Stories by Heather Cherone

The expansion of vaccine eligibility to any Chicago adult regardless of their age, health or employment comes a week after Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered restrictions lifted on the state’s supply of vaccine from the federal government. Supplies of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine are still limited, however.

The finding by the inspector general is the second time in recent months that Ferguson has detailed misconduct within Chicago Animal Care and Control.

The inspector general released an audit earlier this week that found that the department’s rules designed to prevent discrimination and sexual harassment are “insufficient.” 

In all, 888 cases involving the variant, known as B.1.1.7, have been found in samples of COVID-19 positive tests from Illinois since Jan. 15, officials said. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot pleaded for calm Thursday, hours before city officials released body camera footage showing the police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Little Village. Lightfoot said Toledo did not shoot at police, but she declined to discuss the details of what the videos show in advance of their release. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to set aside about half of the $1.9 billion the city of Chicago expects to get from the American Rescue Plan signed by President Joe Biden in March to cancel high-interest debt.  

Nearly five years after former President Barack Obama picked Jackson Park for his presidential library, Chicago and Illinois leaders celebrated as work finally began to transform the historic South Side park. A formal groundbreaking is expected in the fall.

Policies governing the Chicago Fire Department—which is 90% male and 66% white—may comply with federal, state and local laws but they “are insufficient,” according to an audit released Wednesday by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson.

Health officials said they were acting “out of an abundance of caution” following six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals who got the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

With tens of thousands of Chicagoans working from home for the first time and thousands more becoming entrepreneurs because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council is poised to ease the rules governing the operation of home businesses.

Chicago employers would be required to give workers time off to get vaccinated against COVID-19 under a proposal advanced Tuesday by aldermen. Firms that violate the measure could face fines ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

One year ago, crews imploded the smokestack at the defunct Crawford coal plant, sending a plume of dust over Little Village but illuminating the impact that toxic air pollution caused by industrial operations has had on South and West side neighborhoods for decades.

The board reduced the fine it levied against Ald. Carrie Austin (34th Ward) by more than 96% after considering “after considering the equities of the situation," officials said.

Determined to close a loophole in a seven-year-old city law, aldermen advanced a measure Monday that would ban pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits at a profit.

The expansion of vaccine eligibility to any Illinois adult regardless of their age, health or employment does not include the city of Chicago. However, Chicagoans can travel outside of the city to be vaccinated, officials said, though supplies are still limited.

The spread of the U.K. variant is helping to fuel a surge in COVID-19 cases in Chicago and across Illinois, according to Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

In early March, Chicago officials announced a COVID-19 vaccine program for homebound residents and their caregivers. But many people who signed up for the program had already been vaccinated by the time officials contacted them to schedule an appointment.

Illinois’ ban on evictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic has been extended amid a steady increase in confirmed cases and hospitalizations that has complicated efforts to lift restrictions designed to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The new $7.5 million Chicago Public Library branch in Altgeld Gardens will open from 1-5 p.m. on Sundays starting April 18 along with branches in Mount Greenwood, South Shore, Back of the Yards, Chinatown, Merlo, Edgewater, Independence, Richard M. Daley and Austin, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced.

Chicago will make all residents ages 16 and older eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 19, meeting a deadline announced Tuesday by President Joe Biden, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced hours later. The city needs more vaccine to meet the sky-high demand for the life-saving shots, Lightfoot said. 

Chicago officials shuffled the city’s travel order Tuesday to require visitors from four midwestern states — Iowa, Ohio, Nebraska and North Dakota  — and Washington, D.C., to quarantine for 10 days or record a negative test for COVID-19.

Some retired firefighters could see their pensions grow after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a measure to boost the annual cost-of-living increase added to their checks. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the measure would create an “unfunded mandate” that would force Chicago officials to raise taxes or cut services.

Illinois residents ages 16 and older who live in 80 of the state’s 102 counties are now eligible for the vaccine, state health officials announced Monday. However, health departments in Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage, Will and Cook counties as well as Chicago have yet to expand eligibility.

Cook County leaders may have no choice but to impose new restrictions designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 amid a “very sharp” increase in infections, officials said Saturday. “We are in the beginnings of a new surge,” said Dr. Rachel Rubin of the Cook County Department of Public Health.

Defying Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill Friday restoring the ability of the Chicago Teachers Union to bargain with the city over a wide range of issues, including class size, layoffs and the duration of the school year. 

In all, 276 cases involving the United Kingdom variant have been found in samples of COVID-19 positive tests from Illinois since Jan. 15, officials said.