The Latest Breaking News from Chicago

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

Chicago paid $763 million to prime contractors through July 31, but only 11% — $82 million — went to firms owned by African Americans. Hispanics fared better, at $109 million, or 14%. Asian Americans, Chicago’s fastest-growing ethnic group, got a 7% piece of the contracting pie.

A 17-year-old boy was shot to death in South Shore, blocks from an elementary school. Later in the day, a man was killed blocks away.

Midge Laurin mailed a $30 check that was intercepted, rewritten and cashed to someone else for $9,475. The scheme leaves many victims struggling for months to recover their losses.

Two weeks ago, Jaboukie Young-White, the 28-year-old “Daily Show” comedian, actor and FBI antagonist, released a virtuosically filthy club track, “BBC.” Rest assured, the title’s acronym isn’t an ode to British television. But his debut single (for Interscope Records, no less) is a genuinely adept slice of early ‘90s Chicago…

CHICAGO -- Michael Kutza did not build any of the dozens of skyscrapers he can see from his apartment on the top floor of the downtown high rise in which he lives. But what he accomplished as the founder and energetic director of the Chicago International Film Festival has helped…

Given the changes on La Salle Street — not all of them good — the city’s new effort to rethink the historic thoroughfare makes sense. Downtown and the central area are still the economic engine and lifeblood of the city.

The Near West Side site will occupy the site of the former Jane Addams Homes and will use the last remaining building from that public housing complex.

Less than 10% of eligible residents have rolled up their sleeves for updated vaccines.