BREAKING NEWS

Coronavirus cases in Chicago and Illinois are inching upward again, part of a nationwide pattern that is causing experts and officials to worry about another surge of the virus while cities and states race to vaccinate people as quickly as possible.

A high school student was shot late Tuesday at a hotel just off the Magnificent Mile, according to Chicago police.

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Chicago on Tuesday to talk about equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the White House. It’s her first official visit here since she and President Joe Biden were inaugurated.

Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus in the Chicago area and the rest of Illinois.

As Cook County marked 10,000 confirmed deaths from coronavirus-related causes Wednesday, never before have the doctors, investigators and technicians at the medical examiner’s office had to handle so many dead in one year.

A man was fatally wounded Wednesday afternoon on the West Side in the south Austin neighborhood, police said.

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The city’s watchdog has found that the Chicago Police Department has “fallen critically short” on its vow to replace and improve its gang database, which reports have described as an error-laden tool of racial discrimination.

Chicago Police Department continues to lag behind on a legally required overhaul, missing 60% of its most recent deadlines to make reforms, according to a new watchdog report.

Seventy percent of Illinois residents 65 and over have now received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, but rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations will prevent the state from moving forward under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s gradual reopening plan.

The Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education heard impassioned pleas not to name one of the district's middle schools after former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

A former Park Forest police officer has been charged with rape and sexual misconduct with a minor in Indiana, according to court records

A Park Ridge woman was arrested after she was accused of striking an 18-year-old in the face when the teen confronted her about not properly wearing a mask inside a nail salon, police said.

Tensions flared after at least four Lake County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man from Omaha, Nebraska filming from the sidewalk outside the Lake County Government Center, according to a 10-minute video uploaded to YouTube Saturday

Former Illinois state Sen. Annazette Collins was indicted Wednesday on federal charges alleging she underreported income from her lobbying and consulting firm, and failed to file federal income taxes.

The dismissal came after consultation with members of the Portage Police Department’s detective bureau, Germann said in a release, adding, “I am sorry to announce a collaborative decision has been made to dismiss the case against Dominique Smith.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will be at the pitcher’s mound on Thursday as the two public health officials who have shepherded Chicago and Illinois through the pandemic are honored for their work during the Cubs home opener, the mayor’s office says.

Demand for COVID-19 vaccines still outpaces availability. Here's how to try to get a coronavirus vaccine in Chicago.

Federal authorities are investigating a controversial shooting last year of an unarmed man by Chicago police at a busy downtown CTA station that was captured on cellphone video by a rider, federal documents show.

Chicago police arrested a 17-year-old Tuesday who is charged with first-degree murder in a fatal shooting in September in the Austin neighborhood, according to a news release.

The son told police Woods seemed “highly intoxicated” and shot him in the left leg, charges state.

Is it rude to ask how your friends qualified for the coronavirus vaccine?

The next step will be opening up vaccines to all people 16 and older, which should come in the next few weeks, the release said.

Officials Wednesday were still trying to identify the remains of a male found dead from stab wounds in an apartment in the West Rogers Park neighborhood earlier this week after neighbors called police.

Here's where Illinois' 11 regions stand on the key metrics that would prompt the state to restrict activities to contain an outbreak.

Search COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe countries — and states in the U.S. — are dealing with wave and wave of illness. As hot spots shift, these charts will be updated daily with new totals.

With vaccinations underway across the U.S. and world, Illinois is still in the first phase of its program. Here’s where the state stands.

As the pandemic continues, the Tribune is tracking Illinois deaths, cases, test results and more here.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul warned Wednesday against “scams and fraud” associated with COVID-19 vaccination cards, and said his office is looking into reports of fake cards being sold online.

The city of Chicago has cleared the way for rooftops around Wrigley Field to host fans, offering another way to watch Cubs games this year when the park opens for limited capacity.

