Stories by Heather Cherone

The Illinois State Board of Elections told federal officials they planned to use the funds to help local elections officials prepare for an expected “considerable increase” in the number of ballots cast by mail.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed on Friday to hold Hilco Redevelopment Partners accountable for botching the demolition of the smokestack at the former Crawford Power Plant, sending a plume of dust over six blocks of homes in Little Village.

Chicago officials said Thursday they will not ticket, boot or impound cars that do not pose a public safety threat for an additional month as part of an effort to help Chicagoans facing a cash crunch.

Wrigley Field should be stirring to life this week. But with the baseball season postponed indefinitely by the coronavirus pandemic, the Friendly Confines will instead welcome a temporary outpost of the Lakeview Pantry. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot called on the city’s watchdog to complete his probe into what happened before — and after — former Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was discovered asleep in his running car after a night of drinking.

When the governor issued a stay-at-home order last month, cases of COVID-19 were more than doubling every three days in Chicago. Had that rate held steady, approximately 64,500 Chicagoans would have been sickened by now, according to new data.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot presided over the city’s first virtual meeting Wednesday morning from her office on the 5th floor of City Hall, with 48 aldermen connected via Zoom.

The City Council will write a new chapter in the history books Wednesday by meeting virtually to keep from spreading the coronavirus. The meeting will follow an “abbreviated agenda” and is designed “primarily to adopt rules addressing meetings by videoconference.”

Former President Barack Obama endorsed Joe Biden for president in a video message Tuesday that delivered a full-throated condemnation of President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.