When the pandemic hit, theaters across the country were faced with the harsh reality that they were among the first to close their doors — and would be among the last to reopen. How one Chicago theater company has taken its stage online. 

The former president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs has got himself another gig. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer has details on that story and more business news.

Watch the Feb. 1, 2021 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The Northwest Side community of Jefferson Park is known as the gateway to Chicago, in part because it’s a transit hub. The area’s thought of by some as typical “bungalow belt” Chicago. It’s predominantly middle class, but recently there’s been an uptick in homelessness. 

In a seven-hour live interview marathon Sunday, dancers from across the country will reflect on Chicago’s impact over the course of their dance careers.

As of Thursday night, a deal to get teachers back in school remained elusive. “We would have expected by now to make a lot more progress,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

The Department of Homeland Security did not cite any specific plots, but pointed to “a heightened threat environment across the United States” that it believes “will persist” for weeks after Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration. 

The mutated version of the virus, first identified in South Africa, was found in two cases in South Carolina. Public health officials said it’s almost certain that there are more infections that have not been identified yet. 

Watch the Jan. 28, 2021 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

A possible teachers strike over safety issues looms as city and state COVID-19 mitigations are being rolled back. Our politics team of Amanda Vinicky and Heather Cherone weighs in on that story and more in this week’s roundtable.

Is it time to return to in-person learning? Two parents of Chicago Public Schools students share their views as negotiations over a school reopening plan continue between the district and the Chicago Teachers Union.

Artists are calling on the Biden administration to provide economic relief to the arts sector through a proposal called the DAWN Act — that stands for Defend Arts Workers Now — that was co-organized by Chicago playwright Matthew Lee-Erlbach.

For the second day in a row, Chicago Public Schools is telling the parents of pre-kindergarten and special education cluster program students to keep their kids at home Thursday as the district and Chicago Teachers Union have not yet reached agreement on a safe school reopening plan.

It’s been one year since recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s senior adviser for cannabis control talks about how Illinois aims to expand access to marijuana dispensary licenses after intense criticism from equity advocates.