Two brothers who allege they were sexually abused by the Rev. Michael Pfleger in the 1970s have passed polygraph exams, their attorney said, and are challenging the iconic South Side priest to do the same.

As Chicago’s daily COVID-19 cases rose to nearly 500 a day this week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she’s concerned about the “quantum leap” in coronavirus numbers and won’t call for any more significant reopening plans until those numbers subside.

An 18-year-old Chicago woman faces charge including stealing a car Monday afternoon in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood as the car’s owners delivered coffee and doughnuts to their coworkers.

The gates swing wide for opening day Thursday, and about 8,200 spectators will get their first in-person glimpse of the Friendly Confines in 18 months.

A male was fatally shot by a police officer in Portage Park early Wednesday, the second person to be fatally shot by an officer this week.

A man who forced his way into the home of a Chicago police officer was shot by the officer early Wednesday, police said.

The 4-3 ruling from the conservative-controlled court is the latest legal blow to attempts by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to control the coronavirus.

A Grayslake police officer shot and seriously wounded a man who pointed what turned out to be a replica pistol at officers, the Lake County Major Crime Task Force said.

Lee Mouat repeatedly used racial slurs and said Black people had no right to use the beach before striking Devin Freelon Jr., Michigan authorities said.

The owner of an independent bookstore in Evanston is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against Amazon.com and the five biggest book publishing companies.

A couple's oldest granddaughter used money from her stimulus check to fly them back to Chicago from Monterrey, Mexico, to get be vaccinated for COVID-19.

A 24-year-old Hoffman Estates man is facing charges of sexual assault and home invasion in an incident early Sunday in the village, authorities said.

A prairie fire fed by high winds on the city’s Southwest Side on Tuesday afternoon ignited a nearby paper recycling plant and shut down the CTA’s Orange Line, Fire Department authorities said.

Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus in the Chicago area and the rest of Illinois.

A 39-year-old man from downstate Illinois was charged this week with attempted murder in the weekend stabbing of a man who declined to turn over his change on the city’s Magnificent Mile, authorities said.

Chicago vaccine hunters are making the drive to Quincy for a vaccination fix, with Johnson & Johnson on tap.

Some Chicago-area residents who had scheduled first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at different Walgreens stores find themselves scrambling to find the same brand of vaccine for their second dose as their first.

The former Carson's store in Aurora will become a state-run vaccination site beginning Friday.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Jackson-Akiwumi, 41, would be the only Black woman on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

According to the sheriff’s office, patrol deputies came to the residence Monday morning during a stolen car investigation and say they located a vehicle reported stolen earlier from a Spring Grove-area home.

Northwest suburban businessman Gary Rabine, an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, on Tuesday announced his bid for the Republican nomination for Illinois governor.

The alleged shooter in the November 2019 murder of a Portage woman admitted in court Tuesday to shooting Adriana Saucedo, making him the third and final of the three teen defendants in the case to plead guilty.

Welcome to The Spin, the Chicago Tribune's politics newsletter.

If you were planning on enjoying the warmer weather, make sure to pull out your lawn chair Tuesday because a cold front is coming in the evening and bringing lower temperatures until the weekend.

Peter Rosengren, a Daily Herald executive from Batavia, died Sunday after he ran into the Gulf of Mexico to save children caught in a rip current.

Pregnancy data. Telehealth. How will COVID-19 reshape maternal health? “It’s gone from people being in like disbelief to what are we going to do about this?” says Illinois Rep. Lauren Underwood.

State public health officials again warned on Tuesday that hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are on the rise, preventing the state from moving forward in its reopening plan.

Chicago will open two mass vaccination sites next week, one at a conference center next to Wrigley Field and the other at Chicago State University, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office announced Tuesday.

The Exchange Club’s of Naperville’s Ribfest will return this year in a modified form at a new location in Romeoville. The 33rd Annual event is scheduled to be held July 1-4 in Deer Crossing Park at 1050 W. Romeo Road.