Stories by Heather Cherone

The agency charged with investigating allegations of police misconduct has failed to promptly release video and audio recordings of use-of-force incidents, as required by city law, according to a new audit by Chicago’s watchdog.

The Midwest is now the center of the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday, but Chicago has begun making “definite progress” against a surge of infections among young adults and Latinos.

It is past time for investigators to complete their probe into the conduct of 13 officers who lounged, slept and snacked in the burglarized office of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush as unrest swept the city in June, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday.

A push to build a first-of-its-kind workforce to conduct community-level contact tracing is months behind schedule, even as health officials brace for a surge in infections at the start of the traditional flu season.

The city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance created just 1,049 homes in 13 years by requiring some developers to set aside units for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans, but that has barely dented the city’s affordable housing gap, according to a new report.

Eric Trump, the president’s son, twice texted Mayor Lori Lightfoot to thank her for taking steps to protect Trump Tower in downtown Chicago after violent protests.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases remained steady in the two regions of the state where officials have increased restrictions after a surge in infections. The statewide positivity rate is 3.9%, officials said Friday.

Nearly 2,000 new cases of coronavirus and 28-virus related deaths were reported Thursday by state health officials, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker said eight Illinois regions are making progress in slowing the spread of the virus.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday unveiled a plan to replace the lead service lines responsible for contaminating the tap water in thousands of Chicago homes “over multiple decades” that relies on federal and state funds.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday blasted Attorney General William Barr for claiming that President Donald Trump’s decision to send approximately 100 federal agents to Chicago was responsible for a drop in homicides.

The City Council on Wednesday approved a $4.5 million package designed to prevent the planned Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park from supercharging gentrification in Woodlawn.

The Chicago City Council voted 46-4 Wednesday to ban the sale of most flavored liquid nicotine products in Chicago, after an effort to prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products failed to advance.

An effort by city officials to finish a project to expand cargo operations at O’Hare Airport by borrowing $55.6 million stalled amid objections from aldermen angry that the company that would benefit from the funds failed to hire enough Chicagoans.

Starting Friday, Chicago’s quarantine order will apply to 21 states, but visitors from California and Puerto Rico will no longer be required to quarantine for two weeks, officials announced Tuesday. 

Aldermen advanced an agreement Thursday that would give Chicago firefighters $95 million in back pay, but puts off fraught negotiations over how fire stations should be staffed.

Aldermen agreed Thursday to settle four lawsuits that alleged police misconduct, including two lawsuits prompted by the deaths of two Black men shot by Chicago police officers.

Spurred by a surge in vaping by teens, the measure set for a vote by the City Council’s Committee on Health and Human Relations would ban the sale of all flavored nicotine products — except those that taste and smell like tobacco, according to the proposal.

“The unintended effect may be that people will feel less safe,” Alicia Tate-Nadeau, former brigadier general of the guard, said of deploying troops to Chicago. “It could stigmatize areas of the city for years to come.”

“I'd like to give you all a trial date, but I'd like to give you one we think will stick,” Judge Robert Dow said Wednesday, noting delays caused by the pandemic as well as a massive amount of evidence to sort through in this case.

City officials Tuesday defended their efforts to help Chicago’s small businesses struggling to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic and recover from unrest touched off by police brutality protests, even though only 20% of a $100 million loan fund has been spent.

Former Cook County Commissioner Jeffrey Tobolski, who also served as mayor of the tiny west suburban city of McCook, pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal corruption charges, acknowledging that he engaged in multiple extortion and bribery schemes while in office.

Visitors to Chicago from Hawaii, Nebraska and North Carolina will be required to quarantine for two weeks starting Friday, city officials announced Tuesday. Indiana is also on the verge of being added to the quarantine order that includes 21 states and Puerto Rico.

City officials shut down five restaurants and clubs for violating rules designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday.

The man, who has not yet been identified, died at Stroger Hospital after being shot by at least one officer who opened fire after their police cruiser was shot at by a group of people standing on a sidewalk in the Pilsen neighborhood.

On top of that colossal shortfall, the city’s financial picture worsened significantly during the past three months because of an “economic catastrophe caused by the coronavirus pandemic,” according to Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

In 2018, the City Council’s most powerful committee spent approximately $2 million — the most of any of the legislative committees. The following year, the committee spent $1.1 million. The difference? Ald. Ed Burke resigned as chair on Jan. 4, 2019.