Stories by Heather Cherone

Chicago restaurants and bars have been prohibited from serving patrons indoors since Oct. 30, when a sustained and grave surge of coronavirus cases threatened to overwhelm the city and state’s hospitals and health care system.

New mass vaccination sites will open on Friday at Olive Harvey City College, on Tuesday at Kennedy-King City College and on Wednesday at Truman City College, officials announced.

A Chicago man has been charged in connection with the pro-Trump riot that swept the Capitol on Jan. 6 after he posted a picture on Instagram outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office with the caption “WHOS HOUSE? OUR HOUSE!”

City health officials will allow Chicagoans 65 and older to be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting next week — if there are doses available after health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities are vaccinated, the city’s top doctor told aldermen Wednesday.

Investigators with the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection conducted 105 investigations from Thursday through Sunday.

The fine, approved by an unanimous vote Monday, marks the first time the ethics board has levied the maximum fine allowed for violations of the city’s campaign finance law — three times the amount of the improper campaign contributions.

Under the new system, which will take effect Friday, a state will be placed in one of two categories — orange or yellow — based on whether it has more than 15 new COVID-19 cases per day, per 100,000 population, officials said.

Dozens of aldermen peppered school and health officials with questions Monday about the effort underway to reopen Chicago Public Schools for in-person learning after a 300-day closure prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday replaced the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs after a COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Illinois Veterans Home was linked to the deaths of 36 veterans.

A resolution signed by 35 aldermen comes days after police union head John Catanzara praised the rioters who stormed and invaded the U.S. Capitol building.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Sunday extended the advisory that urges Chicagoans to stay home in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 — meaning it will be in effect for 12 days after the first Chicago Public Schools students go back to in-person class.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday that Illinois’ ban on evictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic would be extended once again as the COVID-19 pandemic rages, despite the start of efforts to distribute vaccines.

The complaint filed against the elected official, whose name and office was not identified in accordance with the board’s rules, is expected to be dismissed at the board’s meeting scheduled for Monday.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said on Twitter that the benchmark was a “tragic milestone” that was “heart-wrenching.”

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican representing Illinois’ 16th Congressional District, called Thursday morning for President Donald Trump to be removed immediately from office and replaced by Vice President Mike Pence.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday the toughest restrictions in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus could lift in regions across the state as soon as Jan. 15.

Once efforts to inoculate health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities from COVID-19 are complete, Illinois residents 65 and older as well as essential workers will be eligible for the vaccine, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday.

Officer Joseph Cabrera faces charges of aggravated assault and making a false statement in connection with the Oct. 13 shooting which occurred near 5200 S. Monitor Ave., according to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

Cardinal Blase Cupich asked the Rev. Michael Pfleger to step down as senior pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church while the Archdiocese of Chicago investigates an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor more than 40 years ago. 

Long-stalled efforts to put an elected board of Chicago residents in charge of the Chicago Police Department remain mired in debate, as Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined Tuesday to commit to a timeline to create the required police oversight body.

Chicago health officials have distributed 95% of the vaccine sent to the city by federal officials, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, but has the capacity to handle more doses. The current pace is “frankly, unacceptable,” she said. “The federal government must step up.”

The Dugout Bar in Wrigleyville will remain closed indefinitely after police officers responding to a call for help about a person being attacked in the 900 block of Addison Street found a large New Year’s Eve party, officials said.

A cross section of aldermen — including some of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s closest allies  — urged her on Sunday to rethink her plan to reopen the Chicago Public Schools for in-person learning, 24 hours before the first teachers must report to school buildings for work.

Inspector General Joseph Ferguson told aldermen on Thursday that his office “has initiated and is proceeding with a formal inquiry into aspects of the search warrant” that authorized a botched raid in February 2019 that left Anjanette Young handcuffed while naked and pleading for help.

Chicago employers who are required to give their workers two weeks’ notice of their schedules in an effort to reduce the stress caused by unpredictable shift work can be sued when the law takes full effect Friday after a six-month delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The sound of hoofs pounding the pavement along the Magnificent Mile will be a thing of the past starting Friday, as a ban on horse-drawn carriages takes effect after a yearslong effort by animal welfare advocates.