Stories by Amanda Vinicky

Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Teachers Union negotiators spent Tuesday back at the bargaining table as they attempt to reach an agreement on how to reopen schools safely. Districts and teachers throughout the Chicago area have likewise worked to broker agreements, to varying degrees of success.

The first round of COVID-19 vaccination administration to skilled nursing homes in Illinois is complete, and assisted living sites are set to finish their first round by Feb. 15. We discuss the state of the pandemic in nursing homes.

The neighborhood has long been the epicenter of the city’s Puerto Rican community, but in recent years, fears of gentrification and displacement have grown — and in some cases, become reality. A new business incubator hopes to help change that. 

President Joe Biden told Republican senators during a two-hour meeting Monday night he’s unwilling to settle on an insufficient coronavirus aid package after they pitched their slimmed down $618 billion proposal that’s a fraction of the $1.9 trillion he is seeking.

The decision by city officials to cancel St. Patrick Day parades in 2020 was one of the first signs that COVID-19 was going to upend every aspect of normal life — and the fact that the parades will not take place this year is more evidence the pandemic is far from over.

After getting walloped by two big snowstorms, the area is now bracing for bitter cold later this week. We asked Argonne National Laboratory climate scientist Scott Collis what to expect, and what’s driving the arctic chill.

Inspectors found 26 people inside a Roseland storefront on Friday who had paid a cover charge in an establishment licensed only for tax preparation services, according to city officials. The illegal club featured a DJ and dancers — but no masks or social distancing, they said.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward) announced Tuesday he will no longer serve as Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s City Council floor leader, an indication that tensions between the mayor and a majority of the City Council remain high.

With the move to Phase 4, suburban Cook County joins Chicago under the lowest level of state-imposed restrictions since the beginning of October and before the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic swept the state.

Find out what the hit Netflix series gets right — and wrong — about gossip in the 1800s when Newberry Library scholars host a lighthearted virtual chat this week.

Pressure is building on school systems around the U.S. to reopen classrooms to students who have been learning online for nearly a year, pitting politicians against teachers who have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Watch the Feb. 2, 2021 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The scheduler will include appointments at mass vaccination sites operated by the city as well as those offered by AMITA Health, Erie Family Health, Innovative Express Care and Rush University Medical Center.

Researchers said that based on a fall trial involving about 20,000 people in Russia, the vaccine is about 91% effective and appears to prevent inoculated individuals from becoming severely ill with COVID-19. But it is unclear if Sputnik V can stop transmission. 

It’s Groundhog Day. Will it be six more weeks of winter or an early spring?

Monday was supposed to be the first day back for thousands of Chicago Public Schools students who wanted to return to in-person learning. Instead, it was another day of remote learning — and it’s just the sort of last-minute maneuvering that’s frustrating parents.

One week ago, Illinois entered Phase 1B of its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, which includes people ages 65 and older. But signing up to get the vaccine can be complicated — especially for older adults.

It’s a fable for our times: Small-time investors band together to take down greedy Wall Street hedge funds using the stock of a troubled video-game store. But the revolt of online stock-traders suggests much more. 

From 1968 to 1972, WTTW aired a groundbreaking weekly show hosted by the late Jim Tilmon. Until recently, we thought all but a couple of episodes had been lost. Chicago author, photographer and architecture critic Lee Bey helps us blow the dust off five of the interviews we recently rediscovered.

Before the pandemic, 14.6% of all Latina workers in the U.S. worked in the hospitality sector, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Two such workers who lost their jobs during the health crisis share their experiences.

When the pandemic hit, theaters across the country were faced with the harsh reality that they were among the first to close their doors — and would be among the last to reopen. How one Chicago theater company has taken its stage online. 

According to Chicago Police Department data, the 51 homicides recorded in January mark the most in that month since 2017. There were also 218 vehicular hijackings reported last month, compared to 77 in January 2020, according to CPD data — an increase of 183%.

Chicago teachers who did not show up for in-person work Monday will not be locked out of their Google education suites in a “gesture of good faith” from city leaders hoping to reach a deal over a safe school reopening plan and avoid a potential strike.

The former president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs has got himself another gig. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer has details on that story and more business news.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s CSOtv Sessions series is, without question, the finest virtual music treasure created in response to the COVID-19 plague year. Those who have yet to revel in its delights are encouraged to catch its two newest entries: Episodes #11 and #12.

A little more than a third of nursing home workers have been getting COVID-19 vaccines when the shots are first offered, U.S. health officials said Monday.