Stories by Amanda Vinicky

Worshippers were able to legally meet together Sunday in Chicago churches and other religious institutions — albeit with limitations in place — for the first time since orders meant to limit the spread of the coronavirus took effect.

Illinois’ total number of coronavirus cases reached 127,757 on Sunday as the state again reported fewer than 1,000 new cases over the past 24 hours. But doctors and officials fear that number could spike in the near future.

Chicagoans are once again free to roam the city at night. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has announced via social media that she was lifting her curfew order “effective immediately.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she supports neighbors being vigilant but that she won’t tolerate people taking up arms. “We’ve seen that end with tragic results across the country,” she said.

We get a taste of what some restaurant industry players experienced Wednesday as Chicago moved info phase three of its reopening plan.

Businesses in downtown Aurora were just beginning to reopen under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan. Then they were hit by property damage and theft after peaceful protests on Sunday turned destructive. 

Students who count on Chicago Public Schools for meals will not be able to get food from the district on Monday, due to “the evolving nature of activity across the city.”

Looters pillaged businesses throughout Chicago over the weekend, setting fire to stores, breaking windows and taking off with shoes, clothing, cellphones and liquor.

At Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s request, Gov. J.B. Pritzker activated 375 guard soldiers – one of several “new precautionary measures” to ensure “health and safety” after peaceful protests boiled over to looting and violence.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois is considering taking legal action to rein a nightly curfew Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has imposed on the city for an indefinite period.

A group of South Side hospital leaders are dropping a planned joint medical system after the state failed to come through with funding. What happened — and what it means for South Side residents.

Illinois legislators wrapped up a whirlwind special session that stretched to the wee hours of Sunday morning. A look at what they accomplished. 

A condensed special session that began on Wednesday centered on passing a budget and responding to the pandemic. Democrats and Republicans have different interpretations of how ably those goals were achieved.

Illinois has had its share of financial troubles in the past, but a pandemic has complicated the budgeting process this year — and the state’s answer is to rely on borrowing up to $5 billion from the federal government.

Illinois casinos may be closed due to the coronavirus, but Chicago hit the jackpot as both chambers of the General Assembly narrowly gave approval to redo the tax structure for the planned Chicago casino.

Thirsty Illinoisans who wish they could get premade cocktails for takeout can get their martini (or quarantini) glasses ready.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has an extra day to make a play for tax changes that would allow a city-owned casino to finally get underway as Illinois legislators extend their special session into a fourth day. 

As Illinois’ economy begins to reopen, Dr. Ngozi Ezike said she’ll keep close watch on people who go to the emergency room with COVID-19 symptoms. And if she has time, she may even dine outside once that’s allowed.

Amid uncertainty over the coronavirus — and how long public gatherings will be restricted — legislators on Thursday swiftly moved to approve new voting procedures for the 2020 general election.

Illinois lawmakers wrapped up their first day of the legislative session Wednesday — and it was full of drama as they took the rare move of temporarily kicking out one of their own.

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit, Illinois lawmakers will return to Springfield on Wednesday for a special session. It’s sure to be special in more ways than one.

Skokie, just 15 miles northwest of Chicago’s Loop, is home to the Illinois Holocaust Museum, the state’s only synagogue for the deaf and Old Orchard Mall — each of which have had to close during the pandemic.

The electronics company is collaborating with the university to produce the FlexVent, a gas-operated ventilator “based on the Illinois RapidVent concept” that was developed in response to COVID-19.

The Anti-Defamation League says some of the activity at rallies protesting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order is “vile” and racist, including posters equating Pritkzer, who is Jewish, with Adolf Hitler.

Sunday brought another uptick in coronavirus cases in Illinois. Another 1,734 new cases of COVID-19 brings the statewide total of confirmed cases to 94,191, with 4,177 deaths.

Under an emergency rule quietly filed Friday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration, bars, restaurants and other businesses that open to customers in defiance of Illinois’ stay-at-home order now risk being charged with a misdemeanor.