Politics
Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood is home to immigrants from all over the world. But the area is now seeing an uptick in gun violence and threats to housing stability, the area alderman says.
New statewide totals: 24,593 cases, 948 deaths
The novel coronavirus has closed schools, restaurants, bars and businesses throughout the state, and on Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker revealed how the pandemic will cause a $2.7 billion shortfall this year and a $4.6 billion shortfall next year.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot called on the city’s watchdog to complete his probe into what happened before — and after — former Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was discovered asleep in his running car after a night of drinking.
“We have just been crushed” by the coronavirus, said Metra CFO Tom Farmer. The agency has seen ridership drop as much as 97% during the pandemic.
When the governor issued a stay-at-home order last month, cases of COVID-19 were more than doubling every three days in Chicago. Had that rate held steady, approximately 64,500 Chicagoans would have been sickened by now, according to new data.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot presided over the city’s first virtual meeting Wednesday morning from her office on the 5th floor of City Hall, with 48 aldermen connected via Zoom.
The United States is WHO’s largest single donor, contributing between $400 million and $500 million annually to the Geneva-based agency in recent years.
The City Council will write a new chapter in the history books Wednesday by meeting virtually to keep from spreading the coronavirus. The meeting will follow an “abbreviated agenda” and is designed “primarily to adopt rules addressing meetings by videoconference.”
Like other predominantly African American neighborhoods in Chicago, Austin has seen a disproportionately high number of COVID-19 cases. We speak with state Rep. La Shawn Ford, whose district includes much of the neighborhood and several western suburbs.
New statewide totals: 23,247 cases, 868 deaths
Gov. J.B. Pritzker says the state of Illinois is making strides in its fight against the novel coronavirus, pointing Tuesday to key metrics that show “a deceleration of virus transmission.”
Former President Barack Obama endorsed Joe Biden for president in a video message Tuesday that delivered a full-throated condemnation of President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Little Village community has already been hit disproportionately hard by COVID-19. Now, residents are fuming about the demolition of a smokestack that gave rise to a plume of dust and particulate matter that wafted through the neighborhood.
New statewide totals: 22,025 cases, 794 deaths
Between March 1 and April 4, the state received 513,173 initial unemployment claims, surpassing the total number of claims filed in 2019, according to Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Chicago is investigating the demolition of a former coal plant in Little Village and halting additional work at the site following an uproar over the smokestack’s implosion, which sent a plume of fine powder all over the neighborhood.
When We All Vote, a nonpartisan voting initiative, says Americans should have greater access to voting by mail, early in-person voting and online voter registration.
New statewide totals: 20,852 cases, 720 deaths
Confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Illinois eclipsed the 20,000 mark Sunday, but Gov. J.B. Pritkzer said there’s evidence the state may be “stabilizing” or “bending” the curve.