Stories by WTTW News

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.

As one person succinctly summed it up on social media: “We don’t need no April fools jokes … we living in one.”

It’s the first of the month, and everybody knows the rent’s due. For millions of Americans, Wednesday is the first time the landlord is knocking on the door since the coronavirus outbreak turned the economy upside down.

Citywide crime was down in March compared to last year, but Chicago is currently on pace for more shootings and homicides in 2020.

Northfield-based Medline Industries bills itself as the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies in the U.S. We talk with CEO Charles Mills about the company’s efforts to address the pandemic.

Making a career in music and the arts is tricky in the best of times. These days, the struggle is surreal. Here’s our latest check-in with a few players on Chicago’s music scene where, to quote a famous Chicago soul singer, “Only the Strong Survive.”

COVID-19 patients are currently using about 24% of ventilators available statewide, but there’s concern that supplies could run out. To address that possibility, University of Illinois engineers invented a ventilator that can be reproduced on a rapid scale.

The spread of COVID-19 has sparked fear and apprehension — and misinformation can elevate those emotions. To help answer your questions about the new coronavirus, we turned to infectious disease specialist Dr. Susan Bleasdale of UI Health.

How is the coronavirus impacting residents and businesses in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood? We ask 46th Ward Ald. James Cappleman, who represents much of the North Side neighborhood.

With the announcement of an extended stay-at-home order, an already difficult situation becomes more challenging. We report from Uptown, one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods, both by income and ethnicity. 

There is no joy in Mudville (or in Chicago for that matter) as the coronavirus pandemic has struck out Major League Baseball. Jason Benetti and Len Kasper talk about what might have been — and what may happen in the weeks to come.