Stories by Hedy Weiss

Lyric’s canceled productions of “42nd Street” and “Blue” are now slated to run in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Meanwhile, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is partnering with WFMT on a series beginning next week.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday named former Dallas police Chief David Brown to head the police force in the nation’s third largest city, touting his humility and calling him “a leader who commands respect.”

Paolo Palazzi-Xirinachs was about four weeks into his post-retirement studies at the University of Florence when Italy went into full quarantine. Now he’s stuck in a country with the highest reported coronavirus death toll in the world.

Ridership on city bus and train lines is down, but the CTA is still operating its regular schedule. What the agency is – and is not – doing to protect riders and operators during the pandemic.

It’s estimated that roughly two billion people around the globe are now under some form of stay-at-home order. This significant slowdown in economic activity has also led to an environmental impact, particularly in the air.

Street sweeping season usually kicks off April 1, but with so many Chicagoans (and their cars) staying put, the city decided to improvise.

With COVID-19 cases rising in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he has taken every action possible to stop the spread of the virus. “Now the rest is up to you,” he said Thursday afternoon.

The North Shore community is home to dozens of restaurants and bars, but since the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing stay-at-home order in Illinois, the city’s businesses have had to make some major changes. 

“Tiger King” has become a streaming sensation during the coronavirus pandemic, but accredited zoos and aquariums aren’t entertained by the unsavory practices on display.

Many animal shelters are temporarily closed to the public under the state’s stay-at-home order, but they’re still offering essential services — and they’re bracing for an uptick in need as pet owners get sick and lose paychecks.

Watch the April 2, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

How much food should you be buying per trip? How to draw the line between hoarding and stocking up? A Chicago dietitian shares her advice for grocery shopping during the pandemic.

The city’s buses and trains are largely empty these days, as many Chicagoans heed calls from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to stay home.

Officer Marco DiFranco, 50, has died of the novel coronavirus, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and interim Police Superintendent Charlie Beck announced Thursday.

Brutus and Titus, 4-year-old brothers, arrived at their new home in mid-March. Learn more about the African lions during a Facebook Live chat on Thursday.

All Chicago neighborhoods have been hit hard by shutdowns related to the coronavirus, but lower-income communities that rely on social service organizations are facing a unique set of challenges.

Breakthrough Fresh Market food pantry in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood usually provides groceries to about 70 people a day, three times a week. But in recent weeks, the pantry has seen its numbers spike at least 25%.

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust a host of ethical dilemmas out of the classroom and into emergency rooms and hospitals. Is it ethical to ask providers to reuse masks? Or to prioritize testing? Or to ration ventilators? We speak with two doctors on the front lines.

The 2020 Census count is underway. Here’s everything you need to know about the massive, far-reaching project – in less than four minutes. In English and Spanish.

Two police chiefs from outside Chicago with experience handling mass shootings and a Chicago native who’s risen to the rank of deputy chief are finalists in the city’s search for its next top cop. We profile each of the finalists.

In just the past month, Illinois unemployment claims ballooned to more than 133,000 as people lost their jobs in the midst of the pandemic – and it could be just the beginning. Is a rent freeze the right answer?

Amid a global pandemic that has grown to include 6,980 cases in Illinois and 141 deaths, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is calling on Illinois residents to think about the future on National Census Day.

President Donald Trump is resisting calls to issue a national stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the new coronavirus despite his administration’s projections that tens of thousands of Americans are likely to be killed by the disease.

Customers still riding the CTA Red Line won’t be able to get on or off the “L” at Granville, Thorndale and Bryn Mawr this weekend as part of the CTA’s Red and Purple Line Modernization project.

Watch the April 1, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

A Chicago city employee has died of COVID-19, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Wednesday. “This sobering moment should remind us that the numbers we report every day are not mere statistics,” the mayor said.