Stories by DePaul’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence

According to a November study, researchers estimate that anywhere from 700,000 to 1.6 million people in the U.S., are currently experiencing chronic smell loss or distortion because of COVID-19. For several Chicago-area residents, the loss persists. 

The Ricketts family went public with its interest in the buyout with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich forced to sell up after he was sanctioned by the British government and banned by the Premier League.

The $1 trillion federal infrastructure package includes spending on construction projects and puts the U.S. on the path toward transitioning to electric-powered and hybrid vehicles. It also contains a variety of safety provisions, including impaired driver monitors.

No charges against police officers involved in two fatal shootings. The city's ward remap process to head to voters. A class-action suit from blind pedestrians. And changes to Illinois' equal pay law.

Located on East Garfield Boulevard, just blocks away from Hyde Park, Currency Exchange Café serves as an incubator for culinary artists looking to expand their crafts without the stresses that come with starting a business.

An amendment to the Equal Pay Act means new requirements are coming for some Illinois businesses.

Wednesday’s meeting will be the second time in six months that alderpeople have called an emergency meeting of the City Council to publicly push back against Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot — and the three-person committee advising her — will have to work fast to narrow down the applicant pool and nominate a replacement for the disgraced grandson and nephew of Chicago Mayors Richard J. Daley and Richard M. Daley who was convicted Feb. 14 on seven counts of lying to federal bank regulators and filing false tax returns.

Even with officials from several government entities keeping watch, someone dumped dye into the North Branch of the Chicago River, turning it bright St. Patrick's Day green over the weekend.

For decades, plaintiff Ann Brash commuted into the city each day for work. Blind since birth, she’s experienced at getting around using a cane. But Chicago’s noisy downtown poses a challenge, and in 2017 she had a near miss.

The wilder action was in oil and Asian stock markets, where tightened anti-COVID measures in China are raising worries about demand for energy and about disruptions to manufacturing and global trade. Oil prices tumbled more than 8%, taking some pressure off the world’s high inflation, and a barrel of U.S. crude fell below $95 after starting the week above $109. 

Dmitry Zakhvatov, a lawyer who had formerly been representing Marina Ovsyannikova, told CNN that the administrative charge was based solely on a video statement that she recorded prior to appearing with an anti-war poster on Channel One.

Thirty-three alderpeople currently support the ward map backed by the Black Caucus — eight short of the votes needed to avert a referendum in June. 

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced Tuesday that her office will not file criminal charges against the Chicago police officers who shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez in separate on-duty shootings just days apart last year.

The move would add a fourth dose to the COVID vaccine regimen, which currently consists of a primary series of two shots, followed months later by a booster dose, in an effort to provide maximum protection to the over-65 population that has been hit hardest by the pandemic.

Debra ​​Bannack, 62, has been charged with three counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud as part of a widespread scheme at Brennemann Elementary, which was allegedly orchestrated by ex-principal Sarah Jackson Abedelal.

Robyn Detterline’s March Chicago Collision Bird Migration Madness tournament may be a product of her own imagination, but the stakes are very real for birds when it comes to navigating their way safely through Chicago.

Climate scientists at the University of Michigan looked at 15 different plant pollens in the United States and used computer simulations to calculate how much worse allergy season will likely get by the year 2100. It’s enough to make allergy sufferers even more red-eyed.

“King James” by Rajiv Joseph receives a terrific world premiere by Steppenwolf Theatre. The play follows a friendship over a decade that began over a shared love for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

It’s the last day for political candidates to turn in their paperwork. Plus, the outgoing head of the state’s public health department, and how inflation and high gas prices are impacting Chicago’s most vulnerable population.

There were no major surprises as the window closed, with no big names mounting a surprise challenge to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker. With Petersburg’s Jesse Sullivan getting his petitions in before the 5 p.m. deadline, all five of the high-profile Republicans seeking their party’s nomination for governor have filed to run in what’s expected to be a contentious race.

An art exhibition called “Courage …” features work made by first responders. It is running in Skokie through April 3.

Although the United States barely uses Russian oil, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is still a big factor in the gas-price spike — among other reasons.

The 2020 Census undercounted Latino, Black and Indigenous people. That’s according to a survey by the U.S. Census Bureau itself.

While the increase in the cost at the pump — or in the check-out line — impacts everyone, those who were already operating on a tight budget may be feeling the impact most acutely.

Russia and Ukraine kept a fragile diplomatic path open with a new round of talks on Monday even as Moscow’s forces pounded away at Kyiv and other cities across the country in a punishing assault that the Red Cross said has created “nothing short of a nightmare” for the civilian population.