A look at the political and economic ramifications of the COVID-19 surge. Our politics team and guest reporters weigh in on that and more.

In a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday, federal prosecutors said former Ald. Ricardo Muñoz “abused his public position and betrayed the public trust” by embezzling nearly $38,000 in city money over the course of approximately three years.

The United States grew by only 0.1%, with an additional 392,665 added to the U.S. population from July 2020 to July 2021, according to population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Manchin told “Fox News Sunday” that after five-and-half months of negotiations among Democrats in which he was his party’s chief obstacle to passage, “I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can’t. I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there.”

The Metropolitan Planning Council just hired its first Black president and CEO. The nonprofit, which began in 1934, is an independent planning and policy organization that seeks to build a more sustainable and equitable Chicago.

The 48-21 vote returns the former Chicago mayor to public life more than three years after he announced he would not run for a third term in office amid the continuing uproar over the murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by a Chicago Police officer in 2014.

Omicron variant rips through Chicago and the U.S. The city gives the OK to stadium sports betting. Aurora Mayor may be a gubernatorial candidate. And downstate struggles with the aftermath of deadly storms.

“This extension is necessary as my office continues to address the heavy customer volume caused by the COVID-19 pandemic through expanded online services and the introduction of appointments at select Driver Services facilities,” Secretary of State Jesse White said in a statement Friday.

Repeal of the Parental Notification Act erases what has been described as Illinois’ last law restricting the procedure.

Some Chicago Public Library branches added Sunday afternoon hours beginning in December 2019 after Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed — and the Chicago City Council approved — an $18 million property tax hike as part of the city’s 2020 budget to fund the expansion.

For years, companies have sold data from cable, phone and power bills -- including names, home addresses and more.

At an hourslong hearing Thursday, the public got a look at what a Chicago casino might look like and where it would go.

The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill includes $15 billion to fund lead service replacement efforts, and $3 billion will flow to states and cities in 2022, officials announced.

The ruling gives the unions’ employees until Dec. 31 to get their first shot of one of the three approved COVID-19 vaccines, and until Jan. 31 to get the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer BioNtech vaccines.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot did not purposefully conceal information about the handling of the February 2019 raid that left Anjanette Young handcuffed while naked and pleading for help, according to the results of a probe ordered by the mayor released Thursday.

The Chicago City Council agreed Wednesday to pay $2.9 million to resolve the lawsuit brought by Anjanette Young after police officers handcuffed her while she was naked and ignored her pleas for help during a botched raid in February 2019.