Daywatch: Pritzker loosening COVID restrictions next week, Chicago ready to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds and how to celebrate Mother’s Day 2021

Chicago Tribune staff, Chicago Tribune
·3 min read

Good morning, Chicago. On Thursday, Illinois public health officials reported 1,778 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 40 new deaths. Officials also reported there were 99,599 doses of the vaccine reported administered on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Chicago and Illinois are entering a new phase of the pandemic with more activities becoming available and summer events being announced daily. Those expanded activities present a host of new questions: What are you comfortable doing? What kind of outings will you choose to be a part of? We want to hear from you — tell us here.

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

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Gov. J.B. Pritzker says COVID-19 restrictions will loosen May 14, with the goal of fully reopening the state on June 11

Offering the promise of a summer resembling something close to normal, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday that he will further ease coronavirus-related restrictions May 14 as a precursor to a full reopening as soon as June 11.

“The light that we can see at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter,” Pritzker said, though he cautioned that an unexpected resurgence of COVID-19 in the next few weeks still could delay the planned reopening.

Chicago’s ready to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds ‘pretty much right away’ once federal government gives OK, health commissioner says

Some Chicagoans ages 12 to 15 could be fully vaccinated from the coronavirus by June, the city’s top health official said Thursday while predicting youths across the city could start getting their first Pfizer vaccine shot as soon as the day after the federal government gives its approval.

  • COVID-19 Q&A: Are pediatricians recommending 12-year-olds receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine once it has FDA approval? What will happen when Chicago drops all COVID-19 restrictions?

Even in Chicago’s crowded history of FBI cooperators, Daniel Solis’ deal stands out

In the long history of federal political corruption investigations in Illinois, the road to the penitentiary has often been paved by the government cooperator.

Through the years, dozens of political fixers, campaign staffers, fundraisers, lobbyists and occasionally even elected officials have “flipped” and agreed to help the FBI and federal prosecutors go after bigger fish. After all the chips fall, the vast majority of them are tagged with felonies of their own and offered a break at sentencing.

And then there’s Daniel Solis.

Greektown’s newest tenants spotlight neighborhood’s changing identity. ‘We can’t live in nostalgia.’

A Florida-based meat and fish market plans to open its first Midwest store in Greektown, bringing another newcomer to a Chicago neighborhood that has lost some of its oldest businesses — and a part of its identity — in recent years.

Heidi Stevens column: This Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate all the healing and caretaking taking place during a pandemic

This Mother’s Day will be marked by who’s no longer with us, columnist Heidi Stevens writes. It will also be marked by joyful reunions. What if this Mother’s Day could also be marked by a shift in how we view and understand and celebrate mothering?