Quinn Myers

Staffing issues made worse by the pandemic led owner Felipe Caro to close Picante, but he's ready to move on. The new restaurant will feature "bagels with a Latin twist," breakfast tacos and more, he said.

Caleb Westbrooks, 15, was shot Tuesday a few blocks north of Rauner College Prep, where he was a freshman. His dad said the young football player was walking to catch a bus home from school when someone opened fire.

The projects, which include a protected bike lane on a section of Wood Street, were proposed by residents during the 1st Ward's participatory budgeting process.

The 15-year-old attended Rauner College Prep in West Town and "touched so many lives."

Carjackings and robberies are up significantly in Wicker Park, Bucktown and West Town. "Whether it's the Mayor's Office, the prosecutor's office or the Police Department, I just wish they would work better together," one victim said.

The bar and music venue closed in December as COVID-19 cases began to surge in Chicago. It reopens Wednesday with a full slate of shows and events.

The event runs from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at St. Aloysius Catholic Church.

Wednesday marks the first day of in-person Chicago Public Schools classes after five days of cancellations — but not everyone is on board with the return to school.

A lost wedding band found on the sidewalk in Wicker Park has set off an online search effort for its owner.

The locally owned grocery store opened Dec. 30. It features a made-to-order cafe and bar on top of supermarket staples.

CTU members voted to return to remote learning, saying the COVID-19 surge makes in-person learning too risky. "I want to be with my students more than anything, but we need safety, we need better choices from our district," one teacher said.

The Wicker Park location is the restaurant's third in Chicago. It opened on New Year's Eve after experiencing supply chain delays last year.

The Irish Nobleman Pub will reopen in February, when owners hope they can hire someone to check vaccination cards at the door.

The Wicker Park theater has been a neighborhood staple for more than a century: "We will survive. The question is, how hard it will be to do it?"

The city is averaging 2,069 confirmed COVID-19 cases per day, up 101 percent from the week prior. Health care workers say they're feeling the crunch — and will consider shutting down units as hospital beds fill up.

Some businesses closed after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 or was exposed. Others have preemptively closed. "I'm gonna be honest: The staff is devastated and frustrated, afraid and rightfully so."

The city has completed a water main replacement on Armitage between Western Avenue and the expressway and is moving west for additional construction.

The second annual Bucktown Holiday Lights Walk will highlight more than two dozen homes in the neighborhood this Christmas.

"There is not a Chicagoan out there who hasn't had occasion where they were in a really difficult spot with the most basic need that all of us have," said Ald. Daniel La Spata, a co-sponsor of the plan.

Private armed security guards could begin patrolling a portion of Bucktown Wednesday. The neighborhood group behind the program has refused to answer specific questions about how it will work.