Stories by Kristen Thometz

“Today is a very special day that should instill us all with optimism and hope,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday as the state received an initial shipment of about 43,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer. 

Over the last nine months, the ways in which people are getting around Chicago — and their need to do so — have shifted dramatically. But the demand for public transit from essential workers has remained steady.

Trailblazing sports reporter Jeannie Morris, the first woman to cover the Super Bowl who is perhaps best known for her book “Brian Piccolo: A Short Season” that was later turned into the film “Brian’s Song,” died Monday.

Mag Mile landlords dodge a new tax aimed at revitalizing the shopping strip following this summer’s unrest. Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Danny Ecker has details on this story and more.

A Black high school student who was dragged down the stairs and tased by a police officer stationed at Marshall High School should get $300,000 to settle her lawsuit against the city, aldermen agreed Monday.

Be on the lookout for phony treatments and phishing messages, according to the Better Business Bureau, as scammers look to take advantage of pandemic angst and the public’s desire to get vaccinated.

Watch the Dec. 14, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The biggest vaccination campaign in U.S. history kicked off Monday as health workers rolled up their sleeves for shots to protect them from COVID-19 and start beating back the pandemic — a day of optimism even as the nation’s death toll closed in on 300,000.

Alds. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward) and Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) said the effort to create the new taxing district to fund security, attract businesses and spruce up the streets and sidewalks was pushed through too quickly and should not move forward.

The possible nomination would vault the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate into the federal government, getting the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor what many Democrats see as needed experience should he want to run for president again.

Trump administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species.

Lovie Smith became Illinois’ first Black head football coach when he was hired by athletic director Josh Whitman in March 2016. The longtime NFL coach went 17-39 in five seasons at the school.

The first of many freezer-packed COVID-19 vaccine vials made their way to distribution sites across the United States on Sunday, as the nation’s pandemic deaths approached the horrifying new milestone of 300,000.

Our conversation on unity between Black and Latino communities continues. We check in with the new president of Governors State University. Meet an extraordinary athlete who just wouldn’t give up.

A new generation of activists and organizers are working to build on past coalitions and bring Chicago’s Black and Brown communities together to end the systemic inequities that have persisted in our city for decades.

The owner of Gerri’s Palm Tavern appeared in a few WTTW features over the years, including a 1987 special about 47th Street called “Precious Memories.” We revisit that conversation.

Starting a new job is always demanding, but when that job is university president and the year is 2020, it comes with a few extra challenges. We check in with Cheryl Green, the new president of Governors State University.

A vaccine is on the way, but it will likely be months before it is widely available. That means masks and social distancing protocols will need to remain in place, the governor said this week.

The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning, U.S. officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.

This summer, tensions between Black and Latino Chicagoans threatened to explode into violence before activists restored peace, but the incident underlined the sometimes uneasy history between our city’s Black and Latino communities.

The uneasy history between Chicago’s Black and Brown communities. Fighting the stigma of food insecurity. The origins of La Guadalupana. And the Latino takeover at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The U.S. gave the final go-ahead Friday to the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine, marking what could be the beginning of the end of an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans. 

Doctors and nurses around the U.S. are becoming exhausted and demoralized as they struggle to cope with a record-breaking surge of COVID-19 patients that is overwhelming hospitals and prompting governors to clamp back down to contain the virus.

The Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit backed by President Trump to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory, ending a desperate attempt to get legal issues rejected by state and federal judges before the nation’s highest court.

The White House pressures the FDA to grant emergency authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, as the virus kills more than 14,000 people in Illinois. 

“Cheer” star Jerry Harris has been indicted on new charges that allege he solicited sex from minors at cheerleading competitions and convinced teenage boys to send him obscene photographs and videos of themselves.