Good morning, Chicago.
As the delta variant continues to spread throughout Chicago’s suburbs, the remaining three mass vaccination sites in Cook County are shutting down. Officials say they are planning to go for a more “hyperlocal” approach, where they will target specific areas with low rates of inoculation.
Meanwhile, a new watchdog report said that back in January, a “high-ranking” Cook County official “misused her position” to help her family members jump the vaccine line. They were able to get their shots at a suburban mass vaccination site — before it was open to the public. Read more here, from my colleague Alice Yin.
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And, if you’re a parent, you may have noticed some extra money in your bank account recently. The child tax credit, which President Joe Biden expanded for one year as part of the coronavirus relief package passed in March, began its rollout yesterday. Here’s how much you can expect and who is eligible to receive it.
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After battling mental health issues for years, Olachi Tiffany Etoh became completely untethered from reality while at O’Hare and hallucinated that she was in the center of a mass shooting. Frantic, she grabbed a 2-year-old child and ran away with the toddler to shield him from imagined gunfire.
She was arrested on aggravated kidnapping charges, despite having no criminal history and obvious mental distress. Now, Etoh is fighting on behalf of other mentally ill people entangled with the legal system.
Police will be forbidden from using deceptive tactics while interrogating minors under a measure Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law Thursday that made Illinois the first state in the nation to ban the practice.
The bill was one of several Pritzker signed in a morning ceremony that, together with a sweeping piece of legislation he approved earlier this year that includes the eventual elimination of cash bail, represent a major overhaul of the criminal justice system in Illinois under his watch.
A 9-year-old boy, whose father said he lived life “to the fullest,” was killed Wednesday night when he was struck by a pickup truck while riding his bicycle on the Far North Side, Chicago police said.
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John Catanzara, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said the driver was an off-duty Chicago police officer.
Chicago’s lesbian bars aren’t dying out — they’re evolving
Chicago’s lesbian bars are dead. At least, that’s what the national conversation would have you believe.
But the truth, say many in the city’s LGBTQ community, is more complex. Rather than dying out, the lesbian bar scene in Chicago is shedding mistakes of its past to beget not only more inclusive environments for all, but queer spaces with lasting power.
Jaleo, the highly anticipated restaurant by chef and humanitarian José Andrés, opened in Chicago on Thursday after a pandemic-prompted delay.
In an exclusive interview with Tribune food critic Louisa Chu, the chef shared fateful stories about his history with Chicago, his work during the pandemic and other disasters, plus thoughts about ketchup on hot dogs.