Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday the city’s travel order could lift for all states and territories “soon” as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes. Michigan and Minnesota are the only Midwestern states now covered by the order.

Chicago officials lifted the city’s mask mandate for fully vaccinated residents on Tuesday, but the city’s top doctor said she “strongly advises” businesses to require their employees and patrons to wear face coverings until the city fully reopens.

The massive four-day music festival that Mayor Lori Lightfoot says is “synonymous with summer” will return this year after being canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic. The lineup will be announced at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Typically, a substantive piece of legislation like the creation of an elected board to oversee the police department would be unlikely to pass without the support of the mayor — but the City Council may be poised to buck Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

President Joe Biden expressed support for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, the eighth day of air strikes and rocket barrages that have killed at least 200 people, most of them Palestinians in Gaza. 

Following new CDC guidance, Gov. J.B. Pritzker lifted the state’s mask mandate for fully vaccinated residents on Monday. But Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she will continue to wear a mask, both indoors and outdoors, even though she is fully vaccinated. 

The Israeli military unleashed a wave of heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Monday, saying it destroyed 9 miles of militant tunnels and the homes of nine Hamas commanders, as international diplomats worked to end the week of fighting that has killed hundreds of people.

Illinois residents who lost their jobs or found their paychecks scaled back because of the COVID-19 pandemic can apply for up to $25,000 to cover missed rent payments starting Monday, officials said.

Black hair has been politicized, penalized and legislated throughout history. As a bill addressing hair discrimination heads to the Illinois House, we break down the politics of Black hair.

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City flattened three buildings and killed at least 42 people Sunday, Palestinian medics said, in the deadliest single attack in the latest round of violence. 

Israel slammed the Gaza Strip with airstrikes on Saturday, in a dramatic escalation that included bombing the home of a senior Hamas leader, killing a family of 10 in a refugee camp — most of them children — and pulverizing a high-rise that housed The Associated Press and other media.

The House is expected to vote next week on two bills aimed at preventing more attacks on the U.S. Capitol, with one seeking to establish a 9/11-style commission to study what went wrong on Jan. 6 and the other allocating $1.9 billion to address the security problems revealed by the insurrection.

Illinois enters the reopening bridge phase as summer festivals are announced. Leaked emails spell trouble for the mayor. Rahm may be headed to Japan. And the sudden death of a Chicago star-architect.

Chicago officials announced Friday they will consider making electric scooters a permanent part of the city’s transportation system after the results of a second trial run found a demand for the two-wheelers.

The Chicago Police Department has announced changes to its search warrant policy that will go into effect later this month following widespread calls for reform after a botched raid at the home of Anjanette Young in February 2019.

President Joe Biden planned to meet Friday with six young immigrants who benefited from an Obama-era policy that protected those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.