Stories by Associated Press

Pfizer said Monday its COVID-19 vaccine works for children ages 5 to 11 and that it will seek U.S. authorization for this age group soon — a key step toward beginning vaccinations for youngsters.

Should you need any additional proof of the adage that “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” the recent one-night-only performance by the Joffrey Ballet at the Ravinia Festival provided all the evidence required.

Mayor Lightfoot joins us as she proposes her new budget to City Council — we’ll look at the numbers and get reaction from aldermen. The COVID-19 vaccine for kids. And U.S.-Mexico trade talks restart.

Black Caucus Chair Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) said the City Council should act quickly and loosen the rules because the legal sale of cannabis is “raining hundred-dollar bills” and those hurt by the war on drugs should be able to take advantage of the gold rush.

The U.S. is flying Haitians camped in a Texas border town back to their homeland and blocking others from crossing the border from Mexico in a massive show of force that signals the beginning of what could be one of America’s swiftest, large-scale expulsions of migrants or refugees in decades.

A fresh floral arrangement is a quick way to brighten up a room, but those buds and blossoms likely came from farms hundreds or even thousands of miles away. A local organization is on a mission to change that.

At an early age he identified himself as “The Greatest” and backed up his words inside and out of the boxing ring. Filmmaker Ken Burns joins “Black Voices” to discuss the sweeping new four-part documentary “Muhammad Ali.”

Solving what may be dozens of cases of missing or killed Black women in Chicago. The epic life of Muhammad Ali with two men who knew him well — in different ways. And helping young people bloom.

Black women and girls in the U.S. are disproportionately at risk for abuse, exploitation and homicide. In the Chicago area, an alarming number of Black women and girls have gone missing. Can a new initiative help find them?

Come fall, Sears will shut the doors on its last department store in Illinois, the state in which its first retail store opened in 1925. The Sears department store in the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg will close on Nov. 14.

Four space tourists safely ended their trailblazing trip to orbit Saturday with a splashdown in the Atlantic off the Florida coast. 

The new abortion law in Mexico. Is Illinois’ child welfare agency serving Spanish-speaking children? And celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, starting with Mexican Independence Day.

Just a few weeks after a Texas law took effect that bans most abortions in that state, Mexico’s Supreme Court has decided that women should not be criminalized for having an abortion. Both decisions have reignited protests over reproductive rights.

A new report says Illinois’ child welfare agency is failing to serve Spanish-speaking children and families in their language. ProPublica Illinois reporter Melissa Sanchez has details.

The U.S. plans to speed up its efforts to expel Haitian migrants on flights to their Caribbean homeland, officials said Saturday as agents poured into a Texas border city where thousands of Haitians have gathered after suddenly crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

In a city still on edge after the Jan. 6 insurrection, law enforcement bore down in large numbers on the Capitol on Saturday over concerns that a rally in support of the jailed rioters would turn violent. It didn’t.

Prosecutors inched closer on Friday to concluding their case at the R. Kelly sex-trafficking trial, calling two final witnesses to try to further cement allegations he groomed young victims for unwanted sex in episodes dating to the 1990s.

An ethics investigation into a Chicago alderman. The county assessor's got election competition. The latest on the park district's lifeguard sex abuse scandal. And CPS gets a new CEO.

The Pentagon retreated from its defense of a drone strike that killed multiple civilians in Afghanistan last month, announcing Friday that a review revealed that only civilians were killed in the attack, not an Islamic State extremist as first believed.

An influential federal advisory panel has overwhelmingly rejected a plan to give Pfizer booster shots against COVID-19 to most Americans, but it endorsed the extra shots for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease.

Though it is unclear how big the rally will be, the Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department are fully activating in an effort to avoid a repeat of the pre-inauguration attack.

More than two months after Inspector General Joseph Ferguson announced he would leave office on Oct. 15, the Chicago City Council on Friday finally took the first steps toward finding his replacement as the city’s watchdog.

A wetlands restoration project is underway at Powderhorn Lake Forest Preserve in the Calumet region, where construction of a human-made water control device will recreate a more natural system of drainage.

A Cook County judge has ordered Nathaniel Butler Sr. to be held without bail following his arrest in connection to the killing of 35-year-old Jerome Jenkins. That ruling came a day after Butler’s two sons were also held without bail.

Bipartisan legislation to be introduced Friday by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush would honor those whose efforts led to the successful development of COVID-19 vaccines, including researchers, scientists, doctors and vaccine trial volunteers. 

The vibrant Little Village community has been bustling with Mexican Pride as celebrations are in full force for Mexican Independence Day.