Stories by Heather Cherone

“We can't have people out on the street interfacing with the public without body cameras,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday, just days after officers responded to a call about a man with a gun that led to a shooting and touched off unrest across the city.

Visitors to Chicago from Iowa, Kansas and Utah will no longer have to quarantine for two weeks, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Tuesday. The three states are the first to be removed from Chicago’s quarantine order.

City officials will “temporarily restrict” access to downtown Chicago beginning at 8 p.m. Monday and ending at 6 a.m. Tuesday, officials said. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has not issued an official city curfew order.

Decrying “blame games” in the wake of widespread destruction, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says her office would prosecute people accused of looting — but not those arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights. 

Amid a continuing outcry over the decision to allow Chicago police officers to patrol schools, Chicago Public Schools officials announced Monday they would slash spending on the program at the center of the debate over defunding the police department by more than half.

Caravans of cars headed to the Loop and North Side to loot stores after a police officer shot and wounded a 20-year-old man in Englewood, causing widespread destruction and mayhem, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday.

Superstar Kanye West fell short of qualifying for the Illinois ballot as an independent presidential candidate by 1,300 signatures, according to the official review on Friday of the nominating petitions submitted by the Illinois native.

With the state’s ban on evictions set to expire in two weeks, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced a $20 million rental assistance fund to help residents of suburban Cook County impacted by the pandemic.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has tested negative for the coronavirus after appearing at a Wednesday news conference alongside Ald. Michael Scott Jr., who announced about 24 hours later that he had been diagnosed with the virus.

“This is a make or break moment for the state of Illinois, for making sure people are doing everything they can to mitigate, to reduce the spread,” the governor said. “This is a moment for us to enforce the masking requirement across the state.”

Chicago officials have begun using the state’s method to calculate the single most important benchmark for tracking the spread of the coronavirus — positivity rates — as confirmed cases of the virus continue to rise statewide.

Chicago Public Schools will start the school year on Sept. 8 the same way they ended the last academic year — with all students taking classes remotely, officials announced Wednesday.

A plan to transform a long-vacant lot in Jefferson Park into an apartment complex has reignited the furious debate surrounding Chicago’s massive affordable housing shortfall.

Visitors to Chicago from Puerto Rico will be required to quarantine for two weeks starting Friday in an effort to stop the increasing spread of the coronavirus in Chicago, city officials announced Tuesday.

The Illinois State Board of Elections is scheduled to finalize the Nov. 3 ballot on Aug. 21. Will superstar Kanye West be on the ballot in his home state as an independent candidate for president?

Inspectors shut down an illegal party at a Humboldt Park warehouse where revelers were not wearing masks or following social distancing rules, city officials said Monday.

Chicago bars ordered to stop serving customers indoors as part of a rollback ordered by Mayor Lori Lightfoot following an increase in the number of coronavirus cases can apply to open a sidewalk cafe, city officials announced Friday.

Illinois will close five large juvenile detention centers as part of a plan unveiled Friday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in an effort to “transform” the current system, which Pritzker called “too punitive and too ineffective.”

“Our small businesses play a large role in contributing to the vibrancy of our city which is why it is essential that we continue to offer them assistance during what may be the most difficult time that many of them face,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a statement.

Aldermen raked officials from Commonwealth Edison over the coals Thursday, demanding answers about the firm’s admission that it engaged in a yearslong bribery scheme even as officials warned the city would have no choice but to extend the utility’s lucrative city contract.

The three firms will scatter 10,000 scooters across much of the city — four times as many allowed during the summer of 2019 — but the scooters will not be allowed downtown or along the Lakefront or 606 trails, according to the city’s rules.

After nearly 100 days at the helm of the Chicago Police Department, the superintendent’s tenure has been anything but average, as he faces an ongoing pandemic, protests and a surge in gun violence. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivered a full-throated defense of American democracy Wednesday before urging Chicagoans to safeguard the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights by responding to the 2020 census.

Illinois and Chicago officials disagree on how to calculate the single most important benchmark for tracking the spread of the coronavirus, even as the number of confirmed cases of the virus continues to rise statewide.

Visitors to Chicago from Wisconsin, Missouri, North Dakota and Nebraska will be required to quarantine for two weeks starting Friday in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, city officials announced Tuesday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned Commonwealth Edison officials Monday that the utility would have to make significant changes if it wants to keep its lucrative city contract following a yearslong bribery scheme.