It’s crunch time for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who first promised to introduce her own plan for an elected board to oversee the police department eight months ago.

It’s been two years since Chicago got a new mayor when Lori Lightfoot was sworn into office. For the latest in our community reporting series, we visit Lightfoot’s neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

A trio of aldermen gave Mayor Lori Lightfoot poor marks for her accomplishments during her first two years in office, citing her record on crime and divisive governing style during an interview Thursday on “Chicago Tonight.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday renewed her campaign promise to breathe new life into neighborhoods that have faced decades of disinvestment. And she acknowledged that she felt “despair” at times during the past two years while she confronted the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest and an economic meltdown.

Israel and Hamas announced a cease-fire Thursday, ending a bruising 11-day war that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a standstill.

Chicagoans struggling to make ends meet because of the COVID-19 pandemic can apply for grants to cover 15 months of missed rental payments starting Monday, officials said.

Full-capacity block parties will return to the city’s streets starting July 5 as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wane — but bounce houses will not be allowed, officials announced Thursday. Applications for the street gatherings will be accepted starting June 6.

The Treasury Department said Monday that 39 million families are set to receive monthly child payments beginning on July 15.

President Joe Biden’s efforts to persuade Benjamin Netanyahu to halt military strikes against Hamas in Gaza are plunging the two leaders into a difficult early test of the U.S.-Israeli relationship.

The measure would give the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection the authority to license tow trucks in Chicago in an effort to crack down on the kind of operators immortalized in song by Steve Goodman as “Lincoln Park Pirates.”

Independent journalist Jamie Kalven called the revised plan for the database “nothing more an exercise in smoke and mirrors.” The city's watchdog hammered the plan as “significantly smaller step, in scope and scale” than the one presented to aldermen in April.

Top Republicans in Congress are working to stop the formation of an independent commission into the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, aligning themselves with former President Donald Trump ahead of a Wednesday House vote on the proposal.

President Joe Biden and progressive Democrats have proposed to lower Medicare’s eligibility age to 60, to help older adults get affordable coverage. But a new study finds that Medicare can be more expensive than other options, particularly for many people of modest means.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signaled Monday that he’ll lift the statewide ban on evictions in August, prompting widespread concern that the move will lead to a sudden burst of evictions.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday that the state’s ban on evictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will be phased out during the next three months before expiring in August.

Aldermen and Mayor Lori Lightfoot have agreed to create a database of police misconduct files dating back to 2000, an effort championed by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson as a way to start restoring Chicagoans’ trust in officers, Ald. Scott Waguespack has told WTTW News.