Stories by WTTW News

Watch the Jan. 13, 2021 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

City health officials will allow Chicagoans 65 and older to be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting next week — if there are doses available after health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities are vaccinated, the city’s top doctor told aldermen Wednesday.

On the 50th anniversary of his becoming a state representative, Michael Madigan lost the gavel to Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch – making the representative from suburban Hillside the first Black House speaker in state history.

The nation’s overall death toll from COVID-19 has eclipsed 380,000, according to Johns Hopkins University, and is closing in fast on the number of Americans killed in World War II, or about 407,000. Confirmed infections have topped 22.8 million.

Investigators with the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection conducted 105 investigations from Thursday through Sunday.

Chicago teachers who’ve been locked out of their education accounts after refusing to show up for in-person learning showed up outside the home of Board of Education President Miguel del Valle to call for a safer school reopening plan.

President Trump’s weakened standing among his own party will come into sharper focus on Wednesday when the House is expected to impeach the president for inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol last week. 

“We can jump in the lake next year. People are just going to have to plunge where they are,” said the head of the Chicago Polar Bear Club. The 2021 event is going forward, virtually, to raise money for families in need.

The U.S. House rushed ahead Tuesday toward impeaching President Donald Trump for the deadly Capitol attack, taking time only to try to persuade his vice president to push him out first.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx shares her reaction to the riots at the U.S. Capitol, police reform and more in a one-on-one conversation.

The Trump administration on Tuesday instructed states to begin vaccinating Americans over age 65 for COVID-19, as well as those with chronic medical conditions. We discuss Chicago’s rollout with an infectious disease specialist.

Prosecutors have brought dozens of cases after the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol, and they promise more charges are to come as investigators work to identify members of the pro-Trump mob.

Anyone flying to the U.S. will soon need to show proof of a negative test for COVID-19, health officials announced Tuesday.

A suburban Chicago Heights man who allegedly pledged in a voicemail to “kill any m-----f---ing Democrat that steps on the m-----f---ing lawn” at President-elect Joe Biden’s upcoming inauguration is now facing a criminal charge.

The fine, approved by an unanimous vote Monday, marks the first time the ethics board has levied the maximum fine allowed for violations of the city’s campaign finance law — three times the amount of the improper campaign contributions.

The short answer: Yes. Regardless of previous infection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people should plan on getting vaccinated when it’s their turn.

With longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan pausing his campaign for another term as speaker, Democratic members of the Illinois House are scrambling as the other contenders for the job attempt to secure the necessary votes.

“Most people survive this illness but some don’t,” Illinois’ top doctor said before receiving her first dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. “I don’t want to gamble with my life and I don’t want anyone else to gamble with theirs.”

Under the new system, which will take effect Friday, a state will be placed in one of two categories — orange or yellow — based on whether it has more than 15 new COVID-19 cases per day, per 100,000 population, officials said.

Watch the Jan. 12, 2021 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Illinois U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider is the third Democratic member of the House who has tested positive for COVID-19 after being forced to go into lockdown during last week’s violent siege at the U.S. Capitol.

Chicago Public Schools has warned nearly 150 of its educators and employees that if they don’t show up for work beginning Tuesday, they would not be paid and will be locked out of their Google Classroom accounts.

Poised to impeach, the House sped ahead Monday with plans to oust President Donald Trump from office, warning he is a threat to democracy and pushing the vice president and Cabinet to act even more quickly.

President Donald Trump is no longer allowed to post on several social media platforms. We discuss the intersection of social media and free speech — and how high-profile bans like this could shape the future of sharing.

Dozens of aldermen peppered school and health officials with questions Monday about the effort underway to reopen Chicago Public Schools for in-person learning after a 300-day closure prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The FBI is warning of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, stoking fears of more bloodshed after last week’s deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol.