Stories by Nick Blumberg

Mayor Lightfoot backs embattled top cop. Omicron wave may have peaked as local COVID-19 testing company faces fraud investigations. A shakeup in the Republican primary for governor. And a major merger in local journalism.

According to CDC data, Illinois saw its highest-ever case rate for nursing home residents this month, surpassing even last winter’s surge. Cases among staff have also reached record levels. 

Chicago Public Schools students are back to in-person learning but tensions still surround the CTU. A new entrant is set to join the Republican candidates in the governor’s race. Mayor Lightfoot gets COVID-19. And the Bears search for a new general manager and head coach.

“I just love breaking news, because I know I’m telling people things they don’t know,” said Pat Cassidy, who after 51 years as a radio news anchor has signed off. 

Chicago fell to the Minnesota Vikings 17-9 on Monday Night Football, the team’s third straight loss.

Late last week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a deal to sell the love-it-or-hate it state building downtown to the Prime Group for $70 million. The development firm plans to overhaul the Helmut Jahn-designed structure rather than demolish it and start anew, as others had proposed.

What if our cities could be more like forests? That’s the question at the heart of a new building prototype developed by architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

The Obama Presidential Center announced Thursday that a number of its spaces will be named for historic human and civil rights figures. But as that center marches closer toward its opening date, one neighboring community has concerns about the center’s impact on longtime residents.

Boeing’s former CEO defended the company’s safety record after a pair of deadly crashes, and implied some of the blame lay with insufficiently trained pilots. But a new book argues changes in corporate culture and government oversight led Boeing to prioritize profit over safety.

As 2021 draws to a close, the 2022 election is already well underway and Chicago’s election in early 2023 is looming on the horizon. On a special holiday edition of “The Week in Review,” a look at what offices are on the ballot, who’s running, and the key issues at stake.

The op-ed also raises the idea of doing away with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and says tribes would be “freed” of treaties with the federal government – an idea some Native Americans oppose.

In 2017, federal and state leaders heralded a massive new factory in southern Wisconsin to be built by Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer Foxconn. The facility was supposed to create thousands of jobs and spur economic development, but a new book argues those promises have come up short.

Some community leaders want to see Chinatown and the surrounding area included in a single ward as part of the city council’s once-a-decade remap process. Advocates are also calling for Asian American communities in Albany Park, West Ridge, and Uptown to stay together in their respective wards to ensure their voices are heard. 

A new report says we collectively understand women’s health far less than men’s health. That’s because just a fraction of research funds to study things like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and autoimmune disease go toward studying women -- even though they disproportionately face those diseases.

A new study shows that vaccination against a coronavirus or a previous infection can provide protection against other viruses in that same family – and it shows that generic vaccines could be developed to protect against future viruses.

Women have lost nearly 3 million jobs since February 2020. A look at the barriers facing low-income, working mothers.

The city’s Equitable Transit-Oriented Development pilot program awarded micro-grants to 11 projects around Chicago on Wednesday. The funding goes up to $20,000, and technical assistance to get projects off the ground is also included.

A University of Illinois Chicago lab and its partners have been tracking the virus that causes coronavirus in wastewater and sharing the data with local public health agencies. 

Cyclists of color in Chicago get a disproportionate number of tickets from police, according to reports by the Chicago Tribune. Bike advocates hope a new city initiative can help address the problem but say it’s not just about infrastructure.

Local leaders are working to redevelop a massive city site into a mixed-use, community-driven project. They’ve gotten millions in seed money from the state — and are hoping for city support, too.

The neighborhood has changed from an industrial hub to an area bustling with bars and restaurants. And more changes are on the way, with huge new developments under consideration, including a Guinness brewery.

The exposition kicks off Friday. Past editions have been based at the Chicago Cultural Center, but now, its focus shifts to neighborhoods across Chicago — and to finding creative opportunities to meet those communities’ needs.

An energy bill passes the House. Calls grow to investigate an alderman accused of retaliating against residents. Thousands of CPS students are potentially exposed to COVID-19. And the Chicago Bears kickoff their season Sunday.

City Council colleagues of Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th Ward) are calling for him to be punished after text messages show him using offensive language and seeking to withhold city services from a constituent. Our politics team weighs in on that story and more.

More than two million people might be eligible to join a class-action lawsuit over the Chicago Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices, according to attorneys suing CPD and the city. We hear from one of the plaintiffs in the suit and an attorney.

Des Plaines is a diverse suburb just north of O’Hare Airport. It has a high vaccination rate but is still facing an uptick in COVID-19 cases. It’s also looking forward to the reopening of a historic theater, and the expansion of one of its major employers.