Good morning, Chicago.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned yesterday that COVID-19 restrictions could return to the city as case numbers continue to rise. Chicago officials also announced that four more places have been added to the travel advisory, joining the two states that were put on the list last week. Here’s a reminder of the guidelines and who’s exempt from them.
Meanwhile, a new study that was posted online yesterday suggests that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may be ineffective against the delta variant. The conclusion is at odds with studies published by J&J earlier this month that found the vaccine to be effective against the variant. Here’s what we know so far.
And, Illinois higher education officials released new COVID-19 guidance, urging all of the state’s college students to get vaccinated before they return to campuses this fall for in-person classes.
— Nicole Stock, audience editor
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Nearly a year after Chicago residents testified in federal court to allege mistreatment by Chicago police officers during protests last summer, a court official in charge of monitoring court-mandated police reform has issued a lengthy special report detailing the scope of police conduct, as well as the city’s chaotic response to the demonstrations.
The report filed early Tuesday is the second time the department has faced criticism for its handling of unrest spurred by the murder of George Floyd. The findings concluded that even if the city had predicted the level of protests and unrest after Floyd’s death, it still would not have had the proper practices, training and equipment to respond effectively.
A man who allegedly opened fire with an AK-47 in the killing of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams at a West Side McDonald’s drive-thru in April was arrested by the FBI this week after a three-month manhunt, according to a federal court filing Tuesday.
In a short but wide-ranging interview on his first full day as an announced candidate for reelection, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker indicated Tuesday he will sign a controversial ethics bill that he acknowledged “didn’t go far enough,” saying he believes it makes some progress toward restoring the public’s trust in Illinois government.
To entertain themselves during a mandatory three-day quarantine upon arriving in Japan, Tribune photojournalist Brian Cassella and reporter Stacy St. Clair asked their social media followers to send them questions about the Olympics, Tokyo or anything else on their minds.
Allotted only an occasional 15 minutes of freedom to run across the street to a minimart and buy food, they’ve had plenty of time to answer — here’s what they were asked and how they responded.
About 150,000 years ago, the area that is now known as Monroe County in southwest Illinois was covered in ice hundreds of feet thick. When the ice melted, the water flowed into fractures in the area’s limestone bedrock. Over time, the water eroded a vast underground landscape of caves, springs and sinkholes.
A tourist attraction dating back more than a century, the Illinois Caverns is the second largest cave in the state. After being closed since 2010, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced last month that the cave would reopen. Visitors can once again don hard hats and wade through an underground stream to explore the cave’s geological treasures.
