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It’s been five years since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. What we learned and whether we’re prepared for the next one.

“It’s like a storm that takes over your body,” Marta Cerda said of her struggles with long COVID. “It’s just a nightmare for me and I’m trying to maintain hope that there will be these treatments and cures, but it’s sometimes very hard to have hope.”

More than 1.2 million Americans have died from COVID-19. Despite having one of the most sophisticated health care systems in the world, the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic fell well short when compared to other developed nations.

Tuesday’s escalation and retreat in the ongoing trade war between the United States and Canada only compounded the rising sense of uncertainty in terms of how President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes affect the economies of both countries.

The Trump administration had already been whittling the agency’s staff, though buyout offers and the termination of probationary employees. After Tuesday’s layoffs, the Education Department’s staff will sit at roughly half of its previous 4,100, the agency said.

Northwestern and Illinois Wesleyan universities were among those that received notice from the department of potential Title VI violations stemming from what it called “antisemitic harassment and discrimination.”

This year’s construction is focused on the outbound Kennedy lanes. Work is expected to start Monday and be finished around Thanksgiving, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Billy Corgan is teaming with the Lyric Opera to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Smashing Pumpkins’ epic double LP “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” for a week of performances in late November.

“The commission believes that strengthening trust in COPA now requires new leadership,” Commission for Public Safety and Accountability President Anthony Driver, Jr. and Vice President Remel Terry wrote, saying they had identified “critical failures of leadership (that) seriously undermine the quality and integrity of COPA’s work.”

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias on the Real ID deadline. A look at Chicago’s most iconic foods. And entrepreneurs react to the city’s Small Business Administration office relocating.

The Small Business Administration is relocating its regional Chicago office, as well as those in five other metropolitan cities. Local SBAs are tasked with providing funding, education and resources to small business owners, operating as a lifeline to both aspiring business owners and longtime entrepreneurs.

After being extended multiple times, the deadline for needing a Real ID to travel domestically is finally approaching. But not everyone needs a Real ID. Who does and how can you make the process as quick and painless as possible?

If the verdict is upheld, it would be equivalent to the amount the city sets aside for an entire year and a half to cover the cost of police misconduct lawsuits.

The S&P 500 was down 2.1% in midday trading, coming off its worst week since September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 405 points, or 0.9%, as of 11:20 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 3.6% lower.

Under new rules announced Monday, members of the public will be allowed to sign up for a 15-minute slot to inspect the gift room once every three months. Afterward, items will be donated to local Chicago charities, according to the mayor’s office.

Metra has launched a survey to get feedback on potentially renaming lines to make the system “easier to understand for new and occasional riders,” according to the rail service on Monday.

The Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools each released findings Monday which showed, for the first time in several years, that the state is seeing some improvements in the number of educator hires.

Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, will host a new weekly podcast series starting this month featuring a special guest pulled from the world of entertainment, sports, health and business.

Chicago is home to a plateful of iconic foods. But more than anything else, Chicago is known for its hot dogs and its pizza. WTTW News explains.

Ald Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) is set to leave the City Council March 31 in order to lead the Chicago Park District, where he will oversee the city’s 600 parks and 6,000 employees.

For decades, the Presidential Management Fellows program was seen as a building block for the civil service with the expectation that the few who earned the position would one day become leaders in the federal workforce. Now the road ahead is uncertain.

Jerseys worn by Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in the first NBA games of their careers could sell for millions of dollars when they go up for auction this spring.

Shohei Ohtani’s bat is ready for the Los Angeles Dodgers while Shota Imanaga has looked good on the mound for the Chicago Cubs with less than 10 days remaining before baseball’s regular-season opener in Japan.

In the last five years, voters in 33 Illinois counties have been asked if they want to consider separating from Chicago’s Cook County to form a new state. Each time, a majority said yes. Some politicians in neighboring Indiana seem up for the idea.

The funding freeze has sparked panic among grant recipients who are stranded outside their home countries without clarity on the future of their programs or the money needed to support themselves.

The monarch butterfly population has rebounded from a near record low number in 2024, according to the latest annual survey conducted by the World Wildlife Fund-Mexico.