Chicago officials are counting on at least $1.6 billion in federal aid to reach the city, the Chicago Transit Authority and the Chicago Public Schools in the coming weeks to fight the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Thursday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered all liquor stores to close at 9 p.m. starting Thursday, cracking down on booze sales to stop large gatherings outside the stores that she said could spread the coronavirus.

Cook County will roll out a zero-interest loan program targeted at suburban small businesses and gig workers to supplement a similar fund already operating in the city, county leaders announced on Tuesday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed an executive order on Tuesday designed to reassure undocumented immigrants living in Chicago that they will not be left behind as the city works to ease the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Approximately 83,000 Chicagoans who lost their jobs or found their paychecks scaled back because of the coronavirus pandemic applied for $1,000 grants to help them pay their rent or mortgages.

"We see a tiny pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday.  [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

Sounding a “public health red alarm,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot Monday vowed to put the full force of the city government behind efforts to reduce the “devastating” toll of the coronavirus on Black Chicagoans.

As the number of deaths from coronavirus in Illinois surpassed 300 on Monday — including the first reported death of a person held at Cook County Jail — those calling for the release of incarcerated people are growing impatient with the speed at which prisoners, detainees and incarcerated youth are being evaluated for release.

Voters cast their ballots at the Loop Super Site, 191 N. Clark St. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]

Almost 30 percent fewer Chicagoans showed up to the polls last month than they did during the 2016 primary, but the coronavirus pandemic did not stop voters from breaking records last month.

Daniel La Spata, Jay Ramirez and Lauren Young [Submitted]

Ald. Daniel La Spata (1) declared victory Saturday in his write-in campaign for Democratic Committeeperson in his Northwest Side ward, despite being knocked off the primary ballot.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi. [A.D. Quig/The Daily Line]

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi is restarting the clock on this year’s round of property valuations.

Kaegi will send new assessment notices to property owners in the nine townships that already got mailers from his office this year, he told The Daily Line on Friday. The revised assessments will take into effect the toll that the coronavirus pandemic has already taken on the region’s real estate market.

Former Dallas Police Chief David Brown addresses the news media while Mayor Lori Lightfoot looks on. [Chicago Mayor's Office]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot chose former Dallas Police Chief David Brown to lead the Chicago Police Department, she announced on Thursday.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Thursday announced an outreach campaign designed to help business owners and contractors apply for a piece of the $2 trillion federal relief package.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s statewide stay-at-home order will not stop west-suburban Democratic Party leaders from getting together to choose a replacement for Cook County Comm. Jeffrey Tobolski (D-16) later this month.

 Mayor Lori Lightfoot addresses the news media as Gov. JB Pritzker looks on. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot insisted again Wednesday that Chicago’s municipal finances are weathering the storm whipped up by the coronavirus pandemic, even as Gov. JB Pritzker says the state’s budget will be "vastly different" than he planned.

Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman addresses the news media in November. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line] 

The Chicago Police Board tapped three finalists in the search for a new Chicago Police Department superintendent at a chaotic audio-only meeting on Wednesday, the first of its kind during the coronavirus era.