SHAREA group of top West Side leaders on Saturday urged city officials to wrap up their investigation into the Loretto Hospital vaccine scandal and start sending doses to the Austin neighborhood safety net again as soon as possible.Mayor Lori Lightfoot cut off Loretto’s vaccine supply pending a full probe of its misallocation of hundreds of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to ineligible people outside the hospital’s low-income Black community.State Rep. La Shawn Ford resigned from the hospital board last week because he disagreed with how executives were reprimanded, but he called on the mayor...…SHAREA group of top West Side leaders on Saturday urged city officials to wrap up their investigation into the Loretto Hospital vaccine scandal and start sending doses to the Austin neighborhood safety net again as soon as possible.Mayor Lori Lightfoot cut off Loretto’s vaccine supply pending a full probe of its misallocation of hundreds of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to ineligible people outside the hospital’s low-income Black community.State Rep. La Shawn Ford resigned from the hospital board last week because he disagreed with how executives were reprimanded, but he called on the mayor...WW…

SHARENearly a year after he issued his first stay-at-home order, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday announced his plan to reopen the state, employing a “bridge” phase that will include increasing capacity limits at museums, zoos and other places.The governor also announced the expansion of coronavirus vaccine eligibility to all Illinois residents over 16 — except at Chicago sites — starting April 12, and set thresholds for vaccinations and new COVID-19 caseloads for the state to return to normal.“Although we still are in the midst of a global pandemic, the end seems truly to be in sight,”...…SHARENearly a year after he issued his first stay-at-home order, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday announced his plan to reopen the state, employing a “bridge” phase that will include increasing capacity limits at museums, zoos and other places.The governor also announced the expansion of coronavirus vaccine eligibility to all Illinois residents over 16 — except at Chicago sites — starting April 12, and set thresholds for vaccinations and new COVID-19 caseloads for the state to return to normal.“Although we still are in the midst of a global pandemic, the end seems truly to be in sight,”...WW…

SHAREIn a bid to vaccinate more people of color in neighborhoods hit hard by COVID-19, city officials Wednesday limited registration for United Center appointments to Chicagoans in a handful of South and Southwest Side neighborhoods.Anyone who lives in the 60608, 60619, 60620, 60649 or 60652 ZIP codes can sign up for an appointment at with the code “CCVICHICAGO,” or by reaching the multilingual call center at (312) 746-4835.Chicago residents from outside those ZIP codes who try to sign up will have their appointments canceled, according to a city flyer circulated by several community...…SHAREIn a bid to vaccinate more people of color in neighborhoods hit hard by COVID-19, city officials Wednesday limited registration for United Center appointments to Chicagoans in a handful of South and Southwest Side neighborhoods.Anyone who lives in the 60608, 60619, 60620, 60649 or 60652 ZIP codes can sign up for an appointment at with the code “CCVICHICAGO,” or by reaching the multilingual call center at (312) 746-4835.Chicago residents from outside those ZIP codes who try to sign up will have their appointments canceled, according to a city flyer circulated by several community...WW…

SHAREHorse racing could make its final turn at Arlington Park this fall.Touting the 93-year-old track as a “redevelopment opportunity,” the corporate owner of Arlington International Racecourse announced Tuesday it’s selling the historic oval and all 326 suburban acres it sits on.Executives at Churchill Downs Inc. say they’re “committed” to having the ponies run as scheduled at Arlington from April 30 through Sept. 25, but after that, it’s anyone’s guess if the starting bugles will call again.Bill Carstanjen, CEO of the Louisville-based gambling and racing corporation, signaled a potential...…SHAREHorse racing could make its final turn at Arlington Park this fall.Touting the 93-year-old track as a “redevelopment opportunity,” the corporate owner of Arlington International Racecourse announced Tuesday it’s selling the historic oval and all 326 suburban acres it sits on.Executives at Churchill Downs Inc. say they’re “committed” to having the ponies run as scheduled at Arlington from April 30 through Sept. 25, but after that, it’s anyone’s guess if the starting bugles will call again.Bill Carstanjen, CEO of the Louisville-based gambling and racing corporation, signaled a potential...WW…

SHAREWith an urgent need to quickly organize mass COVID-19 vaccinations, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Friday said members of the Illinois National Guard may actually be administering the shots.Gov. J.B. Pritzker also said in a COVID-19 briefing that guard members will be deployed to set up a total of six mass vaccination sites in Cook County, with 25 smaller sites in high-demand areas, as the state enters Phase 1B of its distribution plan.Beginning Monday, about 3.2 million more residents will be eligible to start getting shots, including frontline essential workers and people 65 and older.As...…SHAREWith an urgent need to quickly organize mass COVID-19 vaccinations, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Friday said members of the Illinois National Guard may actually be administering the shots.Gov. J.B. Pritzker also said in a COVID-19 briefing that guard members will be deployed to set up a total of six mass vaccination sites in Cook County, with 25 smaller sites in high-demand areas, as the state enters Phase 1B of its distribution plan.Beginning Monday, about 3.2 million more residents will be eligible to start getting shots, including frontline essential workers and people 65 and older.As...WW…

