Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle backed an effort Wednesday to give property owners a bit of financial “breathing room” by waiving late fees on second-half property tax bills due Aug. 3.

As with many other local governments, COVID-19 is hurting Cook County’s bottom line. County Board President Toni Preckwinkle says the county could be facing a projected budget shortfall around $260 million. 

Too many visitors are flocking to the most popular forest preserves and ignoring social distancing rules, prompting weekend parking lot closures through the end of May, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced Friday.

Even though state parks are set to reopen May 1 with restrictions, Chicago’s lakefront will remain closed, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

First responders, health care workers and correctional officers are on the front lines of the pandemic, and “we owe it to them to provide a safe place to quarantine,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Saturday introduced Dr. Rachel Rubin as incident commander and Dr. Kiran Joshi as the assistant incident commander of the Cook County Department of Public Health’s operations

Cook County is bracing for a surge in coronavirus-related deaths. We check in with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who is not sick but chose to self-isolate after a member of her security detail contracted the virus.

More than 150 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Cook County Jail. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said the situation poses the “biggest health problem in the county.”

Most trails remain open in Cook County’s forest preserves, offering people a respite from home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that could change if people congregate like they did along Chicago’s lakefront. 

Actor Jussie Smollett is facing a fresh set of charges for allegedly staging a hate crime on himself. Our politics team digs into that and more in our weekly roundtable.

Toni Preckwinkle has just entered her 10th year as president of the Cook County Board. She joins us to discuss a new plan to spur economic growth in the south suburbs, questions over her security detail and a longtime political ally.

Two years after Cook County implemented and hastily repealed a notorious tax on sugary drinks, Board President Toni Preckwinkle proposed a $6.18 billion budget that’s balanced.

With the race behind them, Chicago Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle came together for a unity event with the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. 

“Out there tonight a lot of little girls and boys are watching. They’re watching us, and they’re seeing the beginning of something, well, a little bit different,” Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday. “They’re seeing a city reborn.”

Lori Lightfoot has become the first African-American woman elected mayor of Chicago, defeating her opponent, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, in a landslide.

The winner of Chicago’s mayoral runoff election will join seven other black women currently serving as mayors in major U.S. cities, including Atlanta and New Orleans.