A plan to fast-track applications from restaurants and cafes to serve customers outdoors cleared a key city panel Thursday, as city officials vowed to do everything possible to help restaurants stay afloat amid the pandemic.

Aldermen on Wednesday endorsed Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to use federal money to create a $20 million fund to offer grants to Chicagoans struggling to pay their rent and mortgages because of the pandemic.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will ask aldermen to approve an ordinance designed to minimize the number of evictions across the city as the coronavirus pandemic eases, officials said.

Chicago’s City Council is poised to toss a lifeline to the city’s struggling hospitality industry, but brewery owners say it would do nothing to help their taprooms survive.

Among the measures approved by the City Council is one that makes it illegal for workers to lose their jobs if they become ill with COVID-19. “Employees should not have to choose between keeping their jobs or saving their lives,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed a new law Wednesday that would give renters 90 days’ notice before they were evicted without cause, but progressive aldermen blocked the measure from advancing immediately.

Wednesday marks one year in office for Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who began her tenure as a political outsider determined to uproot the old system of aldermanic control. But that all changed two months ago. 

Aldermen on Tuesday advanced a proposal to build what could become the second-tallest building in Chicago — and the third tallest in the U.S. — on what is now a parking lot next to the Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue.

A proposal to build a 100-unit affordable apartment complex in Logan Square is one step away from final approval after years on the drawing board.

Amid warnings that 20% of Chicago restaurants will not reopen after the coronavirus pandemic, aldermen Monday turned up the heat on delivery apps that critics say are hurting already-struggling restaurants.

The economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has added “in excess of $500 million” to the city of Chicago’s projected budget deficit for 2021, Chief Financial Officer Jennie Bennett told aldermen Monday.

The office designed to help aldermen keep tabs on how the city spends tax dollars is set to get a new leader after nearly a year without anyone at the helm.

An effort to protect 3,200 affordable homes in Chicago from the worst of the economic crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic advanced Tuesday, with aldermen endorsing a plan to create a $3 million fund.

The Belmont Cragin neighborhood has become a COVID-19 epicenter, reporting 1,993 cases in its major zip code Monday. We speak with Chicago Alds. Ariel Reboyras (30th Ward) and Felix Cardona, Jr. (31st Ward).

Amid the pandemic, Chicago employers will still be forced to give their workers two weeks’ notice of their schedules starting July 1, but will be spared lawsuits for an additional six months under a measure that advanced Monday.

Chicago businesses would not have to renew their licenses — or pay late fees if those licenses expire — under a measure that cleared a key city panel on Thursday.