Also in the news: An early-morning fire on Chicago's Northwest Side left a firefighter critically injured and three other people hurt; A crash last night in the South Shore neighborhood resulted in a homicide; The Lightfoot Administration wants to make sure sugary soft drinks are not the first choice for a beverage when *kids order meals; The Blackhawks have reached a settlement with a former player who says he was sexually assaulted by a team coach; and much more.

Also in the news tonight: Cook County health administrators say the suburbs' first confirmed case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant did not have symptoms and was fully vaccinated; a year after Chicago administered its first COVID-19 vaccines, the city’s top doctor is reflecting on the intervening months and still pushing hesitant residents to get the shot; leaders in Gary last hour took the wraps off a new series of recommendations designed to reform the city's police force; and much more.

In other stories: Chicago aldermen usually are the key deciders of whether developments get approved in their wards, but a Northwest Side alderman may soon find that aldermanic privilege pulled from under him; Three new retailers are coming to the State Street shopping district; A new partnership between the University of Chicago and the City Colleges aims to provide more opportunities for black and Latino students in the STEM fields; and much more.

Also in the news tonight: Chicago Public Schools will distribute about 150,000 take-home COVID-19 test kits to more than 3-hundred schools in communities that have been highly impacted by the pandemic; the city today added California and Mississippi to its list of states covered by its COVID-19 travel advisory which calls for unvaccinated visitors to quarantine if they don't test negative; police in Chicago's suburbs have been called out to investigate at least five school shooting threats in the last week; Governor Pritzker is shrugging off a national news report that suggests he's a possible candidate for President in 2024; an Elgin man is charged with attempted murder in connection with a Logan Square stabbing police have connected to other attacks where a machete was used; and much more.

Also in the news: City leaders are taking a new approach in the fight against the leading cause of opioid overdoses in Chicago; A Chicago City Council committee has approved sports books at professional sports venues; The Mayor is pushing aside any concerns about at-times searing work-related texts she's sent over the past couple of years, which became public last week; Chicago police are investigating the shooting of a man in a supermarket parking lot on the Southwest Side; and much more.

Also in the news: two Niles middle schoolers have now been charged in connection with a pair of school shooting threats; the mother of Illinois State University grad student Jelani Day has repeatedly called for federal involvement in the investigation into what led to her son's drowning death in the Illinois River last summer; there's no response yet from Cook County sheriff Tom Dart to word of a potential challenge in June's Democratic primary from someone who used to work for him; and much more.

Also in the news: A wrongful police raid nearly three years ago could end in a multi million dollar settlement; Hunger free America found that more than one million Illinois residents live in food insecure homes; six people confirmed dead after tornado struck Amazon facility in Edwardsville; North Central College in Naperville has advanced to the STAG bowl to compete for the division three football championship; Bears coach Matt Nagy joins for a conversation about the loss against Green Bay; and much more.

In other stories tonight: a prayer vigil was held for a Chinatown local after they were murdered in broad daylight, charges have been filed for a man who killed a 17-year-old, a new ward map was discussed at a rules committee meeting, a Massachusetts man was arrested for the murder of a Riverside and Danville resident, a Joliet man charged with killing his uncle and disposed the body at a cemetery and more.

In other stories tonight: one of last weekend's violent incidents put a CTA bus driver in the hospital in critical condition; Chicago's effort to look into the future of a proposed metal shredder planned for the Southeast side is coming in for new criticism today;  A former director of Aurora's Hesed House shelter is talking and writing about a decade-and-a half of speaking with homeless people across the United States; a man is now facing felony charges for punching a police officer in unincorporated Libertyville overnight; and much more.

Also in the news: Actor Jussie Smollett found guilty on five disorderly conduct charges; Paws Chicago host adopt-a-thon; Kane County Health Department closes Batavia vaccination hub; An approval for sports betting in Chicago language is in the City Council; and much more.