Stories by Heather Cherone

Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined to address the City Council at her last meeting as mayor, passing up the chance to begin shaping her legacy as the city’s leader during four of the most tumultuous years in Chicago history.

Commissioners heard comments on a range of issues. There were multiple calls for a new superintendent to come from within the ranks of CPD, and many community members said they wanted someone who will instill a culture of respect for residents.

Ald. Ed Burke, 79, is likely to complete his 54 years as a City Council member without any of the pomp and circumstance that once would have greeted his departure from his beloved City Hall, which he ruled with an iron fist for decades.

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, who got his start as an aide to Senate President Don Harmon, traveled to Springfield to declare his election marks a “new day” in Illinois politics – and to serve notice that he would govern boldly as a progressive and supporter of organized labor.

A new short documentary, “Watershed Warriors,” focuses on Friends of the Fox River and the progress the organization has made to reclaim the waterway as a natural resource for the people, wildlife and plants that live within its watershed.

The justices are expected to issue an order on Wednesday in a fast-moving case from Texas in which abortion opponents are seeking to roll back Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug, mifepristone.

In February, the share of health care visits for strep throat or a related diagnosis was nearly 30% higher than during the previous peak in 2017. And preliminary data for early March shows a continued upward trend.

An international team of researchers wrote in the study that clinical trials may be warranted to investigate whether screening guidelines should recommend Black women start screening at younger ages, around 42 instead of 50.

City leaders talk solutions to this weekend’s unrest in the Loop. A warehouse that houses Cook County criminal records dating back to the Chicago Fire. And where the “great resignation” has been felt the most in state government.

In all, fifteen people were arrested in connection with the unrest, which included crowds of young people jumping on CTA buses and fighting. Now downtown residents, city leaders and community organizers are looking for solutions.

Criminal history in Cook County is long and sordid — from Al Capone to Leopold and Loeb to John Wayne Gacy. The historical figures may be long gone, but the physical documents and evidence pertaining to their cases are still around.

According to a new survey, there’s been a shift in the percentage of Americans who believe humans are the primary driver of climate change as opposed to natural changes in the environment.

A new exhibition of his photographs at the Wrightwood 659 gallery in Lincoln Park is an evocative look at gay Black men in Chicago during a pivotal decade — and a window into a community that’s often been overlooked and stereotyped.

The district’s overall budget, which was $9.4 billion in 2023, will be essentially unchanged in 2024, with officials planning to spend an additional $150 million next year, mostly to add instructors in special education classes.

On Tuesday, the FDA changed the terms of the authorizations for those vaccines so that certain individuals could get an additional dose ahead of most others. 

The projections detailed by outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot represent a significantly rosier financial picture for Chicago than the forecast released in August, when city officials projected a likely budget gap of $473.8 million in 2024. 

Till’s kidnapping and killing became a catalyst for the civil rights movement when his mother insisted on an open-casket funeral in their hometown of Chicago after his brutalized body was pulled from a river in Mississippi. Jet magazine published photos.

Officials search for answers after unruly teenage behavior downtown. Why several dozen county employees were busted for alleged fraud. And the former CEO of Com Ed testifies in the bribery case tied to Michael Madigan.

The employees were found to have defrauded the Paycheck Protection Program designed to help businesses stay afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In true springtime-in-Chicago fashion, last week’s record-setting summer-like temperatures gave way to a return on winter Monday, as people woke up to snow-covered cars and below-freezing wind chills.

Anne Pramaggiore was one of Chicago’s most high-profile executives, serving as CEO of ComEd, as well as chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Chicago’s Board of Directors, and on the boards of DePaul University and Motorola. All of those titles are gone now and replaced with another: defendant.

The 85-year-old man who shot and wounded a 16-year-old Black teen after the teen went to the wrong home to pick up his siblings will face two felony charges, officials announced Monday evening. 

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed almost 60% of U.S. girls reported persistent sadness and hopelessness. Rates are up in boys, too, but about half as many are affected. Adults have theories about what is going on, but what do teens themselves say?

Sixteen new models and some of their variations are eligible for all or half of the new credit, while nine models — mostly foreign-made vehicles — are no longer eligible, for now. Most of the eligible cars so far are made by the “big three” EV automakers in the US — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — plus Tesla.

In all, nine adults and six juveniles were arrested in connection with the unrest, which included crowds of young people jumping on CTA buses and fighting, prompting police officials to decry groups “engaging in reckless and disruptive behavior putting themselves and the public at risk for harm.”

In Chicago, a former teacher’s union organizer unexpectedly won the mayor’s race. In St. Louis, progressives secured a majority on the municipal board. The next opportunities could lie in Philadelphia and Houston, which also hold mayoral elections this year.