Stories by Heather Cherone

Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged Chicago religious leaders on Friday not to hold in-person worship services this weekend, warning those who fail to follow the governor’s stay-at-home order are “playing with a fully loaded and cocked gun.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot late Thursday called off a planned demolition of a building at the former Crawford Power Plant after protests erupted and the alderman objected.

Approximately 4,500 small businesses on the South and West sides applied for $5,000 emergency grants to help them stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, city officials announced Thursday.

The office designed to help aldermen keep tabs on how the city spends tax dollars is set to get a new leader after nearly a year without anyone at the helm.

The lakefront will not reopen during the third phase of the plan to reopen Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday during a speech to the Economic Club of Chicago. 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle backed an effort Wednesday to give property owners a bit of financial “breathing room” by waiving late fees on second-half property tax bills due Aug. 3.

An effort to protect 3,200 affordable homes in Chicago from the worst of the economic crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic advanced Tuesday, with aldermen endorsing a plan to create a $3 million fund.

In the latest sign that the coronavirus pandemic will reshape summer in Chicago, city officials informed aldermen Tuesday that no permits will be issued for block parties through May 31 — banning the popular parties on Memorial Day weekend.

Delivery companies would have to disclose the commission or service fee paid by a restaurant under new rules announced Tuesday by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, as the apps have come under fire for hurting already-struggling restaurants.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city would partner with a charity founded by Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn, fueled by a grant from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, in an effort to conduct 10,000 tests per day in Chicago.

Amid the pandemic, Chicago employers will still be forced to give their workers two weeks’ notice of their schedules starting July 1, but will be spared lawsuits for an additional six months under a measure that advanced Monday.

Chicago will reopen gradually once the number of confirmed coronavirus cases begins to decline and hospitalizations drop, according to a plan released by Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday.

The Howard Elliott Collection has provided 1 million protective masks, 300,000 face shields, 119,000 gloves and 37,500 cloth masks to the city, officials say. But at least one alderman wants to know why a Chicago-based firm wasn’t selected for the work.

Chicago businesses would not have to renew their licenses — or pay late fees if those licenses expire — under a measure that cleared a key city panel on Thursday. 

The number of COVID-19 cases in Chicago’s Latino community has more than doubled in the past four weeks, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday, calling the data “no less breathtaking” than the rate of infection in Chicago’s African American community.

The plume of dust that coated homes in Little Village after the demolition of a smokestack included mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants, according to a lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

State tax revenue dropped $2.74 billion in April due to the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. 

A high-profile effort to convince Illinois lawmakers to change the way the state draws congressional and state legislative districts has fizzled out after the coronavirus pandemic shut down the General Assembly.

The proposal would cancel rent and mortgage payments statewide for 180 days amid concerns that thousands of Illinois residents have missed rent payments due to the coronavirus.

Those who have died are parents, grandparents, cousins, friends and loved ones — not just statistics, Mayor Lori Lightfoot told reporters on a conference call Monday. The coronavirus death toll in Chicago now stands at 1,014 people.

“Today, we are pleased to report that the curve is flattening, and our local hospitals and health care systems continue to operate with capacity,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a joint statement.

Several hundred protesters swarmed the Thompson Center in the Loop and the Capitol in Springfield on Friday, calling for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to end the stay-at-home order he says is necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The rate of new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections has continued to slow during the past two weeks, representing “major progress,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot faces a divided City Council determined to help shape the city’s response to the coronavirus pandemic that has likely created a financial crisis for Chicago, four aldermen said Thursday during an interview for “Chicago Tonight.”

The 2-1 ruling by a panel of the appeals court extends a nationwide injunction blocking the Department of Justice from withholding the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant from sanctuary cities like Chicago.

Chicago officials acknowledged that renters are being hit by the coronavirus pandemic “10 times harder” than property owners — and called on landlords and banks to be compassionate and flexible when demanding payments.