Category: Chicago

Chicago Teachers Union to Vote on Defying City’s Order of In-Person Teaching

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on Monday opened its classrooms for students returning from winter break, but members of the city’s teachers union will soon vote to decide whether to collectively refuse to work in person. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is set to vote on Tuesday on whether its more than 25,000 members would continue…


2021 Ends as Chicago’s Deadliest Year in a Quarter Century

CHICAGO—The year of 2021 ended as one of the most violent on record in Chicago, as a rise in the number of shootings left more people dead than in any single year in a quarter century, according to statistics released by the police department on Saturday. According to the department, 2021 ended with 797 homicides….


Chicago Teachers Union Polling Members Over Strike or ‘Shift to Remote Learning’

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is polling its members on whether they would back a city-wide strike or a shift to remote learning, citing the surge of the Omicron variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, as students are set to return to the classroom on Jan. 3. All CTU members were asked to…


Chicago Suburb Orland Park Refuses to Enforce COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Businesses

Trustees of the village of Orland Park, a municipality in Chicago’s Cook County suburb, voted on Dec. 28 not to enforce the county’s COVID-19 vaccine passport requirement for some businesses. At a special meeting of the Orland Park Village Board of Trustees, officials voted 6–0 in favor of a resolution that opposes Cook County’s vaccination…


4 People Injured After Shooting at Chicago-Area Mall

OAK BROOK, Ill.—A shooting at a suburban Chicago mall full of Christmas shoppers left four people injured Thursday, police said. The incident at Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook began with two males involved in a shootout in a corridor around 5:45 p.m., police Chief James Kruger said. He said the injuries were not life-threatening. Three…


Two Democrats Carjacked in Separate Incidents: Officials

Two elected Democrats this week became the victims of carjacking in the space of 24 hours, officials have confirmed. According to her office and city officials, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Penn.) was carjacked at gunpoint at a South Philadephia park on Wednesday afternoon, after she had a meeting at that location. “The Congresswoman was physically unharmed,”…


Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Announces Citywide COVID-19 Vaccine Passport

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that people will have to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter restaurants, bars, and gyms—becoming the latest city to mandate a vaccine passport. “Despite our diligent and equitable vaccine distribution efforts throughout this year, unfortunately, our city continues to see a surge of COVID-19 Delta and now Omicron cases,”…


Police: 24 Shot, 4 Dead in Weekend Shootings Across Chicago

At least 24 people were shot, including four fatally, in separate shootings across Chicago over the past weekend, police said. On Saturday, a man, who was later identified as 26-year-old Siraj Mahadeva, was shot and killed while standing on the porch of a friend’s house on the Northwest Side, officials told the Chicago Sun-Times. The…


Chicago Police Say 4 Dead, 24 Wounded in Weekend Shootings

At least four people are dead, and 24 others were injured in separate shootings across Chicago over the past weekend, police said. On Dec. 11, a man who was identified as 26-year-old Siraj Mahadeva was shot and killed while standing on the porch of a friend’s house on the Northwest Side, officials told the Chicago…


Chicago to Still Go After Jussie Smollett for $130,000 in Police Costs: City

The City of Chicago confirmed it will still pursue its lawsuit against Jussie Smollett, who was convicted last week on five felony charges stemming from a hate crime hoax in early 2019, in a bid to collect more than $100,000 in costs that were incurred by the Chicago Police Department. A jury found Smollett, who appeared…