Stories by WTTW News

Vice President Harris in town, getting vaccine equity, Congress members on the fate of the infrastructure bill, the future of public transit, and the redevelopment of the Michael Reese Hospital site.

Chicago will make all residents ages 16 and older eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 19, meeting a deadline announced Tuesday by President Joe Biden, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced hours later. The city needs more vaccine to meet the sky-high demand for the life-saving shots, Lightfoot said. 

With an appeal to think big, President Joe Biden is promoting his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan directly to Americans, summoning public support to push past the Republicans lining up against the massive effort they sum up as big taxes, big spending and big government.

The Department of Streets and Sanitation is turning a page on its beleaguered Blue Cart recycling program, issuing the first new collection contract in nearly a decade. Recycling advocates are cautiously optimistic about the change.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved a $3.8 billion effort earlier this year to overhaul the former Michael Reese Hospital site in Bronzeville, just west of the lakefront on 31st Street. The team behind the development is thinking big and working toward community buy-in.

In recent months, the percentage of Black and Latino Chicagoans who have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine has increased significantly, in part through the city’s priority zip code program. But hurdles remain in getting shots to every community, especially as COVID-19 cases are once again on the rise.

The coronavirus pandemic and mitigation measures to control it have led to a huge drop in ridership on public transit. As more and more people get vaccinated and the economy reopens, are riders going to come back?

A 21-month-old boy was shot in the head Tuesday morning while riding in a car on Chicago’s famed Lake Shore Drive just hours after seven people were shot and wounded in a fight a few miles away, in what is shaping up to be one of the most violent years for the city in memory, police said. 

Minneapolis police are taught to restrain combative suspects with a knee on their back or shoulders if necessary but are told to “stay away from the neck when possible,” a department use-of-force instructor testified Tuesday at former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.

Police say a 21-month-old child remains hospitalized in critical condition following the shooting Tuesday morning near Grant Park. One person is currently being questioned in relation to the shooting.

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he’s bumping up his deadline by two weeks for states to make all adults in the U.S. eligible for coronavirus vaccines. But even as he expressed optimism about the pace of vaccinations, he warned Americans that the nation is not yet out of the woods when it comes to the pandemic.

United Airlines says it will train 5,000 pilots this decade, including taking on applicants with no flying experience, and plans for half of them to be women or people of color.

A House subcommittee is investigating YouTube Kids, saying the Google-owned video service feeds children inappropriate material in “a wasteland of vapid, consumerist content” so it can serve them ads.

New funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will allow Illinois to “move quickly to further expand our aggressive efforts to reach those most vulnerable to COVID-19,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement. 

Chicago officials shuffled the city’s travel order Tuesday to require visitors from four midwestern states — Iowa, Ohio, Nebraska and North Dakota  — and Washington, D.C., to quarantine for 10 days or record a negative test for COVID-19.

The agency that investigates Chicago police shootings will release body camera video of an officer fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy, first to the boy’s family and then to the public, an official said Friday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she was disappointed that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law that gives a subset of Chicago firefighters the same retirement package as their peers, saying it will “result in a deeper financial burden to the taxpayers of Chicago.” Days earlier, he signed another law Lightfoot had pressured him to reject.

Tired of livestreams that lacked variety, Evanston artist Steve Rashid wanted to offer a more immersive experience. With the help of his sons and their network of artists from around the country, he created “Into the Mist.” We get a peek at the virtual show that’s unlike any other.

As COVID-19 vaccine eligibility expands, a growing number of companies say they will require proof of vaccination before opening their doors. We weigh the legal and ethical concerns surrounding vaccine passports as the country looks to reopen. 

The CDC says fully vaccinated people can now travel safely, but what does a new COVID-19 surge mean for the summer vacation season? 

It’s been a violent start to 2021 in Chicago, which has recorded 131 homicides in the first three months of the year. Now, a measure sitting on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk declares violence a public health crisis and takes aim at racial inequities in the state’s health care system.

The Minneapolis police chief testified Monday that now-fired Officer Derek Chauvin violated departmental policy — and went against “our principles and the values that we have” — in pressing his knee on George Floyd’s neck and keeping him down after Floyd had stopped resisting and was in distress.

Some retired firefighters could see their pensions grow after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a measure to boost the annual cost-of-living increase added to their checks. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the measure would create an “unfunded mandate” that would force Chicago officials to raise taxes or cut services.

With $2 trillion up for grabs in President Biden’s proposed infrastructure bill, Chicago’s transportation leaders are making a case for urgent repair needs and forward-thinking programs — all requiring the type of major funding infusion only the federal government can supply.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot says a new policy on foot pursuits must be put in place for the Chicago Police Department by this summer following the fatal shooting of Adam Toledo, one week after the boy was killed by a police officer in an alley on the Southwest Side.

Illinois residents ages 16 and older who live in 80 of the state’s 102 counties are now eligible for the vaccine, state health officials announced Monday. However, health departments in Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage, Will and Cook counties as well as Chicago have yet to expand eligibility.