Stories by Patty Wetli

General Iron ceased shredding operations at its Lincoln Park facility after an explosion Monday morning rocked the neighborhood, prompting residents and the local alderman to call for the facility to be permanently closed.

Chicago’s effort to beat back the coronavirus pandemic got a boost from two celebrities Monday, as Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city was making “good steady progress” toward the next phase of reopening.

Early Monday morning, the North Branch Chicago River gauge at Pulaski Road showed the waterway at 17.87 feet, inches away from the river's "minor" flood level at 18 feet, according to National Weather Service data.

Through a nonprofit effort dubbed Initiative 77(3)12, friends Bill Phan and Kevin Yoo are feeding hundreds of health care workers each week across Chicago – and they hope to keep it going as long as the need continues.

The electronics company is collaborating with the university to produce the FlexVent, a gas-operated ventilator “based on the Illinois RapidVent concept” that was developed in response to COVID-19.

The Anti-Defamation League says some of the activity at rallies protesting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order is “vile” and racist, including posters equating Pritkzer, who is Jewish, with Adolf Hitler.

Sunday brought another uptick in coronavirus cases in Illinois. Another 1,734 new cases of COVID-19 brings the statewide total of confirmed cases to 94,191, with 4,177 deaths.

Skin doctors suddenly are looking at a lot of toes — whether by emailed picture or video visit — as concern grows that for some people, a sign of COVID-19 may pop up in an unusual spot.

Under an emergency rule quietly filed Friday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration, bars, restaurants and other businesses that open to customers in defiance of Illinois’ stay-at-home order now risk being charged with a misdemeanor.

In an online commencement address Saturday, former President Barack Obama told college graduates that the pandemic shows many officials “aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”

Michael McCaskey, who led the Chicago Bears for nearly three decades following the death of his grandfather George Halas, died Saturday after a lengthy battle with cancer, the team said. He was 76.

Illinois saw its coronavirus caseload increase Saturday by 2,088, but the percentage of positive cases among those tested, known as the “positivity rate,” fell to 15% statewide, down a percentage point from a day earlier.

In Chicago and around the world, people are creating photographs, paintings, emails, journals and social media posts that will shape how the world remembers the coronavirus pandemic for years and centuries to come. 

Across the United States, masks have become more and more prevalent. And people with masks – as well as latex gloves – have found their way into more and more crime reports.

More than 4,000 have died from COVID-19 in Illinois as Gov. J.B. Pritzker pushes the state’s estimated peak to mid-June. Chicago is on pace to move to the next phase at the end of the month, but the lakefront will remain closed. 

Employees of the Chicago Public Library will head back to work on Wednesday, but Mayor Lori Lightfoot tossed cold water on Library Commissioner Andrea Telli’s suggestion that libraries could reopen as soon as June 1.

With O’Hare and Midway airports deserted amid the coronavirus pandemic, stores, restaurants and rental car companies are set to get a two-month break on most of the rent they owe to the city under a proposal that cleared a key city panel Friday.

COVID-19 can mimic labor symptoms and can cause additional complications for women following birth, according to Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike, who called for increased testing of pregnant women.

“In early 2020, I spent nine weeks traveling the country, talking to people about being well and staying focused. It was exhilarating. Then the pandemic hit and shook us all,” Oprah Winfrey said in a statement. “Now, it’s more important than ever to be and stay well and strong.”

The dandelion — a once-prized plant that gardeners used to exhibit at county fairs — now holds the title of Public Lawn Enemy No. 1. But is this reputation deserved?

The number of people seeking help from the Greater Chicago Food Depository and affiliated food pantries has surged 60% since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down the nation's economy and thrown tens of millions of people out of work. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged Chicago religious leaders on Friday not to hold in-person worship services this weekend, warning those who fail to follow the governor’s stay-at-home order are “playing with a fully loaded and cocked gun.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot late Thursday called off a planned demolition of a building at the former Crawford Power Plant after protests erupted and the alderman objected.

Neighbors unanimously spoke out Thursday against General Iron’s application for a permit to move its Lincoln Park metal shredding operation to the Southeast Side, but questioned whether their concerns would even count.

With all the uncertainty facing theaters and their audiences, the Goodman Theatre is postponing the four productions remaining in its current spring and summer 2020 season, and will announce additional shows for the coming season at a later date.

About 60 miles south of Chicago, Kankakee County has seen 874 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday, with 36 deaths and 204 recoveries. Local officials weigh in on the state’s handling of the pandemic.