Stories by Heather Cherone

Eight weeks after federal and state officials opened a COVID-19 mass vaccination site at the United Center, it will close to first-dose walk-in appointments on May 11, Chicago’s top doctor announced Tuesday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has long complained about the flow of illegal guns into Chicago from Indiana, where gun control laws are much more relaxed than they are in Illinois.

Illinois has now lost a seat in the U.S. House after the past three census counts. The results of the 2020 census continue the steady decline of Illinois’s clout in Washington, D.C., since the size of its House delegation peaked at 27 seats in 1943. In 2022, there will be 17.

Work is underway on a yearslong effort to repair Chicago’s crumbling streets, sidewalks, bridges and shoreline with billions of dollars of borrowed money, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Monday. 

Plans to expand a medical marijuana dispensary on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side are on hold after members of the City Council’s Black Caucus blocked them from advancing over concerns that none of its owners are Black or Latino.

The Illinois Department of Public Health, the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Cook County Department of Public Health restarted administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Saturday, as officials said it is safe and effective.

A permanent casino could open as soon as 2025 in Chicago, although slot machines could start ringing at O’Hare and Midway airports much sooner — with tentative plans for a temporary gaming palace also in play. 

Since Jan. 15, nearly 1,300 cases involving the variant, known as B.1.1.7, have been found in samples of COVID-19 positive tests from Illinois, officials said. 

Large-scale protests and unrest failed to materialize after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd. 

Starting Friday, Chicago residents older than 16 can simply show up at one of the city’s mass vaccination sites for a shot — no appointment necessary, Chicago’s top doctor announced Thursday. “If you want a vaccine in Chicago, you can absolutely get one,” she said. “You can get one today. No excuses.” 

Federal prosecutors defended their decision to hit Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward) with a 14-count corruption indictment in a court filing released Wednesday, saying Chicago’s longest-serving aldermen is “thoroughly corrupt and worthy of prosecution.”

The 42-8 vote was a victory for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who promised during the campaign to overhaul the city’s laws to reduce the affordable housing gap of nearly 120,000 homes in Chicago. 

Four aldermen say the guilty verdicts will likely avert large protests and civil unrest in Chicago — while acknowledging they have much more work to do to reform the Chicago Police Department, particularly in the wake of the police shooting death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

Aldermen on Tuesday advanced a plan designed to boost the number of affordable homes across Chicago by requiring developers that get special permission from the city or a subsidy to build more units and pay higher fees.

“We need to send out the alarm to everyone that make sure that Black South Siders understand: You must get the vaccine. It is safe,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday after touring the city’s mass vaccination site at Chicago State University.

Visitors to Chicago from Wisconsin no longer have to quarantine for 10 days or record a negative test for COVID-19, city officials announced Tuesday, but Indiana could be added in two weeks.

Chicago is prepared to handle protests and unrest that might be triggered by the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday. “Don’t test us, because we are ready,” she said.

As Chicago reeled — again — from the police killing of a teenager recorded on video, Inspector General Joseph Ferguson offered aldermen a way to reverse what he called the city’s “long history” of covering up police misconduct. “We are out of runway with respect to the public’s patience and beliefs that we care to reform,” he said.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced he has activated the Illinois National Guard at the request of Mayor Lori Lightfoot “to support the Chicago Police Department with a verdict expected in the trial of Derek Chauvin,” the former Minneapolis police officer charged in connection with the death of George Floyd.

The proposal authored by Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward) would send 5,000 families $500 per month for a year as part of an effort to study whether a universal basic income could help Chicagoans recover from the economic catastrophe of the coronavirus pandemic and fight poverty.

The expansion of vaccine eligibility to any Chicago adult regardless of their age, health or employment comes a week after Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered restrictions lifted on the state’s supply of vaccine from the federal government. Supplies of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine are still limited, however.

The finding by the inspector general is the second time in recent months that Ferguson has detailed misconduct within Chicago Animal Care and Control.

The inspector general released an audit earlier this week that found that the department’s rules designed to prevent discrimination and sexual harassment are “insufficient.” 

In all, 888 cases involving the variant, known as B.1.1.7, have been found in samples of COVID-19 positive tests from Illinois since Jan. 15, officials said. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot pleaded for calm Thursday, hours before city officials released body camera footage showing the police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Little Village. Lightfoot said Toledo did not shoot at police, but she declined to discuss the details of what the videos show in advance of their release. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to set aside about half of the $1.9 billion the city of Chicago expects to get from the American Rescue Plan signed by President Joe Biden in March to cancel high-interest debt.