Stories by Heather Cherone

More than 100,991 Illinois residents have gotten an initial dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, leading the nation, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday.

William Sommerfeld, 63, of Western Springs, faces two felony charges of theft of government property as well as a felony charge of wire fraud. He is free on bond, and due back in court on Jan. 29.

Chicago police Superintendent David Brown says he will tighten the rules governing the department’s use of search warrants as furious aldermen demanded answers about the February 2019 raid that left a Chicago woman handcuffed and naked.

Nearly a half-dozen large parties have been shut down by city officials in three weeks, even as Chicago remains under a stay-at-home advisory designed to prevent people from contracting COVID-19.

Retired Judge Ann Claire Williams of the Chicago-based law firm Jones Day will lead an outside investigation of the February 2019 raid that left a Chicago woman handcuffed and naked as well as the city’s handling of the raid’s aftermath.

Chicago officials failed to consistently evaluate the way the city repaired and rebuilt roads, bridges, bikeways and other infrastructure since 2019, according to a new audit by Chicago’s watchdog.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Monday that all of the officers involved in the February 2019 raid that left a Chicago woman handcuffed and naked have been placed on desk duty.

The advisory urging Chicagoans at stay home in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 has been extended for 21 days, expiring the day before the first Chicago Public Schools students are set to go back to in-person class.

New rules requiring nonprofit organizations to register as lobbyists will not take effect until at least April 1 amid an outcry about the impact of the new regulations and delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mark Flessner, the city’s top lawyer, resigned Sunday amid a growing furor over Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s handling of the revelation that Chicago police officers handcuffed a naked woman during a mistaken raid in February 2019.

Three aldermen dropped their call for a special meeting of the Chicago City Council late Friday, amid a growing furor over Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s handling of a video showing Chicago police officers handcuffing a naked woman during a mistaken raid of her home in February 2019.

The pandemic in Illinois reached another sobering mark on Friday, whenhealth officials reported 15,015 total deaths linked to the pandemic and 886,805 infections. 

The agenda for Tuesday’s special meeting includes an order that would stop the city’s Law Department from sanctioning Anjanette Young, the social worker whose home was raided, for releasing the video of the raid.

City officials shut down a 50-person party in West Town early Sunday for violating rules designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Chicago officials said Thursday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday acknowledged that she has known since November 2019 that Chicago police officers handcuffed a naked woman during a mistaken raid of her home in February 2019.

The agency charged with investigating allegations of police misconduct improperly closed probes prompted by anonymous complaints that were supported by evidence of wrongdoing, according to a new audit by Chicago’s watchdog.

The teen, who was not identified, is charged with first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery in connection with the death of retired Chicago Fire Department Lt. Dwain Williams.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday apologized to Anjanette Young, the Chicago woman who was handcuffed while naked by police officers who mistakenly raided her home in February 2019.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot introduced a measure Wednesday to expand protections for immigrants by blocking Chicago Police from cooperating with federal immigration agents.

Aldermen on Tuesday advanced a scaled-back effort to test whether Chicago’s affordable housing crisis could be eased by permitting basement, attic and coach house dwellings in five areas of the city.

Travelers coming to Chicago from nearly every U.S. state, plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, must quarantine for 10 days or record a negative test for COVID-19, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office announced Tuesday.

The unanimous opinion issued Monday is the first public enforcement of rules governing the use of social media by elected officials in Chicago. In keeping with the ethics board’s rules, the official was not named.

A COVID-19 vaccination was administered for the first time Tuesday morning in Austin, a Chicago neighborhood ravaged by the virus. Mayor Lori Lightfoot called it “history in the making.”

Renaming 17 miles of Lake Shore Drive for Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, Chicago’s first permanent non-Indigenous settler, would be a massive undertaking without precedent in the city’s history, city officials told aldermen Friday.

The board voted unanimously on Monday to fine the 21st Ward alderman $5,000 for violating the city’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance by defending clients in criminal cases involving the Chicago Police Department.

An effort to require Chicago police officers to allow those arrested access to a phone within an hour of being detained remains stymied, nearly 19 months after Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th Ward) called on police brass to follow state law.