The 44th Ward alderman talks about how the North Side communities he serves, including Boystown and Wrigleyville, are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whether working from home or reporting from the street, journalists provide information to keep communities safe and healthy. We check in with some members of the local independent media to see how they’re faring with this developing story.

The coronavirus has effectively shut down what locals describe as the world’s largest contiguous LGBTQ neighborhood. How businesses, social service agencies and others are dealing with the pandemic.

Everyone knows the basics: Clean your hands. Wipe down surfaces. But for more on how to protect yourself from the coronavirus, we spoke with a local chemical supplier.

The future for many small businesses is unclear. To create some security, the federal government has stepped in with $349 billion in loans for small businesses, but the programs have had a bumpy start. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the city will begin enforcing a curfew on the sale of liquor in order to prevent “congregate activity” that’s been seen across the city near stores that sell alcohol.

Dennis Duchene, president of local tourism bureau Visit Kenosha, says that so far, fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has been “pretty severe.” 

Personal finance educators Talaat and Tai McNeely, hosts of the podcast “The His and Her Money Show,” help us navigate the ways government funds might be able to fill financial gaps during the pandemic.

The pandemic is causing extreme distress in communities all across Chicago. Chatham, on the city’s South Side, is home to a high population of African American senior citizens – a group that is doubly vulnerable to severe complications from the disease. 

The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. 

The job loss of 701,000 reported Friday by the government — the worst since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009 — is still just a small indication of what’s to come.

Water and sewer work across Chicago is going forward as planned. That means water shutoffs are possible, even as many city residents follow a statewide stay-at-home order.

Coronavirus-related shutdowns have had a dramatic impact on communities all across Chicago, but north suburban Highwood has felt the squeeze on two fronts.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Illinois, more than half of the families the social service agency works with are now facing unemployment or underemployment. We speak with the group’s director of Latino and youth services. 

Ridership on city bus and train lines is down, but the CTA is still operating its regular schedule. What the agency is – and is not – doing to protect riders and operators during the pandemic.

The North Shore community is home to dozens of restaurants and bars, but since the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing stay-at-home order in Illinois, the city’s businesses have had to make some major changes.