SHAREA day after the first coronavirus vaccine doses went into Illinois health care workers’ arms, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday announced the state’s next vaccine shipments from the federal government will be cut roughly in half.About 8 million doses initially were scheduled for distribution to hundreds of cities beginning next week through the federal “Operation Warp Speed” effort, but that number has been slashed to 4.3 million, Pritzker said during a COVID-19 briefing.Another 8.8 million doses had been scheduled to go out the week after, but that’s also been downsized to 4.3 million,...…SHAREA day after the first coronavirus vaccine doses went into Illinois health care workers’ arms, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday announced the state’s next vaccine shipments from the federal government will be cut roughly in half.About 8 million doses initially were scheduled for distribution to hundreds of cities beginning next week through the federal “Operation Warp Speed” effort, but that number has been slashed to 4.3 million, Pritzker said during a COVID-19 briefing.Another 8.8 million doses had been scheduled to go out the week after, but that’s also been downsized to 4.3 million,...WW…

SHAREMost of the Chicago Public Schools teachers and staffers who are scheduled to return to classrooms next week for the first time in nine months have tacitly agreed to do so — but almost a third of them requested to work from home or take a leave of absence.The district ended up rejecting most of those requests, according to CPS data released Tuesday on the 7,002 pre-kindergarten and special education cluster program employees who were told to return to work Jan. 4 following the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic closure.Two-thirds of those employees — 4,684 of them — didn’t ask for...…SHAREMost of the Chicago Public Schools teachers and staffers who are scheduled to return to classrooms next week for the first time in nine months have tacitly agreed to do so — but almost a third of them requested to work from home or take a leave of absence.The district ended up rejecting most of those requests, according to CPS data released Tuesday on the 7,002 pre-kindergarten and special education cluster program employees who were told to return to work Jan. 4 following the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic closure.Two-thirds of those employees — 4,684 of them — didn’t ask for...WW…

SHAREA new program aims to put computers in the hands of thousands of low-income residents across Illinois to help bridge the “digital divide” that has been laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic.The Connect Illinois Computer Equity Network announced Wednesday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will soon begin distributing 20,000 devices.The need is much greater than that, though, with an estimated 1.1 million Illinois households that don’t have a computer, according to U.S. Census data.The network is based on a partnership with the national nonprofit PCs...…SHAREA new program aims to put computers in the hands of thousands of low-income residents across Illinois to help bridge the “digital divide” that has been laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic.The Connect Illinois Computer Equity Network announced Wednesday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will soon begin distributing 20,000 devices.The need is much greater than that, though, with an estimated 1.1 million Illinois households that don’t have a computer, according to U.S. Census data.The network is based on a partnership with the national nonprofit PCs...WW…

SHAREFormer state Sen. Martin Sandoval, who became a crucial figure in a series of ongoing public corruption investigations early this year when he admitted he’d taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, has died from COVID-19, according to his defense attorney.The Senate’s former transportation chair also agreed in January to “cooperate in any matter in which he is called upon” . Late last month, the feds told a judge Sandoval had “provided valuable cooperation that is expected to last at least several more months.”Now, legal experts say Sandoval’s death has the potential to...…SHAREFormer state Sen. Martin Sandoval, who became a crucial figure in a series of ongoing public corruption investigations early this year when he admitted he’d taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, has died from COVID-19, according to his defense attorney.The Senate’s former transportation chair also agreed in January to “cooperate in any matter in which he is called upon” . Late last month, the feds told a judge Sandoval had “provided valuable cooperation that is expected to last at least several more months.”Now, legal experts say Sandoval’s death has the potential to...WW…

SHAREIn almost a century at Lawrence and Winthrop, the Aragon Ballroom has hosted everyone from Benny Goodman and Bob Dylan to Barack Obama and Al Capone.It’s survived changes in tastes from big band to disco and on through generations of rowdy rock shows that spawned the Aragon “Brawlroom” moniker, all while catering to fans of bingo and boxing.It’s been shuttered by fire, flood and pandemic, and now the storied Uptown venue’s considerable lifespan is being put to the test by snow.A buildup of thick, heavy snow caused a partial collapse of the Aragon’s west wall Tuesday, sending bricks...…SHAREIn almost a century at Lawrence and Winthrop, the Aragon Ballroom has hosted everyone from Benny Goodman and Bob Dylan to Barack Obama and Al Capone.It’s survived changes in tastes from big band to disco and on through generations of rowdy rock shows that spawned the Aragon “Brawlroom” moniker, all while catering to fans of bingo and boxing.It’s been shuttered by fire, flood and pandemic, and now the storied Uptown venue’s considerable lifespan is being put to the test by snow.A buildup of thick, heavy snow caused a partial collapse of the Aragon’s west wall Tuesday, sending bricks...WW…