Stories by Paul Caine

As cities and states across the nation struggle to get control of COVID-19, members of Congress butt heads over another stimulus package. Illinois U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos weighs in on those topics and more. 

Mercy Hospital announced plans to shut its doors by June 2021. Now, concerns of a health care desert on the South Side are resurfacing as residents prepare to find new providers.

2020 was supposed to be the Year of Chicago Music. Now, the vast and vibrant local music scene lies dormant. We check in on a Chicago family that can play guitars – and make them too. 

Watch the Aug. 4, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

A plan to transform a long-vacant lot in Jefferson Park into an apartment complex has reignited the furious debate surrounding Chicago’s massive affordable housing shortfall.

The Chicago Architecture Center’s popular event, now in its 10th year, will stick to the outdoors and offer online programming, with a focus on Chicago’s South and West sides.

The 17-year-old worked as a youth leader with Voices of Youth in Chicago Education and had sought the removal of police officers from Chicago schools. He died Sunday, two days after he was shot in Rogers Park.

The man accused of gunning down Janari Ricks last week was “hunting” for a victim, Cook County prosecutors said, after he was seen on surveillance footage peering over fences in the area while “looking for somebody to shoot.”

Following a May explosion, General Iron has put appropriate controls in place to resume its metal shredding operation, experts say. Neighbors say they have little faith in the company’s commitment to compliance.

When the coronavirus pandemic struck Illinois in the spring, Cook County was hit hard while areas downstate were largely spared. But that’s changing. “We’re seeing troubling signs,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday.

Visitors to Chicago from Puerto Rico will be required to quarantine for two weeks starting Friday in an effort to stop the increasing spread of the coronavirus in Chicago, city officials announced Tuesday.

Negotiators on a huge coronavirus relief bill reported slight progress after talks resumed Monday afternoon in the Capitol, but multiple obstacles remain.

It’s about the time of year when your mailbox may start to fill up with glossy brochures, pitching you not on a product — but on a candidate. What impact the ComEd bribery scandal might have on the coming election.

Where the fight for intersex rights is headed after a recent victory in Chicago. We speak with activist Pidgeon Pagonis and Dr. Ellie Kim of Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Last month, the Trump administration announced it would end an Obama-era housing rule meant to eliminate racial disparities in the suburbs. How that rollback could affect housing in the Chicago area.

He took memorable pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. and traveled with writer James Baldwin. Steve Schapiro talks about what he witnessed in the United States back then — and what he is seeing today.

A bank franchise reassesses one of its locations on Chicago’s Far South Side. That story and more with Crain’s Chicago Business Editor Ann Dwyer.

Their size and reach allow them to get assistance quickly and efficiently to people in need, but nonprofits with more than 500 employees cannot apply for forgivable loans under the CARES Act.

The game at a newly constructed ballpark on the cornfield adjacent to the site of the 1989 movie had been scheduled for Aug. 13 in Dyersville, Iowa.

In an effort to curb COVID-19 infections, the Cook County Department of Public Health is asking bars, breweries and taverns that do not serve food to only serve customers outside.

The Illinois State Board of Elections is scheduled to finalize the Nov. 3 ballot on Aug. 21. Will superstar Kanye West be on the ballot in his home state as an independent candidate for president?

The conservation group Openlands started the program in 1991 and has since certified 2,000 TreeKeepers, who play an important role in conserving, protecting and advocating for the Chicago region’s trees. 

Anyone entering suburban Cook County from a designated COVID-19 hot spot — including travelers and returning residents — will have to quarantine for 14 days. The list includes 22 states, and could grow more.

Inspectors shut down an illegal party at a Humboldt Park warehouse where revelers were not wearing masks or following social distancing rules, city officials said Monday.

Watch the Aug. 3, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Despite a statewide mandate, not all residents are wearing masks. A new campaign aims to encourage folks to do just that. “A mask is like anything that keeps us safe. It only works if you wear it,” the governor said.