Stories by Matt Masterson

Joseph West, 30, was arrested Tuesday afternoon following a standoff with a Chicago police SWAT team at a South Side home. He allegedly admitted that he shot his girlfriend 10 times as she sat in her bed eating McDonald’s.

President Biden holds the first formal press conference. We visit Albany Park for our community reporting series. Exploring inequities in women’s sports. Another year of virtual Passover and Easter.

Chicago will not allow businesses to increase their capacity indoors amid an “alarming” increase in COVID-19 cases and illnesses, but they will be allowed to serve more customers outside, officials announced Thursday. “We are seeing a very disturbing trend,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot told reporters.

Starting April 1, state-regulated electric, natural gas and utilities may begin to disconnect customers who haven’t paid their bills, according to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who urged customers to contact their providers if they’re facing financial hardship.

Progressive groups launched a campaign Thursday to ratchet up the pressure on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago City Council to spend the city’s $1.9 billion share of the latest federal COVID-19 relief package on direct aid to Chicagoans struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Top U.S. health officials say they’re in a race to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible as COVID-19 variants spread, mask and distancing rules are relaxed, and Americans crave a return to normalcy.

Pritzker gets his COVID-19 vaccine shot. New information on the fallout at Loretto Hospital. Will Chicago workers go back to the office? Parking meters on the lakefront. The dangers of lead water lines.

Illinois may have as much as a quarter of all lead service pipes in the country, according to U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who is leading the push for a bipartisan infrastructure bill to rebuild the nation’s water systems. We discuss what else is being done to address the issue.

While some people may have gotten used to the comforts of working from home, others may be itching to get out. The stakes for the city couldn’t be higher, especially for the owners and managers of the massive pieces of real estate in the city’s central business district that are still sitting mostly vacant.

While several Chicago Public Schools have removed police officers from their buildings, 55 schools still have what are called “school resource officers.” On Wednesday, the school district and five community organizations laid out recommendations for those schools to pursue a more holistic approach to safety.

“We really do have a fighting chance now to bring this pandemic to an end,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday before receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Springfield.

Dr. Anosh Ahmed, COO and CFO of Loretto Hospital, was at the center of multiple controversies over alleged improper vaccination events, after Block Club Chicago first reported on vaccines administered at Trump Tower Chicago to the building’s employees.

Metered parking is already in place at lakefront destinations like Rainbow Beach, North Avenue Beach, 31st Street Beach, 63rd Street Beach and Foster Avenue Beach. Now it’s coming to Montrose Harbor — and some residents aren’t happy about it.

The number of American bald eagles has quadrupled since 2009, with more than 300,000 birds soaring over the lower 48 states, government scientists said in a report Wednesday.

LaTanya McDade, the second highest-ranking official within Chicago Public Schools, will leave the district at the end of the current school year after being named superintendent of Prince William County Public Schools in Virginia.

With a pair of giant steel arms jutting from its frame and a nearly all-glass exterior, Galewood’s “Miracle House” looks as futuristic in 2021 as it did when it was built in 1954. And it has an origin story as quirky as its appearance.

“These conversations are a slap in the face to people that have suffered great atrocities over time in this country," said Ald. Jason Ervin, the chairman of the City Council Black Caucus.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the revised ordinance was “better” than her administration originally proposed and will “put our city on the right track to full ensuring that our residents have clean air, no matter what ZIP code in which they reside.” 

The series of changes proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to the way the Chicago Police Department serves search warrants does not go far enough to prevent mistaken raids, Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced Wednesday. “These ‘wrong raids’ have traumatized innocent people, including children,” he said.

After months of staring at Chicago’s bleak and barren winter landscape, Garfield Park Conservatory’s spring show is a bit like landing in Oz.

The first day of school in the next academic year will be Aug. 30, marking a shift away from the normal start date of the Tuesday after Labor Day. Aside from the new start date, the 2021-22 calendar does not change any other traditional components of the academic year. 

After years of debate, a North Side elementary school named after a 19th century scientist who promoted racist ideologies will now be renamed in honor of Harriet Tubman.

A union representative who works with Loretto Hospital staff says members have complained about so-called VIP lists of vaccine recipients since the vaccine rollout began in January.

After the White House said it would add an Asian American Pacific Islander liaison to its staff, Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s spokesperson said the senator would not stand in the way of “qualified nominees — which will include more AAPI leaders.” 

Approximately 84% of all Chicagoans will be eligible to get the vaccine starting Monday, according to rules set by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

The plan is designed to give developers incentives to build in parts of the city where there is little affordable housing or where longtime residents are vulnerable to displacement, officials said.