Bicycle sales in Chicago have surged over the past year as the pandemic has forced more and more people outside for exercise and recreation. But it’s hardly the city’s first “bike boom.” Geoffrey Baer takes us back to when Chicago was called “the Detroit of bicycles.” 

An analysis of nearly 3 million Chicago Police Department patrol assignments found that compared to white officers, Black and Hispanic officers made far fewer stops and arrests — and used force less often — especially against Black civilians. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said if the city and county were to follow the plan laid out by the governor, it would add additional stress to a vaccination effort that has left many scrambling to find an available appointment.

Watch the Feb. 11, 2021 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The airline said it will help electric-aircraft startup Archer develop an aircraft capable of helicopter-style, vertical takeoffs and landings. Archer hopes to deliver its first aircraft in 2024, if it wins certification from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Now that Chicago Public Schools has reached an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union over a safe reopening plan, CPS CEO Janice Jackson said she’s committed to using the framework of that deal to get high school students back into their schools.

The numbers point to a still-elevated number of layoffs. Before the virus erupted in the United States in March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession.

Prosecutors unveiled chilling new security video in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Wednesday, showing the mob of rioters breaking into the Capitol, smashing windows and doors and searching menacingly for Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as overwhelmed police begged on their radios for help.

Powerful video evidence is presented at former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. Our politics team of Amanda Vinicky, Paris Schutz and Heather Cherone takes on that story and more in this week’s roundtable.

The Illinois State Board of Education is working on a new set of teaching standards for what it calls “culturally sensitive and responsive teaching.” We hear about the possible pros and cons of the new rule.

A long-awaited exhibit has made its way to the U.S. and Chicago is the first stop on the tour. We get a first look at this one-of-a-kind digital experience.

House Democrats muscled past Republicans on portions of President Joe Biden’s pandemic plan, including a proposed $130 billion in additional relief to help the nation’s schools reopen and a gradual increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

With federal vaccine supplies steadily increasing, Illinois will soon begin vaccinating people ages 16 and older who have certain underlying health conditions, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday. But Chicago is still struggling to meet demand for the vaccine.

Less than 9% of the trash produced every year by Chicago residents is kept out of landfills — a rate that has not budged for four years. 

Streaming through Sunday, “Before Fiddler” is the latest of the many remarkable feats of musical storytelling from Hershey Felder, the multitalented writer, actor, pianist and producer renowned for his solo shows about composers.