Stories by Heather Cherone

A plan to borrow $1.4 billion to repair Chicago’s crumbling streets, sidewalks, bridges and shoreline during the next five years advanced Wednesday with a 22-10 vote of the City Council’s Finance Committee.

Acknowledging that demand for COVID-19 tests has grown exponentially during a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Chicago officials announced Wednesday that the city will open a new testing site at Midway Airport.

The City Council’s Finance Committee advanced Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $12.8 billion spending plan to the full City Council on a 21-12 vote Wednesday.

Aldermen on Tuesday unanimously advanced a proposal backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to cap fees charged by delivery services such as Postmates, Grubhub and UberEats at 15% in an effort to help struggling restaurants.

Aldermen from across the political spectrum pressured Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget team on Tuesday to come up with a proposal to head off a $93.9 million property tax hike.

Chicagoans should not travel to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family, the city’s top doctor said Tuesday, warning that the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is getting worse in Chicago.

The board voted unanimously to find that there is probable cause to believe the 21st Ward alderman violated the city’s ethics ordinance by defending clients in criminal cases involving the Chicago Police Department.

A proposal from Mayor Lori Lightfoot would cap fees charged by delivery services such as Postmates, Grubhub and UberEats at 15%. Fees can now reach 30% of an order, officials said.

A trio of budget ordinances backed by progressive aldermen failed to advance Monday, as a fiscal watchdog warned that Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to borrow $15 million to avoid layoffs and refinance an additional $1.7 billion was potentially perilous.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Saturday she would drop her plan to lay off 350 employees to help balance the city’s 2021 budget after her proposal smacked into a brick wall of opposition from many aldermen.

Illinois on Friday set a new record for the most COVID-19 cases reported in a 24-hour period, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the state’s ban on evictions caused by the pandemic would be extended until Dec. 16.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged on Thursday that she had linked the upcoming vote on her plan to balance the city’s 2021 budget with tax hikes, layoffs and millions of dollars of borrowing with protections for immigrants.

“This was a tough race under some very difficult circumstances, and I want to say thank you to my supporters, the voters, and our elections officials for their diligent work,” U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood said Thursday.

New guidelines imposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, set to take effect at 6 a.m. Monday, are advisory and do not include orders for businesses to shut down or require people to stay home, officials said.

The first home for Illinois veterans in Chicago will welcome its first residents in February 2021 — more than four years after it was scheduled to open, officials announced Wednesday.

A proposal from the Chicago Federation of Labor that union officials contend could save the city of Chicago between $195 million and $272 million will not avert a property tax hike and layoffs in 2021, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office said Tuesday.

The Chicago Police Department will change the way it tracks Chicagoans suspected of being affiliated with a gang as part of the resolution of a class-action lawsuit that alleged the city’s gang database was riddled with errors.

Chicago will no longer list individual states on its quarantine order amid a sustained surge of COVID-19 cases nationwide, officials announced Tuesday.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker imposed tighter restrictions designed to stop the spread of the virus amid a sustained surge in COVID-19 cases that has shown no sign of slowing down. “The virus is winning the war,” Pritzker said.

Former 1st Ward Ald. Proco Joe Moreno, facing felony charges of obstruction of justice and insurance fraud, has a new lawyer — 21st Ward Ald. Howard Brookins, who is now under investigation himself.

As throngs of Chicagoans poured into the street in jubilation on Saturday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined in the celebrating the election of Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice president.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to create a new public safety office in an effort to save money by making the city’s law enforcement agencies more efficient has yet to show results — and aldermen are losing patience.

Between 8% and 9% of the trash produced every year by Chicago residents is kept out of landfills, officials said Friday — acknowledging that the city’s efforts to boost Chicago’s recycling rate remain stalled.

“If we don't slow this down, and soon, we will have hundreds of thousands of new COVID cases by the end of the year in Chicago,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Struggling restaurants and bars would be able to apply for $10,000 grants from the city under the plan Mayor Lightfoot unveiled at a Thursday afternoon news conference.

“This amount of disease in our community, it’s hard to think you could go anywhere and not be exposed,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the state’s top doctor.