A New York Times tech columnist calls it the “best law you’ve never heard of.” She is speaking of Illinois’ biometrics privacy act, which essentially gives residents protections against companies that want to gather biometric info like face scans and fingerprints. But now, several bills in the Illinois General Assembly aim to strip away some of those protections.

Chicago aldermen recently approved a resolution calling for the city to use federal relief funds for a basic income pilot program. Some organizations have already been testing out the idea, but skeptics are looking to build up social services instead.

Three times in the past year, officials have trumpeted the news that COVID-19 case rates had dropped, prompting them to allow businesses to reopen or expand capacity. And three times, officials have returned to the microphones approximately one month later to warn that COVID-19 was spreading fast.

Congress members on President Biden’s immigration package. A study of COVID-19 long haulers. Debating universal basic income. Efforts to water down Illinois’ tough biometrics law. Chicago’s box boom.

Illinois is on the edge of a bridge to fully reopening the economy, with 69% of adult residents ages 65 and older now vaccinated against the virus. But rather than inching closer to its goal, the state is instead stepping back due to an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

This time of year at Montrose Harbor, you’ll see people lining the lakefront with fire extinguishers — but they’re not putting out flames, they’re fishing. Powerlining is a unique fishing style with local roots.

Two more investors have stepped forward in a last-ditch effort to prevent hedge fund Alden Global Capital from taking control of Tribune Publishing, which owns the Chicago Tribune and eight other newspapers. We discuss the latest developments.

Two bills in the Illinois General Assembly would expand eligibility for the earned income tax credit. As part of our Firsthand initiative exploring poverty in Chicago, we take a look at the credit, and what it could mean for low-income households.

President Joe Biden will lay out the first part of his multitrillion-dollar economic recovery package this week, focusing on rebuilding roads, bridges and other infrastructure, followed by a separate plan later in April addressing child and health care.

Influential State Rep. Camille Lilly, a Loretto Hospital executive, is roped into the fallout over COVID-19 vaccines administered by the West Side safety net hospital. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer takes us behind the headline of that story and more.

Vaccination eligibility expands in Chicago. President Biden is expected to unveil his infrastructure plan — what’s in it for Illinois? New buyers for the Tribune emerge. We explore powerline fishing.

Plans for a 50-unit affordable housing development are underway in Albany Park, a diverse community on Chicago’s Northwest Side that is not alone in facing gentrification. We discuss housing with Diane Limas of Communities United and Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez as part of our community reporting series.

College basketball’s most important competition is in full swing. But a tweet by University of Oregon player Sedona Prince is shining light on the inequalities between weight-room facilities for the men’s and women’s teams. Deadspin senior writer and editor Julie DiCaro offers her perspective.