Claire Murphy

Claire Murphy is a North Shore reporter with the Pioneer Press. She holds a master’s degree in investigative reporting from Northwestern University. Before joining the Tribune, she worked at the Chronicle of Higher Education. Her work has been featured in a number of local outlets, including the Illinois Answers Project and Block Club Chicago.

Carolyn J. Ruff, born and raised in Evanston, waves a Pan-African flag at the city's Juneteenth celebration at Arrington Lagoon in Dawes Park. Ruff is the founder of local Chicago activist group Black Lives Matter Women of Faith, June 19, 2026. (Claire Murphy/Pioneer Press)

Evanston commemorates Juneteenth holiday with freedom walk, festivities

June 20, 2026 at 7:00 a.m.

Evanston celebrated Juneteenth honoring Opal Lee and with a community walk and celebration at Arrington Lagoon in Dawes Park.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a female Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito, also known as the southern house mosquito, sits on a person’s skin before taking a blood meal in 2022. (Lauren Bishop/CDC via AP)

First mosquitoes of the season test positive for West Nile virus in North Shore

June 19, 2026 at 9:50 a.m.

The first detected presence of West Nile virus has been reported in Wilmette, Evanston and Northbrook this year, officials say.

A CTA Yellow Line train in 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

CTA officials revisit potential for Yellow Line extension as ridership lags

June 18, 2026 at 2:44 p.m.

CTA officials signaled at Skokie's June 15 Board meeting that a potential expansion of the Yellow Line is under renewed review.

Kenneth Wideman drives to pick up his sister in Evanston on April 14, 2023. The Widemans were picked as two of the first 16 Evanstonians to receive $25,000 to go toward a mortgage payment, the down payment on a house, or housing repairs as part of Evanston's reparations program.

Evanston vows to defend reparations program after federal administration joins challenge to it

June 18, 2026 at 12:42 p.m.

Evanston says it will defend its reparations program after the U.S. Justice Department joined a lawsuit challenging it.

A Skokie police car. (Pam DeFiglio/Chicago Tribune)

20-year-old motorcyclist dies in Skokie traffic crash, per police

June 15, 2026 at 1:36 p.m.

A 20-year-old motorcyclist died after colliding with a vehicle on Touhy Avenue in Skokie June 12.

Pouring samples at Grapes on the Green on June 17, 2023, in Northbrook at Village Green Park. (Karie Angell Luc/for Pioneer Press)

Grapes on the Green wine tasting to return to Northbrook for fourth year

June 13, 2026 at 8:14 a.m.

Northbrook Park District and the Village of Northbrook to host 4th annual Grapes on the Green wine tasting event.

Five armed male suspects invaded a home in the 700 block of Rosewood Avenue in Winnetka March 8, 2026, and held a resident at gunpoint after one of them posed as a food delivery driver, police said. (Claire Murphy/Pioneer Press)

Eighth defendant charged in Winnetka home invasion involving Chicago rapper

June 12, 2026 at 12:48 p.m.

An eighth defendant has been charged re: a violent home invasion targeting cryptocurrency in Winnetka March 8, 2026.

The 800-810 Michigan Avenue apartments are one of the Quadrel Realty Group-owned properties in southeast Evanston included in the new lease agreement made between the private-equity company and the Quadrel Evanston Tenants Union, June 8, 2026. (Claire Murphy/Pioneer Press)

Evanston tenants union reaches agreement with landlord for lower costs after year-long clash

June 12, 2026 at 7:45 a.m.

A year after a dispute erupted between Quadrel Realty Group and several Evanston tenants, the company has reached a new lease agreement.

A Cook County sheriff’s detective walks into a building at the Salem Walk Apartments on March 30, 2026, in Northbrook. Detectives were investigating the weekend shooting death of 16-year-old Lilly Bova.(Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Prosecutors decline to press charges in Northbrook shooting death of 16-year-old Lilly Bova

June 12, 2026 at 5:17 p.m.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office said that it doesn't yet have sufficient evidence to file charges in the death of 16-year-old Lilly Bova.

Ald. Matt Rodgers, 8th, and Ald. Juan Geracaris, 9th, listen as Council members debate a proposed change to the appointment of an acting mayor. Under a new amendment proposal, selecting an acting mayor would require a two-thirds majority vote of six rather than a simple majority vote of five Council members, June 8, 2026. (Claire Murphy/Pioneer Press)

If Evanston’s Daniel Biss resigns, Council to name acting mayor with simple majority vote

June 10, 2026 at 1:36 p.m.

The bar for appointing an acting mayor in Evanston won’t be raised after all. City Council members shelved a proposal at their June 8 meeting to require a two-thirds majority...

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