The Latest Breaking News from Cook County

CHICAGO — Cook County’s top judge discussed juvenile justice, ankle bracelets and a technique for criminal case management Thursday during a policy address at the Union League Club of Chicago.

Chief Judge Timothy Evans addressed a Union League Club audience as 16-year-old suspect— who had been on probation— was ordered held without bond, charged in the murder of 8-year-old Melissa Ortega.

Iliana Mora, chief administration officer for Cook County Health’s Ambulatory Services, said the Forest Park facility alone is equipped to give out 1,300 doses a day.

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

The COVID-19 crisis, and the associated pivot to virtual hearings and livestreams, has exposed plenty of flaws in the judicial system and its practitioners. We’ve seen a lawyer who could not get rid of a cat filter, defendants appearing semi-naked, attorneys smoking cigars and all kinds of shenanigans with the…

CHICAGO — At the end of a year that saw at least 800 homicides in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot last month wrote to the Cook County chief judge with a request: Judges should immediately stop ordering certain defendants to await trial at home with an electronic-monitoring ankle bracelet.

Blacks in Chicago — as well as whites over 60 in the suburbs — are dying from the coronavirus at higher rates, a WBEZ analysis found. Also, the unvaccinated are 22 times more likely to die than those who’ve gotten shots.

Tamiko L. Talbert, 49, died Sunday afternoon at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The toll from opioids has been increasing since 2015, when there were 647 overdose deaths in Cook County. This past year’s total is expected to be more than 2,000 once all tests are back.