Stories by Kristen Thometz

After last week’s powerful storms knocked out power for more than 750,000 residents, Illinoisans struggling pay their rent due to COVID-19 will now have until Aug. 28 to apply for state assistance. 

“Forcing these witnesses to risk their health, or the health of their families, is not something the government wishes to do,” federal prosecutors wrote last week in a request to delay the October trial.

Visitors to Chicago from Wisconsin will no longer be required to quarantine for two weeks starting Friday, city officials announced Tuesday.

The National Weather Service is warning people to steer clear of Lake Michigan due to high waves and strong currents. That doesn't just apply to beachgoers and swimmers. Shoreline structures can be dangerous too.

Many governors say the costs to states to receive the bigger boost offered by Trump is more than their battered budgets can bear. They also say the federal government’s guidelines on how it will work are too murky.

A weekend protest that turned violent has spurred calls for answers from top cop David Brown — and even a call for his resignation. What’s next after the latest skirmish between law enforcement and those who want to defund the police?

Special prosecutor Dan Webb did not find evidence to warrant criminal charges against State’s Attorney Kim Foxx or anyone in her office. But he did report the way actor Jussie Smollett’s charges were dismissed represented a “major failure.”

The unprecedented gathering is not only testing the bonds of the diverse Biden-Kamala Harris coalition but the practical challenges of running a presidential campaign in the midst of a pandemic.

A concert series is going the social distance to make sure you can safely soak up live music outdoors with family and friends. How the series is adjusting to the pandemic.

We speak with Mack Julion, the president of Chicago’s postal worker union, about mail-in voting for November’s election amid postal service cutbacks. 

A preview of Michelle Obama’s keynote speech and more in this special edition of our weekly roundtable as the convention gets underway.

Crain’s Chicago Business Editor Ann Dwyer joins us with the stories behind the headlines.

A political convention unlike any other is underway as Democratic leaders step up their fight against President Donald Trump and his attacks on mail-in voting. We discuss that and more with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.

Watch the Aug. 17, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

To help Illinois residents make informed decisions about travel, the Illinois Department of Public Health on Monday launched a COVID-19 travel map, which indicates states and countries with increased risk based on COVID-19 case rates.

Among the businesses shut down by officials for violating rules designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus was Barba Yianni Greek Tavern in Lincoln Square and Juanita’s Restaurant #2 in Clearing.

Facing criticism from aldermen and progressive groups, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown on Monday defended the department’s handling of a protest downtown Saturday evening after officers and demonstrators clashed.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she is calling the House back into session over the crisis at the U.S. Postal Service, setting up a political showdown amid growing concerns that the Trump White House is trying to undermine the agency ahead of the election.

In a country that’s surpassed 5 million identified cases and 169,000 deaths, researchers don’t know why there appear to be so few outbreaks among the homeless. 

A Cook County woman in her 30s was among the 18 deaths reported Sunday by the Illinois Department of Public Health, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced new mitigation efforts in the Metro East region of the state.

For decades, students learned to pirouette, tumble, tap and twirl at Miss Geri’s School of Dance. But last month, owner Geri Mroz Panicko decided to hang up her dance shoes and close the studio permanently because of the pandemic.

Clashes between police and protesters Saturday in the Loop started peacefully but turned violent, leading to 24 arrests and 17 officers treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to police Superintendent David Brown.

Around the U.S., office workers sent home when the coronavirus took hold in March are returning to the world of cubicles and conference rooms and facing certain adjustments, including daily questions about their health.

Protesters against police brutality were turned away by a line of police officers as they tried to make their way Saturday to the Dan Ryan Expressway to flood it with people and shut it down.

Civil rights activist Ruby Bridges has written a children’s book with a candid telling of the past and positive message for the future, inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests.

Former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson, whose prosecutions of public officials — including a predecessor — helped catapult him to become the state’s longest-serving chief executive, has died. He was 84.