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Life expectancy in Chicago during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic dropped almost two years from 2019-2020, the city’s Department of Public Health reported. This is one of the sharpest single-year decreases in life expectancy on record, the agency said, and the steepest declines for Black and Latinx Chicagoans, with COVID-19 driving those numbers.
Meanwhile, officials with the Chicago Teachers Union argued that the halting of the universal masking requirement at Chicago Public Schools last month violated their COVID-19 safety agreement by rescinding a key tenet of the plan without reopening collective bargaining.
And the state health department said three Illinois children have developed suspected cases of severe hepatitis potentially linked to a strain of adenovirus — joining a string of other kids from across the country with the mysterious illness.
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‘These are not casual decisions.’ Changing dynamics about crime and politics have wide-ranging influence on state board.
When a group of Democratic state senators joined Republicans in rejecting two of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s nominees to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board last month, it became clear that crime has become such a big issue in this year’s elections it is even driving some divisions within the governor’s own political party.
How a little-known state board became a flashpoint for controversy also demonstrates how much has changed about politics and crime in just a few short years. For panels such as the Prisoner Review Board, those who have served on it say, that means often nuanced decision-making about releasing men and women from prison is relegated to little more than political talking points.
Ex-Crestwood mayor sentenced to a year in federal prison in red light-camera bribery probe
Former Crestwood Mayor Louis Presta was sentenced to a year in federal prison after he was caught on undercover FBI video taking what he thought was a $5,000 bribe from a red-light camera company executive. Presta, 72, resigned in November after pleading guilty to charges of bribery, official misconduct and filing false tax returns.
“The image of Crestwood is diminished when the mayor takes a bribe to jack up red light camera tickets on anyone driving through town,” U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin said. “I don’t know how many of those tickets were unjustified. But it damages people to have to pay tickets that otherwise might not have been written.”
As Whitney Young High School principal retires after 27 years, the job could be the most sought-after in CPS
Whitney M. Young Magnet High School Principal Joyce Kenner envisions her successor as someone who commits to leading the selective enrollment school for several years, attends most student activities and maintains an open-door policy. This person should not have dollar signs in their eyes, she said.
The job could be the most sought-after position in Chicago Public Schools this summer as the Near West Side school is considered one of the top high schools in the country.
Should GM Ryan Poles trade up? 4 questions for the Bears heading into the NFL draft.
The NFL draft begins Thursday night and, boy, do the Chicago Bears have a rebuilding job ahead of them. But without any first-round picks and only six selections to work with, new general manager Ryan Poles has his work cut out for him.
As the draft draws near, our team of Bears writers weighs in on four timely topics.
Who will the Bears select? Brad Biggs’ NFL mock draft 3.0.
When do the Bears pick? Everything you need to know about the NFL draft.
Bob Chinn, whose Wheeling crab house is a destination for seafood lovers, dies at age 99
Bob Chinn’s massive crab house on Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling packed in thousands of diners over the years and was once ranked among the nation’s top restaurants in terms of sales. Chinn, 99, died of natural causes April 15 at his Northbrook home, said his daughter, Marilyn Chinn LeTourneau.
The restaurant continues to be known for a festive atmosphere, with a noise level “equal in volume to a big convention at McCormick Place,” the Tribune wrote in 1993.
“I like lots of energy, lots of excitement,” Chinn told the Tribune in 1993. “At our restaurant, people like to watch people.”
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