A new program in Chicago will offer minority-owned firms that have city contracts access to financing from the federal government as part of the city’s effort to help businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Illinois Tollway last month announced that it would no longer accept cash tolls, making permanent a change it rolled out early in the pandemic. But does a cashless society leave some people out?

Roughly 4 in 10 Americans say they’re still feeling the financial impact of the loss of a job or income within their household as the economic recovery remains uneven one year into the coronavirus pandemic. 

Women have lost more than five million jobs since February 2020, according to the National Women’s Law Center. Over the past year, women have borne the brunt of the employment fallout — and that effect has been even more acute among women of color.

Deerfield-based Baxter International reaches a deal with Moderna to produce up to 90 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Danny Ecker has details.

Microscopic examination supports early suspicions that wear and tear caused a fan blade to snap inside one engine of a United Airlines plane that made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff last month in Denver, federal safety investigators said Friday.

The February gain marked a sharp pickup from the 166,000 jobs that were added in January and a loss of 306,000 in December. Yet it represents just a fraction of the roughly 10 million jobs that were lost to the pandemic.

In DuPage County, the COVID-19 case rate among Latino residents is more than two times higher than for non-Latinos. West Chicago has been hit particularly hard, with nearly 4,000 cases in the city’s main ZIP code.

News that Target would shutter two South Side stores in February 2018 prompted deep outrage — especially since the big box retailer was in the process of opening a new store on the Far Northwest Side in a new strip mall that was getting a $13 million subsidy.

Thursday's report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims rose by 9,000 from the previous week. Though the pace of layoffs has eased since the year began, they remain high by historical standards.

For months, Dan O’Conor has shocked his senses by leaping into Lake Michigan — every day. What was prompted last June by a hangover is now an opportunity for the Lincoln Square resident to help the city’s music scene. We meet up at Fullerton Beach to see him in action.

The largest party shut down by inspectors over the weekend took place at the Renaissance Bronzeville, where more than 100 people gathered without face coverings and violated social distancing rules, officials said.

Officials also announced the loosening of restrictions on alcohol sales and increased capacity for indoor fitness classes, performance venues, movie theaters and personal services. 

Residents of Chicago have been experiencing mail delays for months. Some of those delays are simply irritating, but others can be far more consequential. What’s going on at the U.S. Postal Service?

Trouble for a prominent Evanston hotel. United Airlines increases its Boeing 737 Max order. And a commercial truck company looks to Bolingbrook. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer has details.

A Chicago-based community organization established more than 100 years ago serves more than 7,000 people annually, but the story of its founder has largely been erased.