(WTTW News)

City leaders present a united front on crime. Competition from all corners this election year. And tackling the Bears’ new hires.

Jussie Smollett is found guilty on five out of six counts of lying to police, filing a false police report and disorderly conduct in his hate-crime hoax case. (WTTW News via CNN)

Cook County jury convicts Jussie Smollett for faking a hate crime. Business leaders blast the mayor for downtown crime. High-stakes debate over sports wagering. And omicron is here in Chicago.

(WTTW News)

As 2021 draws to a close, the 2022 election is already well underway and Chicago’s election in early 2023 is looming on the horizon. On a special holiday edition of “The Week in Review,” a look at what offices are on the ballot, who’s running, and the key issues at stake.

(WTTW News)

The police union is in a standoff with the mayor over vaccine mandates. Remap proposals are drawing ire from all sides. Rahm Emanuel, at his confirmation hearing, apologizes for Laquan McDonald. And the city celebrates the Sky.

(WTTW News)
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A war of words ensues as the mayor and police chief blame the courts for the city’s violence. Joe Biden’s first stop in Illinois as president. The list of alderpeople under indictment grows. And the city pension debt swells.

Lightfoot announced the reopening during an online question-and-answer session hosted by Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, June 3, 2021.

Remaps, school boards, ethics, budgets and more: We recap the flurry of activity in Springfield. Chicago is on track for a full reopening this month. Gov. Pritzker is coy about another term.

The state of Illinois will make coronavirus vaccines available to everyone 16 and older, a week ahead of the city – and Gov. J.B. Pritzker says if Chicagoans don’t want to wait, they’re welcome at state-supported sites in the suburbs. (WTTW News)
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COVID-19 surges and vaccine eligibility expands. The vice president hits town. Strained relations between Mayor Lightfoot and Gov. Pritzker. And CTU may delay a return to class for high schoolers.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (WTTW News)

The fight is on to replace Michael Madigan as Democratic Party chair, while his legislative successor steps down after three days on the job. And Chicago City Council erupts over COVID-19 spending. 

An image taken from a video of President Donald Trump posted on the official White House Twitter account on Jan. 13, 2021 — the day he was impeached for a second time and a week after deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol. (WTTW News via @WhiteHouse)

Impeachment managers and Donald Trump’s defense wrap up the former president’s second impeachment trial. U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth continue to push President Joe Biden to keep Chicago’s top federal prosecutor. Gov. J.B. Pritzker says no new taxes in his new budget. 

(WTTW News via CNN)

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.

Donald Trump speaks in a recorded video Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. (WTTW News via CNN)
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Calls are rising for President Trump’s removal after he incited his own supporters who stormed and looted the Capitol. Chicago Public Schools and the teachers union battle over plans to resume in-person learning Monday. And state lawmakers return to Springfield.

(Photo by Mayron Oliveira on Unsplash)
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Coronavirus cases surge after Thanksgiving as a record number of deaths are reported this week. With approval of a COVID-19 vaccine on the horizon, the first Illinois residents are expected to be vaccinated later this month.

Bronzeville resident Sharifa Wicks-Lot voted at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library voting location and said she’s been voting since she turned 18 years old. “I have two children, a 11-year-old and a two-year-old, and I would want the best for their future in the coming years,” Wicks-Lot said. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News)

Local journalists discuss national and local elections results following a dramatic Election Day that stretched into Election Week.