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The findings released Tuesday are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed — the gold standard in scientific research — but they line up with other early data about omicron's behavior, including that it seems to be more easily transmitted.

The proposal from Glenstar at 8535 W. Higgins Road will build the 41st Ward’s first affordable housing in decades amid a cluster of hotels and office mid-rises along the Kennedy Expressway near O’Hare Airport and steps away from the CTA Blue Line.

A full-court press from the owners of the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks helped the measure backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot hit the jackpot despite the opposition of Chicago billionaire and Rivers Casino Des Plaines operator Neil Bluhm.

Great Lakes governors are asking the federal government to fund costs of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam project on the Des Plaines River, designed to block the incursion of invasive carp into the lakes.

Indicted Ald. Carrie Austin (34th Ward) collapsed during Wednesday’s City Council meeting and was treated by former firefighter Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward) before reviving and being taken out of the Council Chambers on a stretcher.

Chicago education officials approved a settlement Wednesday that will put an end to years of litigation with the Chicago Teachers Union over a series of layoffs that disparately impacted hundreds of Black teachers and paraprofessionals.

The White House on Wednesday insisted there is no need for a lockdown because vaccines are widely available and appear to offer protection against the worst consequences of the virus. 

Christmas tubas, seasonal concerts, a craft fair and a reimagined “A Christmas Carol” usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in Chicago.

“The trial of Mr. Smollett being complete, it is now appropriate for the seal on the (Office of Special Prosecutor’s) Summary Report to be lifted and for it to be publicly available,” Dan Webb wrote in a new motion Wednesday.

The first case of the omicron variant in suburban Cook County was reported Tuesday, according to county health officials.

Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of violating George Floyd’s civil rights, averting a trial but likely extending the time he is already spending behind bars on a state conviction.

Capping a marathon day, the House gave final approval to the legislation early Wednesday morning on a near-party-line 221-209 vote, defusing a volatile issue until after the 2022 midterm elections. 

The near-party-line 222-208 vote is the second time the special committee has sought to punish a witness for defying a subpoena.

While its score may be classic retro, the songs are performed with great authenticity by artists who came of age decades after the baby boomers and Generation Xers who grew up with them.

Decades ago, the state of Illinois outlawed midwifery. Now the state’s in the process of changing course with a new law signed Tuesday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Families are lining up around the city to meet with the big guy himself. In some places, there's a struggle to meet the demand.

The U.S. on Tuesday hit another depressing pandemic milestone — 800,000 deaths. It’s a sad coda to a year that held so much promise with the arrival of vaccines but is ending in heartbreak for the many grieving families trying to navigate the holiday season.

For nearly 16 years, the Read/Write Library has been operating in the community, providing unique publications like creative books, neighborhood newspapers and personal narratives by people who are incarcerated. 

Chicago's updated travel advisory includes 42 states, announced Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

A 140-foot-tall transparent structure that’s brightly illuminated 24/7, located across the street from Harms Woods nature preserve, along a key migratory greenway, is a triple threat to birds, environmentalists say.

The committee vote represents a nearly unprecedented rebuke of the decades-old tradition of giving alderpeople the final say over housing developments in their wards.

A man accused in a fatal shooting after a traffic accident earlier this year now faces charges in a separate West Englewood homicide in which he allegedly killed a man as he stood outside a vehicle that had two young children inside.

China dismissed the decision by Canada and the United Kingdom to join Washington’s diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games as a “farce.” 

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.

Delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and massive amount of evidence, Ald. Ed Burke's criminal trial will not take place until 2022 at the earliest.

Illinois Congress members on Chicago violence. How more midwives across the state can reduce health care inequities. A suburban fight over a Carvana vending machine. And a Santa shortage.