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Daywatch: Heightened risks for the unvaccinated, the child care and worker shortage crises collide and Black-owned restaurants celebrate Juneteenth

  • Teacher Elidia Villagomez draws with students at the Carole Robertson...

    Vashon Jordan Jr. / Chicago Tribune

    Teacher Elidia Villagomez draws with students at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in the North Lawndale neighborhood on June 11, 2021.

  • Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx gives a victory speech...

    John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune

    Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx gives a victory speech at her election night headquarters in the Kinzie Hotel on Nov. 3, 2020, in Chicago.

  • Mostly unmasked people cross Lake Shore Drive near the Buckingham...

    Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune

    Mostly unmasked people cross Lake Shore Drive near the Buckingham Fountain on June 1, 2021, in downtown Chicago.

  • Jeremy Joyce is the founder of Black People Eats, which...

    Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune

    Jeremy Joyce is the founder of Black People Eats, which links the public with area restaurants that are Black-owned. Joyce is shown at Luella's Southern Kitchen in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood on March 12, 2021.

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Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

Good morning, Chicago. As we begin life in phase five of Illinois’ reopening plan, there are no capacity limits or social distancing measures for the first time since Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s initial statewide shutdown in March 2020. However, businesses can impose their own restrictions as they see fit. Here’s our phase five guide and here’s what’s still off-limits.

Now that we are in phase five, we’re also making some changes to Daywatch. With cases continuing to trend downward, I am going to move away from including the latest numbers each day, though you can always find them on our daily tracker.

This doesn’t mean I will stop writing about the coronavirus or including the articles written by my amazing colleagues on the topic. If there are trends or numbers of note, those will certainly be included here. As always, if you have thoughts or questions, send an email my way.

Nicole Stock, audience editor

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.

COVID-19 daily tracker | For your smart speaker | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Daily horoscope | Ask Amy | Today’s eNewspaper edition

Mostly unmasked people cross Lake Shore Drive near the Buckingham Fountain on June 1, 2021, in downtown Chicago.
Mostly unmasked people cross Lake Shore Drive near the Buckingham Fountain on June 1, 2021, in downtown Chicago.

Unvaccinated? Beware: As state loosens restrictions, the risk of a serious COVID-19 infection may be higher than it was last summer.

Illinois dropped many of its remaining pandemic restrictions Friday, but public health data shows two different realities lie ahead for people as that reopening begins.

For those who are fully vaccinated, the threat of a serious infection is largely (but not entirely) over. But for people who haven’t gotten the shot, the risks of catching COVID-19 remain — and researchers are worried about how this group will fare this summer.

Mary Schmich column: How one school superintendent has helped protect his whole community from COVID

‘I’m glad it’s opening back up’: Chicago moviegoers give the big screen a try, with an eye toward ‘In the Heights’

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx gives a victory speech at her election night headquarters in the Kinzie Hotel on Nov. 3, 2020, in Chicago.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx gives a victory speech at her election night headquarters in the Kinzie Hotel on Nov. 3, 2020, in Chicago.

Second special prosecutor in two years adds to turbulence for State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office

For the second time in two years, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office will soon find itself under the scrutiny of a special prosecutor empowered to investigate accusations of high-stakes legal and ethical lapses. The underlying cases that triggered the two probes could hardly be more different.

Judge will appoint special prosecutor to probe conduct of Cook County state’s attorney’s office in Burge-related case that imploded at trial last year

Sister Mary Joseph of the Trinity, formerly known as Ann Russell Miller, in an undated photo at the Carmelite Monastery in Des Plaines.
Sister Mary Joseph of the Trinity, formerly known as Ann Russell Miller, in an undated photo at the Carmelite Monastery in Des Plaines.

Saying goodbye to ‘Nun Grandma’: The San Francisco philanthropist, widow and mother of 10 who gave it all up to spend her last 31 years in a Des Plaines monastery

Before her death, Sister Mary Joseph of the Trinity was perhaps the world’s most unlikely nun. As the world emerges out of quarantine, her extended family celebrates the life of a woman who chose it — despite millions of reasons not to.

Teacher Elidia Villagomez draws with students at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in the North Lawndale neighborhood on June 11, 2021.
Teacher Elidia Villagomez draws with students at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in the North Lawndale neighborhood on June 11, 2021.

As Illinois reopens and jobs return, so does the demand for affordable child care. Can an industry in crisis pre-pandemic help get parents back to work?

The steep shortage of affordable, high-quality child care for working families across the U.S. — already a crisis decades before the pandemic — has only worsened during the past 15 months.

Now, with the long-awaited reopening of Illinois, some say a critical shortage of workers, in businesses ranging from restaurants and retailers to health care and manufacturing, underscores Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s goal of transforming the state’s child care programs by improving equity, accessibility and affordability.

Jeremy Joyce is the founder of Black People Eats, which links the public with area restaurants that are Black-owned. Joyce is shown at Luella's Southern Kitchen in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood on March 12, 2021.
Jeremy Joyce is the founder of Black People Eats, which links the public with area restaurants that are Black-owned. Joyce is shown at Luella’s Southern Kitchen in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood on March 12, 2021.

95 Black-owned restaurants in Chicago area to commemorate Juneteenth with food specials

For the second year in a row, Black-owned restaurants around Chicago will commemorate Juneteenth by offering food specials for either $6.19 or $16.19. The two-day promotion will run June 18 and 19. Search our map to find a restaurant near you.

Dahleen Glanton column: What we’re getting wrong about Juneteenth