Stories by Associated Press

The personal protective gear that was in dangerously short supply during the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. is running low again as the virus resumes its rapid spread and the number of hospitalized patients climbs.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Illinois Tollway projected its revenues in 2020 would reach $1.5 billion, a 3% increase from 2019. But with people staying at home, that means fewer drivers on the roads – including the tollways.

There is renewed interest in a children’s book written and illustrated by a couple of Chicagoans. We speak with author Michael Tyler and illustrator David Lee Csicsko.

It was clear as soon as the coronavirus was classified as a pandemic that it was going to take a heavy toll on the finances of many individuals and businesses – and therefore on their governments’ finances, too.

From San Francisco to South Carolina, a spate of shootings claimed the lives of people celebrating or just taking a drive over the Fourth of July weekend. Chicago saw one of its bloodiest holiday weekends in memory.

If you’ve ever marveled at archive footage of old Chicago in a WTTW documentary, chances are good it came from Walt Keevil’s north suburban basement.

When Nazis sought to march in Skokie in 1978, they did not get their wish. Residents resisted and six years later opened a storefront museum whose mission remains to “take a stand” against bias.

This spring, Chicago saw record rainfall for the third May in a row – and with it, the return of flooded streets, parks and basements. A new analysis finds many more Chicago properties are at risk of flooding than previously thought.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday ordered those traveling to Chicago from states where confirmed cases of the coronavirus are surging to quarantine for two weeks starting Monday.

Chicagoans hoping to beat this week’s oppressive heat and humidity won’t be able to head to Chicago’s beaches to cool off “any time soon,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned businesses before the 4th of July holiday weekend that city inspectors would be out in force, and officials on Monday announced they had made good on those threats.

As the number of deaths linked to COVID-19 surpasses 130,000 across the U.S., Illinois officials on Monday reported fewer than 10 deaths for the second consecutive day.

One of Chicago’s bloodiest holiday weekends in memory ended with 17 people fatally shot, including a 7-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, and 70 more wounded, despite a concerted effort to quell the violence with an additional 1,200 police officers on the streets.

As the pandemic explodes in diverse states like Arizona and Florida, people in communities of color who have been exposed to the virus are struggling to get tested. 

A judge on Monday ordered the Dakota Access pipeline shut down for additional environmental review more than three years after it began pumping oil — handing a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Calling access to water a “basic human right,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday expanded a program designed to help those struggling to pay their water bills or pay off debt from past-due bills.

It’s not quite bathwater warm — that honor goes to Lake Erie — but Lake Michigan’s average surface temperature has topped 72 degrees thanks to the recent heat wave. 

Determined to close a loophole in a six-year-old city law, aldermen advanced a measure Monday that would ban pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits at a profit.

Environmental activists from the city’s Southwest Side brought their ongoing fight against MAT Asphalt to the North Side front yard of owner Michael Tadin Jr. on Thursday night.

In an open letter to the American public, physicians, nurses, hospital and health system leaders are urging people to wear face masks, maintain social distancing and wash their hands to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Watch the July 6, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

As the coronavirus pandemic took hold this spring, the federal government postponed the traditional April 15 filing deadline until July 15. Taxpayers must file or seek an extension by the new deadline or face a penalty. 

The three chicks hatched in mid-June and now local birding organizations have created a contest to give them names. Submissions are open through Wednesday.

At least 13 people, including a 7-year-old girl at a family party and a teenage boy, were killed in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend, police said. At least 59 others were shot and wounded.

A northern Illinois auto museum has no plan to stop displaying a Dodge Charger from the “Dukes of Hazzard” television show with the Confederate battle flag painted atop the vehicle. 

A weekly Kansas newspaper posted a cartoon on its Facebook page likening the Democratic governor’s order requiring people to wear masks in public to the roundup and murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust.