The city fined General Iron $6,000 after two explosions on Monday rattled the North Side metal shredder, officials announced. The fines are a result of two citations issued by the city late Thursday.

There’s a cowboy riding through Chicago’s South and West side neighborhoods, introducing residents young and old to what is likely an unfamiliar animal — at least on their residential streets: horses.

One of the city’s new testing sites is about to open in Englewood. It’s a community that has been hit hard by disinvestment and high rates of crime over the years.

We check in with Asiaha Butler, executive director of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (R.A.G.E.) as part of our series, COVID-19 Across Chicago.

Chicago officials have ordered General Iron to cease operations while Monday’s explosion is investigated, but residents, who have been fighting for a shutdown of the facility, say the action doesn’t go far enough.

General Iron ceased shredding operations at its Lincoln Park facility after an explosion Monday morning rocked the neighborhood, prompting residents and the local alderman to call for the facility to be permanently closed.

Neighbors unanimously spoke out Thursday against General Iron’s application for a permit to move its Lincoln Park metal shredding operation to the Southeast Side, but questioned whether their concerns would even count.

Ald. George Cardenas, 12th Ward, says he doesn’t agree that Chicago businesses and restaurants should be forced to stay mostly closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2018, residents of McKinley Park have raised concerns about the MAT Asphalt plant in their neighborhood. Now, several environmental groups say the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the issue. 

An environmental dispute in the Southwest Side neighborhood of McKinley Park has loomed large in the community’s response to the pandemic. 

After weeks of delay, Chicago’s Department of Streets and Sanitation will begin its street sweeping season on May 18. But residents won’t get tickets for cars parked along cleaning routes as long as the stay-at-home order remains in effect.

The COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown has hit hard in Chicago communities that have historically suffered from disinvestment and crime, including the Far South Side communities of Roseland and Pullman.

In the latest sign that the coronavirus pandemic will reshape summer in Chicago, city officials informed aldermen Tuesday that no permits will be issued for block parties through May 31 — banning the popular parties on Memorial Day weekend.

The Illinois EPA will hold a virtual hearing Thursday to determine whether it should issue a permit allowing General Iron to operate on the city's Southeast Side. 

One of the new COVID-19 testing sites Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Monday will be in some of Chicago’s hardest-hit neighborhoods, including this largely Latino neighborhood on the city’s Northwest Side.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city would partner with a charity founded by Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn, fueled by a grant from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, in an effort to conduct 10,000 tests per day in Chicago.