Stories by Kristen Thometz

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the COVID-19 vaccine can cause swelling in the lymph nodes in the underarm where women received the shot, which the agency says is normal. But that swelling can appear in mammograms. Here’s what you need to know. 

The company said a Food and Drug Administration review concluded the shots remain safe and effective for at least 4 1/2 months. In February, the FDA originally authorized J&J’s vaccine for up to three months when stored at normal refrigeration levels.

Just a week after losing their first nest to a skunk attack, Monty and Rose have produced a second nest and laid one egg, the Chicago Park District announced. 

On social media and in political speeches, some Republicans and pro-police groups say last year’s calls to slash spending on law enforcement have led to a dramatic rise in killings in cities overseen by Democrats.

Chicagoans’ view of Thursday morning’s “ring of fire” solar eclipse was over before most people were awake.

Spotlight Politics on a city ward remap fight. Unfinished business in Springfield. Friday’s full reopening. A new lease on life for recovering drug addicts. And are we truly alone in the universe?

The U.S. government has been taking a hard look at unidentified flying objects. A report summarizing what the U.S. knows about “unidentified aerial phenomena” — better known as UFOs — is expected to be made public this month.

Breaking the cycle of drug and alcohol addiction is a challenge made even tougher once the criminal justice system gets involved. A new program is helping those recovering find refuge in their own homes.

The state’s top Republicans asked a federal judge Wednesday to appoint an eight-member commission made up of four Democrats and four Republicans to craft the maps with census data.

To coincide with the reopening of Chicago, a number of museums will stay open late on Friday for an after-hours experience.

At least 15 cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant were identified in Chicago through Tuesday, city officials said. 

Calgary-based TC Energy said it would work with government agencies “to ensure a safe termination of and exit from” the partially built line, which was to transport crude from the oil sand fields of western Canada to Steele City, Nebraska.

Where some see the return of Riot Fest as a step in the right direction for Chicago’s reopening, others say closing their neighborhood green space for a “riot for rich people” is a “slap in the face” to communities traumatized by COVID-19.

Paul Woebel, 47, allegedly donned a wig to disguise his appearance before brutally attacking his ex-wife as she walked down a sidewalk last month in Lake View East, leaving her with a fractured skull and arm as well as other injuries.

Two months ahead of his upcoming racketeering trial in New York, R&B star R. Kelly is seeking to part ways with the two Chicago-based attorneys who have been handling his many criminal cases.

Bike lovers, get your rides ready. After it was canceled in 2020 over coronavirus safety concerns, the hugely popular Bike the Drive event is scheduled to return on Sunday, Sept. 5.

A new executive order directs the Commerce Department to undertake what officials describe as an “evidence-based” analysis of transactions involving apps that are manufactured or supplied or controlled by China. 

Educators at the all-male charter schools will receive pay raises, back pay for the last three years when contract negotiations were ongoing and commitments from administrators to follow special education requirements to support students.

A remap fight begins in Chicago’s wards. Promise and controversy over a newly approved Alzheimer’s drug. The history-making new head of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and more.

Meet artist and hair braider Mo G and learn how she’s using braids to push against cultural biases that consider the look unprofessional.

Christina Shutt will be the fifth executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the first person of color to hold the title.

The 13-member Chicago Ward Advisory Redistricting Commission is charged with drawing a ward map “that is truly reflective of the diversity of Chicago,” organizers said.

The Food and Drug Administration said it granted approval to the drug from Biogen based on results that seemed “reasonably likely” to benefit Alzheimer’s patients. It’s the only drug that U.S. regulators have said can likely treat the underlying disease, rather than manage symptoms like anxiety and insomnia.

Construction quietly began on the $95 million facility in West Garfield Park in January and is set to be completed in the fall of 2022, officials said.

The White House has launched a monthlong blitz to combat vaccine hesitancy and a lack of urgency to get shots, particularly in the South and Midwest, but it is increasingly resigned to missing the president’s vaccination target. 

The visit to Mexico capped off Harris’ first foreign trip as vice president, a brief foray focused on dealing with the root causes of migration that brought her first to Guatemala on Monday.