The revised measure is designed to tighten regulations on recycling centers and industrial operations in an effort to reduce air pollution on the South and West sides. A final vote is scheduled for the full City Council meeting on March 24.

Illinois officials plan on how to spend roughly $13 billion from the stimulus bill. Mayor Lightfoot hints at a near normal summer for Chicago. State lawmakers head back to Springfield. And Loyola and the University of Illinois brace for the NCAA tournament.

Legislation awaiting the governor’s signature could shut down the payday lending industry in Illinois, but payday proponents say that could lead to a host of bigger problems.

One year after the nation was brought to a near-standstill by the coronavirus, President Joe Biden used his first prime-time address to outline his plan Thursday night to make all adults vaccine-eligible by May 1 and get the country “closer to normal” by the Fourth of July.

Several aldermen on Thursday called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to use approximately $50 million from the city’s share of the latest COVID-19 relief package to fund cash assistance payments to Chicagoans struggling to stay afloat. Lightfoot declined to support cash assistance payments to Chicagoans in a statement to WTTW News.

Aldermen on Thursday said they would do more than just talk about whether the city should pay reparations to Chicagoans who are the descendants of enslaved African Americans, but acknowledged that it had taken too long to even begin the discussion.

A just-launched program will bring coronavirus vaccines to residents at temporary pop-up sites across suburban Cook County as part of an “equity-focused approach to the vaccine distribution,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Thursday.

Applications for the new program are being accepted through April 9. Suburban residents can receive up to $15,000 in assistance to cover up to 12 months of missed rent and utility payments and up to three months of future rent payments. 

Since March 2020, city inspectors have conducted more than 8,809 investigations and cited 462 businesses for violating COVID-19 regulations, officials said. The latest round of citations comes as city officials warned residents about St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

About 700 U.S. women die annually because of pregnancy-related problems, and a little over half of those deaths happen sometime after the woman has given birth, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Joe Biden’s signature $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package is expected to bring roughly $13 billion in aid to Illinois. We ask four state senators about the American Rescue Plan.

A Congress riven along party lines approved the landmark $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Wednesday, as President Joe Biden and Democrats claimed a major triumph on legislation marshaling the government’s spending might against twin pandemic and economic crises that have upended a nation. 

The Senate confirmed Merrick Garland on Wednesday to be the next U.S. attorney general with a strong bipartisan vote, placing the widely-respected, veteran judge in the post as President Joe Biden has vowed to restore the Justice Department's reputation for independence.

The 17-acre former industrial site in Brighton Park will encompass not only the Park District’s new headquarters, but a field house, nature play space, grand lawn, water features and more. “It’s going to be transformative,” said Park District Board President Avis LaVelle.

A new program in Chicago will offer minority-owned firms that have city contracts access to financing from the federal government as part of the city’s effort to help businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Will two massive summer events take place this year amid an accelerated rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine — and the possible end to the pandemic? Or can Chicagoans expect another round of “re-imagined festivals” in 2021, with virtual concerts replacing in-person events?