Stories by Associated Press

For weeks, much of upstate New York has been in the high-alert orange zone, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designation that reflects serious community spread. The CDC urges people to mask up in indoor public places, including schools, regardless of vaccination status. But few, if any, local jurisdictions in the region brought back a mask requirement despite rising case counts.

The coordinated effort being announced Tuesday by the LGBTQ Victory Institute and other advocates comes in response to recent actions taken in conservative states. In Texas, for example, Gov. Gregg Abbott has directed state agencies to consider placing transgender children in foster care, though a judge has temporarily blocked such investigations. 

The Chicago Police Department is seeking help to solve cold case homicides through a video series that’s aimed at bringing renewed attention on some of the city’s long dormant unsolved crimes.

A decision to overrule Roe would lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states and could have huge ramifications for this year’s elections. But it’s unclear if the draft represents the court’s final word on the matter — opinions often change in ways big and small in the drafting process.

Patients are presenting with stuffy nose, nasal congestion, cough, post-nasal drip and sore throats. In the age of COVID, that leaves people worried. 

How to tell if your symptoms are from allergies or COVID. Plus, the latest on the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Meet the city’s newly-confirmed watchdog. And reaction to Whole Foods leaving Englewood.

The U.S. already has provided about 7,000 Javelins, including some that were delivered during the Trump administration, about one-third of its stockpile, to Ukraine, according to an analysis by Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies international security program.

After just six years, Whole Foods announced last week that the grocery chain is closing its Englewood store. The store's departure is a major blow to the South Side neighborhood that's long suffered from a lack of healthy food options.

A new show at the Goodman Theatre is exploring what the Victorian era was like for Black Americans.

State Farm customers will notice an increase in their car insurance rates once again; prices of new homes take the biggest leap in at least 15 years; and a Fulton Market developer has big plans for a property near one of the city's proposed casino sites.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg vowed to tackle Chicago’s “legitimacy deficit” by holding city officials who abuse the public trust accountable while working to reform the Chicago Police Department in order to reduce violence. 

Seena Jacob, the founder of the nonprofit BookWallah, is working to help children heal from trauma using books. She founded the organization in 2009 when she says she began to question her life’s purpose and started to visit orphanages around the world. 

“I’ll take on all comers,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a news conference Monday afternoon. “I fear no one.”

Donald Trump’s post-presidency enters a new phase this month as voters across the U.S. begin weighing the candidates he elevated to pursue a vision of a Republican Party steeped in hardline populism, culture wars and denial of his loss in the 2020 campaign.

It’s been a long slide for greyhound racing, which reached its peak in the 1980s when there were more than 50 tracks across 19 states. Since then, increased concerns about how the dogs are treated along with an explosion of gambling options have nearly killed a sport that gained widespread appeal about a century ago.

Through the end of April, 178 people have been killed in Chicago this year, according to Chicago Police Department data. That marks a 7% decline over the same time last year, though it’s still a higher total year-over-year compared to the first four months of 2020 and 2019.

April was the rollercoaster ride, weather-wise, Chicagoans have come to expect from spring's most capricious month.

For its spring season at the Lyric Opera House, the Joffrey Ballet has devised a program composed of two dramatically and stylistically different works.

A review of the evidence finds new details about how, long before the attack on the Capitol unfolded, several GOP lawmakers were participating directly in Trump’s campaign to reverse the results of a free and fair election.

An undetermined number of other Americans — many with military backgrounds — are thought to be in the country battling Russian forces beside both Ukrainians and volunteers from other countries even though U.S. forces aren’t directly involved in fighting aside from sending military materiel, humanitarian aid and money. 

The life expectancy gap between Black and white Chicagoans widens again. The city moves forward in testing a guaranteed income program. A former Secret Service agent receives a presidential pardon.

Eligible applicants will be entered into a lottery to determine who will get $500 a month for one year. Ultimately, 5,000 households will receive checks in one of the largest tests of guaranteed income across the country.

For the first time in decades, life expectancy for Black Chicagoans fell below 70 years old. In 2020, the gap in life expectancy between Black and White residents was 10 years, an increase from 8.8 years in 2017. Overall, life expectancy in Chicago dropped almost two years from 2019 to 2020.

A new television series shot on Chicago’s South Side is airing now on AMC. “61st Street” is set in Woodlawn and explores the relationship between community, police and the courts.

The Chicago Teachers Union and advocacy groups are protesting the budget cuts they say their schools are facing. This is after Chicago Public Schools released individual school budgets with more than 40% of schools expected to see fewer dollars.

Cook County Health recently unveiled The Change Institute, a think tank they say will bring the urgency and focus of the COVID-19 pandemic response to addressing these other health issues.