Stories by Erica Gunderson

This month marks the anniversary of pandemic-induced shutdowns across Illinois. As we close out a year of COVID-19, we assess the road behind us, and the journey ahead. 

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Sunday that he thinks he is “close” to securing the Republican votes needed to overcome a Senate filibuster to advance a key immigration measure that would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.

The vast majority of states allow buyers to walk out of a store with a firearm after a background check that sometimes can take minutes. Waiting periods are required in just 10 states and the District of Columbia, although several states are considering legislation this year to impose them.

If you didn’t pay attention to college basketball until the NCAA Tournament, the good news is you didn’t miss much. The regular season was a revolving door, the schedule and sometimes even the final score determined by which players and teams were entering the sport’s COVID-19 protocols and which were coming out.

A look back on the impact of the pandemic on the Latino community after one year, with doctors Marina del Rios, Juanita Mora and Evelyn Figueroa.

The Real ID deadline has been set for Oct. 1. Here’s what you need to know if you’d like to fly domestically.

A look back on the impact of the pandemic on the Latino community after a year of COVID-19. What you need to know about the Real ID program. And a throwback with Grammy Award-winning singer Lila Downs. Alex Hernandez hosts.

President Joe Biden on Friday condemned rising hate crimes against Asian Americans in the wake of the mass shooting in the Atlanta area that left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent.

The breakout star and model for the most coveted bobblehead of the 2018 NCAA Tournament is now eight months beyond her 101st birthday and still serving as chaplain for the Loyola of Chicago basketball team. 

During the fall and spring equinoxes, the sun rises due east and sets due west, creating an effect dubbed Chicagohenge (in reference to Stonehenge), when sunset is strikingly framed by the city’s east-west streets.

Gov. Pritzker’s plans for a full reopen. A West Side hospital in trouble for Trump Tower vaccinations. The Bears’ new quarterback lands with a thud, and Loyola and Illinois tip off the NCAA tourney.

With key pieces of their Final Four team leading the way, the eighth-seeded Ramblers marked a triumphant return to college basketball’s biggest stage Friday with a 71-60 victory over No. 9 seed Georgia Tech at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

COVID-19's deadly toll has hit Black and Latino Chicagoans hardest, accounting for 71% of all deaths in Chicago, while those groups make up just 66% of the city’s population, according to city data. 

The second annual event offers simple ways to conserve water in advance of World Water Day.

The plan, which was approved by the City Council in November, has drawn outrage from residents and organizations who say the cost of metered parking will limit access to the lakefront. A petition against the meters has gathered thousands of signatures.

Illinois residents who work in higher education, government and media will be eligible for the COVID-19 starting Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday. The expansion of the vaccination effort does not include residents of Cook County or Chicago.

In total, fewer than 50,000 students have returned to the classroom, below the 77,000 initially estimated by Chicago Public Schools, according to new attendance data released by the school district Friday.

Students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Asian Americans were already rattled by a wave of racist attacks amid the spread of the coronavirus pandemic across the United States. While the motive behind Tuesday's rampage remains under investigation, some see it as a wake-up call to stand up against a rise in violence against the community.

Health care workers have been front-row witnesses to tragedy, as they’ve seen patients get sick and die from COVID-19, but also hope, as they help patients recover. What does the future of that treatment look like? 

From rates of infection to unemployment following the economic shutdown, some residents of Chicago have been cut deeper by the pandemic. We talk about the specific challenges facing hard-hit communities, and some of the support systems in place.

A year after the coronavirus swept Chicago and upended life as Chicagoans knew it, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city is poised to recover after one of the most difficult years in its history, and she is optimistic that there will be an ample vaccine supply in the city in April and May.

The House voted Thursday to unlatch a gateway to citizenship for young Dreamers, migrant farm workers and immigrants who’ve fled war or natural disasters, giving Democrats wins in the year’s first votes on an issue that once again faces an uphill climb to make progress in the Senate.

With the announcement Thursday that the state could soon begin easing restrictions as more people get vaccinated, there’s hope for struggling businesses. Business owners from across the city tell us how they’re staying afloat and share their hopes for a better year ahead.

The short answer: You can enjoy small gatherings again, but should continue wearing a mask and social distancing in public.

Chicago’s top doctor explains what the state’s latest vaccine announcement means for Chicago residents.