Stories by Kristen Thometz

A study analyzing whether the COVID-19 vaccine prevents infection and spread of the coronavirus among college students has been expanded to include adults ages 18-29, including those who choose not to get vaccinated.

Eugene Burns, 19, allegedly acted as the getaway driver in a 2020 gang-related shooting and later “terrorized” another man and his two family members during a home invasion on the West Side earlier this year.

The delta variant is a version of the coronavirus that has been found in more than 80 countries since it was first detected in India. It got its name from the World Health Organization, which names notable variants after letters of the Greek alphabet. 

Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin faces sentencing Friday in the death of George Floyd, with a judge weighing a prison term experts say could be as much as 30 years. Here’s what to watch for in a hearing that could run as long as two hours.

The Biden administration on Thursday extended the nationwide ban on evictions for a month to help millions of tenants unable to make rent payments during the coronavirus pandemic,  but said this is the last time it plans to do so. 

A year after Cook County officials faced the largest budget deficit in a decade, they find themselves flush with cash, thanks to $1 billion in COVID-19 relief funds and an economy recovering faster than expected from the ravages of the pandemic, according to a budget forecast.

Our Spotlight Politics team on another heated City Council meeting and more. The future of CPS leadership. A spike in opioid deaths. And a vast life expectancy gap for Black Chicagoans.

Opioid-related overdoses in Cook County increased by more than 40% last year. While this spike began in December 2019 — before COVID-19 was widespread — the pandemic accelerated the trend. We discuss the state of the opioid epidemic in the Chicago area.

Artists who used to be on the comics page have now earned a place in museums. A new exhibition makes the case that Chicago has long been a magnet for creative cartooning. We visit “Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now” at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

As Janice Jackson’s tenure with Chicago Public Schools draws to an end, a cavalcade of current and former elected officials sung her praises during what was her final Board of Education meeting as CEO.

Between 2012 and 2017, the life expectancy gap grew from 8.3 years to 9.2 years, according to a recently released report, which found that Black Chicagoans on average live 71.4 years, while their non-Black counterparts live an average of 80.6 years.

A vote to rename 17 miles of Lake Shore Drive for Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, Chicago’s first permanent non-Indigenous settler, was delayed again Wednesday after the Chicago City Council erupted in acrimony over Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s pick to serve as the city’s top attorney.

Hailing the changes as a “major, major improvement,” the Chicago Board of Education has approved revisions to the student code of conduct, which advise school administrators against contacting police in non-emergency incidents in an attempt to eradicate the school-to-prison pipeline.

Through mid-June, the city has recorded more than a 30% increase in murders compared to 2019, and a nearly 60% jump over the same period when it came to shootings, according to data released by the Chicago Police Department.

Since its founding in 1973, Chicago Opera Theater has been making audacious choices in its programming and presentation. And in many ways the company displayed its formidable ingenuity and determination throughout the pandemic. Here’s a peek at its all-live season.

Adding to the country’s ongoing discussion of the extent of police powers, the Supreme Court on Wednesday put limits on when police officers pursuing a fleeing suspect can enter a home without a warrant.

Feeling like you are being watched? It could be from a lot farther away than you think. Astronomers took a technique used to look for life on other planets and flipped it around — so instead of looking to see what’s out there, they tried to see what places could see us. 

Pride celebrations, a strawberry festival, neighborhood garden walk and artisan market usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

This year’s contest is sure to be more competitive than ever, with expanded eligibility and the doubling of winners’ cash prizes.

With less than two months until his federal racketeering trial is set to begin, the R&B star has been transferred out of Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center and into a new detention facility in New York City.

How the city aims to make it easier to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Plans to rename Lake Shore Drive head to City Council, again. How the drought is affecting farming. Big changes at the Chicago Tribune.

Dozens of talented journalists are leaving the Chicago Tribune after its new owner, Alden Global Capital, offered employees voluntary buyouts. Among those who have announced their departure are some of the newspaper’s most notable columnists. 

Interdisciplinary artist Faheem Majeed is using graphite to mark the past, present and future of the South Side Community Art Center, the oldest African American art center in the country.

After record floods in 2019, northern Illinois farmers are now contending with severe drought. According to state data, this spring was the third driest on record — and those records go all the way back to 1871. Two area farmers join us to share their insights.

City Council members are expected to vote on a proposal to rename Lake Shore Drive after Chicago's first non-Indigenous settler, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, after a parliamentary maneuver delayed the vote last month. We discussion that plan and other city business with four alderpeople.

Chicagoans ages 12 and up who choose to get vaccinated at home will get their shot for free and a $50 gift card from food delivery company GrubHub, officials said.