Stories by Blair Paddock

An early surge in RSV, a common virus that usually appears in the winter, is driving an unnecessary increase in patients going to the emergency room, doctors say.

The 2022 spending plan relies on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funding to shore up Chicago’s budget gaps, increases police spending and invests in ward-by-ward community programs. Is it too reliant on federal COVID-19 funding?

We dig into the city budget with analysts. Our Spotlight Politics team on that and redrawing the city ward maps. Why pediatric hospital visits are up. And the Chicago Sky are headed to the playoffs.

R. Kelly got away with sexually abusing underage victims for more than two decades by ruling his inner circle enablers with an iron fist, a prosecutor told jurors on Wednesday at the R&B singer’s sex-trafficking trial.

Proposals to list the properties on the National Register of Historic Places cleared a key committee hearing Wednesday and will come before the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in October. 

The mayor said Wednesday she would not delay her order to require all city workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 15 — despite pushback from the unions representing Chicago’s 11,000 police officers.

The former San Antonio Independent School District superintendent now finds himself leading a district that is struggling to execute contact tracing and COVID-19 testing as students resume in-person learning.

German beers and brats, live jazz, a freestyle dance contest and a boozy art show usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

The National Weather Service is warning people to steer clear of parks, trails, piers and breakwaters Wednesday and Thursday, with waves as high as 18 feet and wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour in the forecast.

Hospitals in parts of the state are facing a critical shortage of available beds in their intensive care units. The highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19, combined with low vaccination rates, has created an overwhelming situation for medical providers for the last month.

Two harbingers of autumn — the harvest moon and fall equinox — are occurring within days of each other this week, which will make for some interesting sunsets and moon rises. And keep an eye out for “Chicagohenge.”

Options narrowed Tuesday for thousands of Haitian migrants straddling the Mexico-Texas border as the United States government ramped up expulsion flights to Haiti, and Mexico began flying and busing some away from the border.

As the holiday shopping season approaches, several economists are warning consumers about higher prices and delays for shipments due to a shortage in everything from microchips to coffee to the supply containers for transporting goods.

The House voted late Tuesday to keep the government funded, suspend the federal debt limit and provide disaster and refugee aid, setting up a high-stakes showdown with Republicans who oppose the package despite the risk of triggering a fiscal crisis.

State education officials say students who don’t have medical exemptions must be taught in school this year. But in Chicago, there’s still a standoff between the mayor’s office and the teachers union over what in-person learning should look like during a pandemic.

Thousands of Haitians are being removed from Texas — we have local reaction. How many Chicago police officers are vaccinated? A shortage of ICU beds downstate. A harvest moon and the fall equinox.

President Joe Biden summoned the world’s nations to forcefully address the festering global issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and human rights abuses in his first address before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. 

The remark Tuesday by attorney Deveraux Cannick, made with the jury out the courtroom, came as the defense wound down its case at the trial in federal court in New York City. 

Safety officials are reminding Chicagoans that even if it still feels like summer, the lakefront’s beaches are now closed for the season to swimming, with lifeguards no longer present along the shoreline. So far in 2021, 38 people have drowned in Lake Michigan.

The Board of Education will vote this week on a one-year, $11 million extension to continue its school resource officer program despite an ongoing push from some students and advocates to have police removed from schools.

Unvaccinated visitors to Chicago from 48 states as well as Washington, D.C., Guam and the Virgin Islands are urged to quarantine for 10 days or record a negative test for the coronavirus within 72 hours of their arrival, officials said.

According to Chicago police, 58-year-old Tony Landers has been charged with a single count of aggravated assault stemming from the Saturday night incident near Racine and Leland avenues.

Disney II Magnet High School, Prosser Career Academy and Walter Payton College Prep are among the 325 schools recognized nationally for their “overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.”

Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that a booster of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a stronger immune response months after people receive a first dose.

Heading out to a bar, restaurant or theater in Chicago? You may be asked to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19. Proof is not required — and a coalition of restaurateurs say it shouldn’t ever be. But a group of City Council members have a different view.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot told WTTW News on Monday night she was “disappointed” that efforts to test all Chicago Public Schools students and staff for COVID-19 had gotten off to a slow and confusing start.