Stories by Heather Cherone

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.

Jesus del Toro, director and general manager of La Raza newspaper, and Jackie Serrato, editor-in-chief of the South Side Weekly newspaper, discuss Inauguration Day and the big changes already underway.

For more than four decades, the Rodriguez family has run a community food pantry out of their East Side garage with little more than their own hands.

An 18-year-old Illinois teen charged with fatally shooting two people during a protest in southeastern Wisconsin last year is prohibited from associating with known white supremacists under a judge’s recently modified bail conditions.

Right-wing extremism has previously played out for the most part in isolated pockets of America and in its smaller cities. The deadly assault by rioters on the U.S. Capitol, in contrast, targeted the very heart of government. 

After 85 days, limited indoor dining and drinking can resume in Chicago and suburban Cook County on Saturday, officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health announced. But the long-awaited news came with a warning.

Larry King, the suspenders-sporting everyman whose broadcast interviews with world leaders, movie stars and ordinary Joes helped define American conversation for a half-century, died Saturday. He was 87.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in at a heavily fortified inauguration. Biden starts his term with executive orders on COVID-19 and immigration. Partial indoor dining is set to resume in Chicago.

Opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial for Donald Trump over the Capitol riot will begin the week of Feb. 8, the first time a former president will face such charges after leaving office.

Chicago Public Schools said 60% of the 5,352 pre-kindergarten and special education cluster program students who opted for in-person learning showed up at their school last week. That amounts to about 3,200 students.

The first lady’s dress and matching coat, worn during the “Celebrating America” televised special, were embroidered with the official flower from every state and territory in the U.S.

Members of the Chicago City Council are deeply split on how to stop a barrage of carjackings that has Chicagoans throughout the city terrified to leave their houses for fear of becoming the latest victim.