City officials will have to move cautiously to extend the city’s program that earmarks a portion of city contracts for firms owned by Black, Latino and Asian Chicagoans as well as women in the face of hostile courts, officials warned the Chicago City Council.

The parent company of a now-shuttered metal recycler on the North Side will pay a fine as part of an agreement to resolve charges that the firm’s operation violated the Clean Air Act, Environmental Protection Agency officials announced Wednesday.

A small group of Boeing engineers who perform key safety tasks are raising concerns about their ability to work free of pressure from supervisors, and their comments are prompting federal regulators to take a broader look into the company’s safety culture.

To open or not to open: That's been the question for Chicago’s performing arts community over the last year and a half. Now, the League of Chicago Theatres has announced new COVID-19 restrictions and safety measures as productions are set to fill up stages once again.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday declined to demand that indicted Ald. Carrie Austin (34th Ward) step down as chair of the City Council’s Contracting Oversight and Equity Committee or resign from the City Council. The committee is poised to convene a subject-matter hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Chicago home sales continue to rise, but there’s a twist in that fire-hot streak. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer takes us behind the headline of that story and more.

Vaccine mandates are being put into place in some cities and sectors. Will those policies disproportionately disenfranchise the Black community, which lags behind in vaccination rates?

Nearly 700,000 Chicago residents claim Mexican heritage, and over the years, Mexican culture has become woven into the city’s tapestry. A new business in Little Village explores the space where the Midwest meets Mexico by combining haircuts with deep cuts.

Austin has dealt with decades of disinvestment and is acutely feeling the impact of gun violence. However, many residents, community organizations and local businesses are working to address some of the systemic issues the community faces and to bring investment to the area.

Rowdy airline passengers have now racked up a record $1 million in potential fines this year, a toll of the tumult in the sky as travelers have returned after most were grounded by the pandemic in 2020.

The Chicago area has seen a 6.6% unemployment rate decrease, from 15.1% in June 2020 to 8.5% in June of this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. How a new program aims to get even more job seekers employed.

Thieves claiming to be affiliated with ComEd are contacting Illinois residents and threatening to shut off their electricity unless a purportedly “past-due” bill is paid immediately via Bitcoin, according to a warning from Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

The names, Social Security numbers and information from driver’s licenses or other identification of just over 40 million people who applied for T-Mobile credit were exposed in a recent data breach, the company said Wednesday.

Illinois legislators may be back in Springfield soon for a second extra session. Their sole goal: to strike a deal on a massive energy package. The result will impact everything from Illinois’ role in climate change to your energy bill. But the stakes are particularly high in one Illinois town. 

A new wave of Chicago organizations say they’ll require COVID-19 vaccinations. Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Danny Ecker has details on that story and more.

More than 45 days after Ald. Carrie Austin (34th Ward) was indicted on charges of bribery and lying to federal officials, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who picked Austin to lead the Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity, has yet to call for Austin to relinquish her position.