Stories by Heather Cherone

Aldermen agreed on Monday to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the city’s impound program was unconstitutional, and made it impossible for Chicagoans to get their cars back after they were towed away.

Aldermen on Monday advanced an agreement to settle a lawsuit that sought to force the Chicago Police Department to turn over nearly five decades’ worth of secret files detailing allegations of misconduct by officers.

Chicago bars will no longer be able to serve customers indoors starting Friday as part of a rollback ordered by Mayor Lori Lightfoot following an increase in the number of coronavirus cases.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed Friday to hold Commonwealth Edison to “account” for its conduct after the state’s largest utility agreed to pay a $200 million fine to resolve federal corruption charges stemming from a “yearslong bribery scheme.” 

Aldermen endorsed a measure Friday that would scale back the power of the Chicago Police Department to impound cars that may have been used to commit a crime, as city lawyers recommended officials settle a lawsuit claiming the program is unconstitutional.

With Illinois’ ban on evictions set to expire in two weeks, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is considering extending the coronavirus-spurred prohibition as state officials work to set up a program to distribute more than $300 million in help to landlords and tenants.

The city of Chicago should pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit that sought to force the Chicago Police Department to turn over nearly five decades’ worth of secret files detailing allegations of misconduct by officers, city lawyers recommended.

The Chicago Cubs got the green light Thursday to play home games on weekend nights, the “extraordinary circumstances” imposed by the coronavirus pandemic breaking a decadeslong ban on games under lights on Fridays and Saturdays.

Inspector General Joseph Ferguson released a report Thursday that concluded Former Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson lied repeatedly about the incident and what happened afterward.

Aldermen advanced an agreement that will allow anonymous complaints against police sergeants, lieutenants and captains to be investigated, despite concerns that it does not go far enough to hold police brass accountable for misconduct.

Some 10,000 scooters will be scattered throughout Chicago when the city’s second pilot program starts next month. It’s designed to settle once and for all the question of whether scooters should be allowed on Chicago’s streets.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday delivered a blunt warning to young adults in Chicago: you are spreading the coronavirus, and threatening the tentative progress Chicago has made in fighting the pandemic.

An effort to ease Chicago’s affordable housing crisis by permitting coach house dwellings stalled Friday amid opposition from aldermen concerned they would not be able to stop unwanted units from being built in their wards.

Aldermen unanimously agreed Tuesday to ban demolitions near the 606 Bloomingdale Trail for another six months as aldermen craft a measure to blunt rapid gentrification along the popular trail.

A significantly revised measure that would give long-term renters more notice before they are evicted without cause cleared a key city panel Tuesday after progressive aldermen stalled its passage for a month.

The 14-day quarantine order currently covers travelers to Chicago from 15 states, including California and Florida. Starting Friday, it will also apply to those coming from Iowa and Oklahoma, according to the mayor’s office.

Chicago residents who don’t have a city sticker will get another two weeks before they risk seeing that dreaded bright orange envelope on their windshields.

Approximately 55% of Chicagoans have so far responded to the 2020 census, but that is “not even close to where we need to be,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. Now, she’s enlisting a familiar face to help with outreach.

In a message addressed to “residents and neighbors,” the alderman, who represents the Far South Side’s 34th Ward, said she is “currently progressing toward a full recovery.”

More than 121,000 voters requested mail-in ballots from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners since the application period opened less than a month ago, officials said.

City officials fined six businesses and shut down a West Loop brewery for violating rules designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, officials said Monday.

Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said she “broadly” feels confident that schools will be able to offer “some” in-person classes starting in September.

The new restrictions, which aim to reduce a slight increase in the number of coronavirus cases among young Chicagoans, took effect immediately, the Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office announced Friday morning. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled a new 104-page report Thursday, which calls for the city to accelerate investments in neighborhoods on the South and West sides in order to create jobs and reduce crime.

Five weeks after two explosions rattled General Iron, city officials allowed the North Side metal recycler to partially reopen June 24 — but its shredding facility remains shut down as investigations continue into the May 18 blasts.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday ordered those traveling to Chicago from states where confirmed cases of the coronavirus are surging to quarantine for two weeks starting Monday.