festival, an event founded by Travis Scott that was attended by some 50,000 people. His department has launched a criminal investigation into what went wrong.

Clearer pictures began to emerge Sunday of some of the eight people who died after fans at the Astroworld music festival in Houston suddenly surged toward the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott.

The bells will be clanging, but coins won’t necessarily be clinking as the Salvation Army kicks off its annual Red Kettle campaign Monday. With people carrying less cash, the Salvation Army has adjusted to accept more contactless payment methods in 2021.

A look at the disaster that killed eight people at a concert in Texas. Younger kids are vaccine eligible as a COVID-19 pill becomes available in the U.K. What the federal infrastructure bill could mean for Illinois.

The victims included a 16-year-old boy who was killed in Garfield Park on Saturday afternoon and a 36-year-old man who was fatally shot following a confrontation as he tried to park his car in his garage in Belmont Cragin.

The National Weather Service is encouraging folks to get out and enjoy what could be the last day to reach the mid- to upper-60s in 2021. 

In spite of Lightfoot’s solemn pledge to immediately go after the “blood money” earned by gangs who terrorize Chicagoans, the mayor has not publicly mentioned her so-called “Victims’ Justice Ordinance” since that City Hall news conference on Sept. 14.

Hedy Weiss reviews the Lyric Opera production of “The Magic Flute,” a Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert, and “Homecoming,” the latest entry in the CSO’s MusicNOW series.

Phil Turner, a former federal prosecutor and attorney in Chicago who isn’t involved in the case, said Binger is trying to show jurors that Rittenhouse didn’t know what he was doing and that they shouldn’t believe his self-defense claims.

City officials said Saturday they were in the early stages of investigating the pandemonium that unfolded Friday evening at Astroworld, a sold-out, two-day event in NRG Park with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance.