Stories by Heather Cherone

Chicago’s financial picture has been buoyed by the city’s red-hot real estate market and nearly $2 billion in federal aid designed to help the city withstand the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s C2E2 took place in the summer, less than eight months after its 2021 iteration, as organizers gradually revert to the event’s original spring calendar, which was disrupted due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The U.N. health agency said there were more than 14,000 COVID-19 deaths in the last week and nearly 7 million new infections. The number of new deaths rose by 19% in the Middle East, while dropping by more than 70% in Africa, 15% in Europe and 10% in the Americas.

The trio allegedly falsified documents and lied about the number of employees at multiple companies in order to defraud the government out of millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief aid they instead used to cover personal expenses and purchase luxury vehicles.

As vociferous as Donald Trump has been in defending himself in written statements and on the rally stage, legal experts said answering questions in a deposition was risky because anything he said could potentially be used against him in a parallel criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney.

Consumer prices jumped 8.5% in July compared with a year earlier, the government said Wednesday, down from a 9.1% year-over-year increase in June.

The latest on the raid of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound. A local Taiwanese official on the island’s conflict with China, contention brewing in the airline industry, and why pharmacy deserts exist across the city.

A recent wave of airline delays and cancellations has affected much of the country, including Chicago. After experiencing unprecedented airline delays and cancellations this summer, the recent wave is another indication of a rocky pandemic recovery for airlines.

In an interview with WTTW News, Johnson Chiang, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, said that as China’s military and economic power has grown in recent decades, their behavior toward Taiwan has become more aggressive.

Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward) said the plan would be a “bad deal” for residents of Bronzeville and set a bad precedent. The proposal from Lightfoot’s administration would create a new tax-increment financing district along the southern branch of the CTA Red Line to generate $950 million for the project. 

The FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate marked an unprecedented escalation of the law enforcement scrutiny of the former president, but the operation is just one part of one investigation related to Trump and his time in office.

Pockets of Chicago — particularly on the South and West sides — lack convenient access to a local pharmacy. As a result, access to medications and other vital health services becomes more limited.

Robert Boik, who served as executive director of the CPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform, is no longer with the department, a police spokesperson confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

In a pre-Broadway Chicago tryout, “The Devil Wears Prada” musical features miscalculated costume design, a score lacking in magic and uneven direction. What’s more, the attempt to update the story for 2022 undercuts the time period so essential to both the book and film. 

After hearing more than seven hours of testimony from investigators and witnesses, a Leflore County grand jury last week determined there was insufficient evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter.

Prosecutors won't oppose post-conviction litigation for eight people with murder convictions tied to ex-Detective Reynaldo Guevara because the state’s attorney “no longer believes in the validity of these convictions or the credibility of the evidence.”

Could Indiana’s business loss be Illinois’ gain? Plus, the outgoing local head of the FBI, a local congressman just back from a controversial visit to Taiwan and unpacking the major climate bill passed by the Senate.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, is rejecting criticism of a visit to Taiwan by a congressional delegation led by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week.

Illinois is poised to gain some of Indiana’s losses due to the Hoosier state’s new abortion law. Boeing prepares to resume delivery of its 787 Dreamliner jets.  And Groupon makes some major cuts to its workforce.

Seventeen people applied to replace soon-to-be former Ald. Michele Smith on the Chicago City Council and represent the city’s 43rd Ward, including Timmy Knudsen, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s handpicked chair of the city’s Zoning Board, the mayor’s office announced late Friday.

The head of Chicago’s FBI office is retiring after 30 years of service. Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie Jr. has been running the Midwest’s largest FBI field office since 2019.

Former President Donald Trump said in a lengthy statement Monday that the FBI was conducting a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. A person familiar with the matter said the action was related to a probe of whether Trump had taken classified records from his White House tenure to his Florida residence.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the agreement would strike a blow against climate change that scientists say has already begun to cause disasters such as floods and strong storms.

Researchers looked through the medical literature of established cases of illnesses and found that 218 out of the known 375 human infectious diseases, or 58%, seemed to be made worse by one of 10 types of extreme weather connected to climate change.

The estimated $740 billion package is full of party priorities. Those include capping prescription drug costs at $2,000 out of pocket for seniors, helping Americans pay for private health insurance and what Democrats are calling the most substantial investment in history to fight climate change, some $375 billion over the decade.

Gregory Baldwin, 45, was charged with a felony count of criminal damage to property, and misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.