Loyola University Medical Center, 2160 S. 1st Ave. in Maywood, administered the first of its vaccine doses on Dec. 18, and a couple of Riverside first responders were among those inoculated against COVID-19.

Around 40 people gathered outside of the Illinois National Guard's North Riverside Armory, 8660 Cermak Road in North Riverside, on July 17, chanting "Mu na mas! Not one more!" and holding signs demanding justice for Vanessa Guillén -- the 20-year-old soldier who was murdered after complaining to family members about sexual harassment by her superiors. 

As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and fatalities increase in Illinois, the state's entrenched racial divide has been brought into stark relief.

Suburban residents who depend on the Cook County Department of Public Health for more detailed information on the number of confirmed cases in their communities were left scratching their heads until news broke on March 26 that a website apparently created by the department shared exactly those details. The next day, the website was no longer available, leaving many people once again in the dark.