Stories by Heather Cherone

Since March, city inspectors have conducted more than 8,236 investigations and cited 417 businesses for violating COVID-19 regulations, officials said.

President Joe Biden signaled his increasing bullishness on the pace of vaccinations after signing an executive order to boost government purchases from U.S. manufacturers. 

It’s another benchmark in the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine: Chicago has entered phase 1B. But what does that mean? And how can you sign up to get a shot? We’ve got answers to some common questions.

After a surge in carjackings last year, Chicago has seen more than 160 already in 2021. We hear from an alderman, a police officer and a community organizer about their efforts to end the spike.

Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said as Illinois moves into Phase 1B of vaccinations, a category that includes teachers, city leadership should prioritize staff at Chicago Public Schools.

It took less than a year for pharmaceutical companies to successfully develop vaccines for COVID-19. The unprecedented time frame has raised questions for some about the vaccine’s safety. We learn about the science behind the shots.

Democrats marched the impeachment case against Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday night for the start of his historic trial, but Republican senators were easing off their criticism of the former president and shunning calls to convict him over the deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol.

Eight more cases of a COVID-19 variant first discovered in the United Kingdom and believed to be more transmissible have been discovered in Chicago and suburban Cook County, state health officials announced Monday.

A winter storm is forecast to deliver wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour and waves as high as 13 feet, creating hazardous conditions along Chicago's lakefront through Tuesday, the National Weather Service is warning. 

An effort by city officials to finish a project to expand cargo operations at O’Hare Airport by borrowing $55.6 million advanced Monday after a monthslong delay prompted by concerns that the effort failed to meet the city’s self-imposed diversity goals.

Five years after acquiring a block of properties on Bryn Mawr Avenue through eminent domain, Northeastern Illinois University has officially scrapped its plan to build student housing on the site and is casting about for other uses.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed to redouble efforts to get the vaccine to those in neighborhoods hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic by earmarking doses for those Black and Latino communities as the state begins the second phase of its vaccination effort.

Illinois is poised to become one of the first states to eliminate cash bail after the state legislature passed a sweeping criminal justice reform bill earlier this month. Now proponents who pushed for that change hope the measure can be used to reform pretrial services elsewhere.

WGN America is changing its name and focus. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer has details on that story and more business news.

President Joe Biden on Monday reinstated COVID-19 travel restrictions on most non-U.S. travelers from Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and 26 other European countries that allow travel across open borders. He also added South Africa to the list.

A year after the first coronavirus case was reported in Illinois, officials launched a new mass coronavirus vaccination site, website and hotline for those who live and work in Cook County. But demand for the vaccine still far outweighs supply.

Watch the Jan. 25, 2021 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Aldermen agreed Monday to settle a lawsuit brought by a Chicago man who was shot by police during a traffic stop in February 2015 that officials ruled was unjustified by paying him $525,000 and forgiving approximately $45,000 in debt he owes to the city.

More than 25 million people are under winter weather alerts from California through Michigan due to a winter storm developing in the Golden State and heading for the Midwest. A swath of very heavy snow will extend from northern Kansas to northern Illinois through Monday. 

Looking back at this week’s historic inauguration with local journalists. Remembering civil rights icon Ida B. Wells, with her great-granddaughter. And honoring another pioneer, the late Jim Tilmon. 

We kick off the first installment of our Black Voices Book Club series with a new biography on a Black woman whose legend looms large in Chicago. And it’s written by Michelle Duster, her great-granddaughter. 

Journalists Brandon Pope (WCIU), Glenn Reedus (Chicago Reporter) and Rachel Hinton (Chicago Sun-Times) look at what’s ahead for the country under the new Biden administration.

The Chicago Teachers Union said Sunday that its members voted to defy an order to return to the classroom over concerns about COVID-19, setting up a showdown with district officials who have said that refusing to return when ordered would amount to an illegal strike.

In the 12 months since Illinois identified its first case of COVID-19, more than 1.1 million infections have been reported in the state and 18,750 people have died after testing positive for the virus.

People following a violent movement that promotes a second U.S. civil war or the breakdown of modern society have been showing up at recent protests wearing not only tactical gear but an unlikely public and online symbol: the so-called Hawaiian shirt. 

What to expect from the Biden administration, including immigration reform. And in a new series called “Neighbors,” we introduce you to a family that’s been feeding its community for decades.