Daywatch: CPS and union talks fall apart, second storm in a week drops more than a foot of snow and residents look to launch food co-ops across the city

Good morning, Chicago. On Sunday, Illinois health officials announced 2,428 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 40 additional fatalities. Illinois also continues to lag behind many other states in the rate of COVID-19 vaccinations. Its numbers rank among the lowest in the country, based on a Tribune analysis of data from the CDC.

Meanwhile, Chicago moved to phase four of the state’s reopening plan Sunday, even as restrictions on indoor dining remain in place. Here’s what the shift means for the city.

Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.

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School district and union talks fall apart as Lightfoot pushes reopening to Tuesday

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has ordered all Chicago Public Schools teachers who don’t have permission to stay home due to medical concerns to come back to the classroom Monday, setting up potential lockouts that could spur another teachers strike.

According to CPS, in-person learning for pre-K through eighth grade will now begin Tuesday. The district and Lightfoot had said they wanted schools to open Monday, with as many as 67,000 students attending, of which about 62,000 would be kindergarten through eighth grade students attending for the first time since schools closed last March.

Crews hit the streets and residents hit the playgrounds as second snowstorm in a week drops more than a foot of snow on the Chicago area

More than a foot of snow blanketed parts of the Chicago area as the latest storm loosened its grip on the city Sunday evening.

With 12.7 inches of snow recorded at the National Weather Service office in Romeoville and 9.9 inches at O’Hare International Airport as of Sunday evening, the city officially logged its second storm this week with more than 6 inches of snow — something that hasn’t happened since January 2014, officials said.

A new round of snow fell on Chicagoland Sunday. Here are our photos. Show us yours.

Map: How much did it snow near you?

Rep. Adam Kinzinger launches ‘country first’ movement as Trump criticism puts focus on Illinois GOP divide amid search for new leadership

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s vote to impeach Donald Trump and criticism of Republican congressional colleagues who support the former president has highlighted a split in the state GOP as it gets set to decide on new leadership.

As COVID-19 rages, Loretto Hospital employee scraps his own dreams to help the West Side

Without a comprehensive national strategy for battling the pandemic, safety net hospitals such as Loretto — medical centers that accept all patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay — have been forced to punch above their weight for nearly a year. And few at Loretto have stepped into ring with more enthusiasm than Johnathan Daniels, a 25-year-old accounting department worker whose efforts have helped the hospital administer more than 22,000 COVID-19 tests in the past 10 months.

After the success of Logan Square’s Dill Pickle, residents across the Chicago area are looking to launch food co-ops. ‘There is an outcry for a different system.’

In a city with a grocery store on almost every block, the bright green lights that frame Dill Pickle Food Co-Op Market & Deli shine on a steady flow of neighbors turned loyal customers. The only operating grocery food cooperative in the city, Logan Square’s Dill Pickle is a community-owned store run by its members.

While customers say the Dill Pickle is a fixture in the Logan Square food economy, residents around the region — from Rogers Park to Lombard to Woodstock — are in different stages of trying to launch three other food co-ops.