Daywatch: COVID-19 restrictions loosened in Chicago, the man accused of living at O’Hare airport and a $1 Elgin mansion

Good morning, Chicago. On Monday, Illinois reported 3,385 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19. The state also announced 50 new deaths, for a total of 18,258 since the start of the pandemic. State officials announced they are easing restrictions in Chicago and surrounding counties after a change in the qualifying metrics brought on by more hospital staffing.

As Illinois’ vaccine rollout continues, one nursing home network is offering cash bonuses to employees who get a COVID-19 inoculation. How effective are such incentives? Some studies have shown they help, but some experts are wary. Meanwhile, here’s where Illinois stands on its vaccine distribution plan.

A woman shot in Aurora was among the victims of several carjackings reported in the Chicago suburbs over the weekend. The string of crimes comes as Chicago saw carjackings more than double in 2020, with the trend continuing into the new year. Search our map to see where carjackings have taken place.

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Anjanette Young rallies against Chicago police misconduct following raid on her home: ‘Enough is enough’

Standing outside her church for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally, social worker Anjanette Young called for change as she recalled the night when Chicago police officers mistakenly raided her home, a case that has drawn national attention since December.

Young said no other citizen “should ever have to be treated the way I was treated.”

A post-holiday COVID-19 surge? Nothing significant seen yet in Illinois, but experts still wary.

Two weeks into the new year and three weeks after Christmas, Illinois has so far avoided a holiday-related COVID-19 surge, though some metrics saw brief increases in some parts of the state.

State data shows that both case counts and the positivity rate, or percent of tests that come back positive, ticked up after the holidays. But another key metric — the number of daily hospitalizations for COVID-19 — has continued its slow, steady drop since Thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, coronavirus deaths are rising in 30 U.S. states as the nation nears 400,000 dead since the start of the pandemic and a new, more contagious variant is taking hold.

New state House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch made commitments for reform to force out Madigan. Can he keep them?

Shortly after picking up the speaker’s gavel for the first time, Emanuel “Chris” Welch pledged “a new day” in the Illinois House, one that recognized diversity, autonomy and transparency, and a break from the near-autocratic rule of Michael Madigan.

Whether Welch can fulfill that promise will quickly become evident as he puts together a leadership team, writes new rules for how House business is conducted and works on a legislative redistricting plan. Although an ally of Madigan’s, Welch told legislators he intends to take the chamber in a new direction.

Man accused of living in O’Hare for 3 months described as ‘gentle soul’ who was supposed to be going home to India, friends say

After coming to the United States five years ago to complete a master’s degree program, Aditya Singh said goodbye to his friends in California on Oct. 19 and boarded a Chicago-bound flight from Los Angeles to begin his journey home to India.

He never made it. In a troubling series of events that raises security questions at one of the world’s busiest airports, authorities allege Singh lived undetected for nearly three months at O’Hare until this past weekend, when someone finally noticed and alerted police.

A century-old Elgin property sat vacant for $1. This couple wants to renovate it into their multigenerational dream home.

Ramona Jones was looking for another house to flip when she ran across a listing for an Elgin property that piqued the Georgia woman’s interest. The 135-year-old mansion-turned-nursing home was listed for just $1 by a bank wanting to unload the property after 10 years of vacancy.

Jones saw potential in the boarded-up house and moved in with her husband in July 2019. She now hopes that one day all her children — and their families — will live under one roof with her and her husband.