Stories by Kristen Thometz

It’s official: Illinois will move into the next phase of its reopening plan Friday. “Illinois is being touted across the country for getting it right,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.

The ongoing federal review of plans to construct the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park hit a minor speed bump when the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office weighed in. What does it mean for the controversial project?

With the possibility of remote learning returning this fall, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday announced the launch of a $50 million program that will provide free high-speed internet to students over the next four years.

Watch the June 25, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

More than 460 people across the country, including 16 in Illinois, have become ill after coming in contact with poultry in backyard flocks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Coronavirus cases are climbing rapidly among young adults in a number of states where bars, stores and restaurants have reopened.

A contentious vote on police in schools. The next phase of reopening for the city and state. A plan for in-person instruction at schools in the fall. Those stories and more in this week’s roundtable.

We discuss the alarming findings of a recent report by City Bureau and WBEZ that analyzed home lending data in Chicago from 2012 to 2018.

The west suburban city is preparing to ramp up its reopening as the state moves into phase four on Friday. At the same time, Elgin is facing unrest of its own over a police-involved shooting in 2018. 

An art alliance has been beautifying boarded-up buildings downtown and throughout the city as a form of protest, and a way to respond to how the world is currently understanding racism.

He is optimistic about the development of vaccines and treatments to slow the spread of COVID-19 but describes the national response to the virus as a “disgrace.” We speak with Dr. Robert Murphy of Northwestern University.

Chicago Public Schools will continue to utilize school resource officers in some of its high schools, after a motion to terminate the district’s $33 million contract with the Chicago Police Department was voted down Wednesday.

The annual display gives way to some virtual celebrations in 2020. Not that the holiday will be short of illegal booms, crackles and pops, if recent weeks are any indication. 

Similar in size to the monarch, the regal fritillary is also a stunner in the looks department, but the native prairie butterfly has nearly disappeared from Illinois. To save this pollinator, we need to save the prairie.

Watch the June 24, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Coronavirus-related shutdowns of businesses, schools and community organizations has led to massive cancellations of blood drives, leading to a nearly 60% drop in collections, according to the Illinois Coalition of Community Blood Centers.

The pilot program, approved earlier this month by the Chicago City Council, will expand to Andersonville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Edison Park and Grand Crossing, the mayor’s office announced.

More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe each year, and such a decision would underscore flaws in the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic, which has seen the United States record the highest number of infections and virus-related deaths in the world by far.

“As a school community, we champion diversity, inclusion, and understanding, and it's essential that we live up to these ideals in all possible ways," Lane Tech Principal Brian Tennison said in a letter to families Tuesday.

Nearly two years after an audit by the city’s watchdog found significant problems with allowing Chicago police officers to patrol schools, aldermen will hold a hearing on the program at the center of the debate over defunding the police department.

More than 200 Chicago-area residents were nominated this year for the award, and those chosen each receive $50,000 — half of which they can spend however they’d like. 

Oak Park was the first town in Illinois to issue a stay-at-home order when a cluster of COVID-19 cases was found in mid-March, just days before the statewide shutdown. Months later, it has started to come to life again.

It’s been 95 long days since the treadmills and weight benches of Chicago’s fitness centers fell silent thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. But this Friday, gyms in Illinois will be allowed to reopen.

When Chicago tattoo parlors shut down in mid-March, the artists at Speakeasy Custom Tattoos were already booked up through June. How they — and their customers — are staying safe during the pandemic.

Chicago voters are on track to break the record for vote-by-mail applications set in March, elections officials said Tuesday.

Teachers, parents and students across Illinois finally have an answer to the question of whether or not classrooms will reopen in the fall — and the answer is yes. But it’s not going to be business as usual.