In the first half of January, an estimated 8.8 million U.S. workers were reported to have stayed home either because they were sick with COVID-19 or were caring for someone who was sick. The news comes as some workers are running out of employer-provided sick days, or don’t have enough earned sick days to begin with. 

The stock market extended its three-week decline and put the benchmark S&P 500 on track for a so-called correction — a drop of 10% or more from its most recent high. 

Under a new statewide compromise, public school and higher ed employees across Illinois won’t have to expend their sick time if they are forced to miss work due to COVID-19 — as long as they’re fully vaccinated.

In recent years, Harvey has faced financial issues and political infighting, and it’s grappling with poverty, unemployment and crime. But officials and community leaders here say they're working to turn it around. And residents say even with the challenges the suburb faces, they feel proud of where they come from. 

Two milestones: President Biden's first year in office, and the second anniversary of COVID-19's arrival in Chicago. Harvey is our In Your Neighborhood stop tonight. And the International Puppet Fest.

One year into Dr. Rochelle Walensky’s tenure as director, her bid to make the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more agile is being challenged by political pressures, vocal scientists and the changing virus itself.

“Steady is not good news,” said members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “We are stuck in a perilous moment.”

The Chicago International Puppet Festival returns for 10 days, and Thursday is opening night. Blair Thomas, the behind-the-scenes puppet master, pulled a lot of strings to keep this festival on the calendar.

President Joe Biden took action on a number of his key campaign promises, from rebuilding U.S. alliances globally to distributing vaccines across America and the world. But others remain works in progress or dependent on Congress to address. That’s particularly true of his promises to reform the nation’s immigration system. 

Despite a day of piercing debate and speeches that often carried echoes of an earlier era when the Senate filibuster was deployed by opponents of civil rights legislation, Democrats could not persuade holdout senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia to change the Senate procedures on this one bill and allow a simple majority to advance it.

Rhysheen Wilson, 27, was ordered held on $2 million during a bond hearing Thursday following his arrest on charges of attempted murder of a peace officer, aggravated discharge of a weapon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

This season of “To Dine For with Kate Sullivan” takes viewers on a journey with successful, and sometimes prominent guests sharing stories over their favorite foods.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday that she has fully recovered from her bout with COVID-19, and said it felt like “a bad cold.”

New research published Tuesday in JAMA Pediatrics that looked at children and adolescents from 11 countries found kids experienced both mental and physical health problems — anxiety, depression, lower physical activity, food insecurity and school disengagement — linked to school closures and social lockdowns.

The decision from the companies came Tuesday as the Biden administration intervened to broker tried to broker a settlement between the telecoms and airlines over a rollout of new 5G service.