Kate Thayer

The view from Whiting Lakefront Park as air traffic passes near the Chicago skyline Oct. 15, 2018, in Whiting, Ind. Illinois' initial application for statehood would have put Chicago outside the state's northern border.

Chicago could’ve ended up in Wisconsin. Here are 5 things you might not know about Illinois.

December 3, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Illinois is known for many things: Abraham Lincoln, the third largest city in the country, sprawling farmland, political corruption and die-hard sports fans.

After hours sitting on bleachers watching games, carpools, permission slips, parent-teacher conferences, college admissions paperwork and all the packed lunches parents of high school seniors feel the loss of graduation ceremonies.

Parents of high school seniors feel the loss of graduation ceremonies too

May 15, 2020 at 7:53 p.m.

Years of homework help and science projects. Hours sitting on bleachers watching games, often in the rain or cold. Carpools, permission slips, parent-teacher conferences, college admissions paperwork — and all...

Shikha Jain of the Illinois Medical Professionals Action Collaborative Team adjusts the mask of her son Krish as she watches her three children, Anika Kumar, 5, and 2-year-old twins Bodhi and Krish on Monday, May 4, 2020, in Chicago.

Chicago doctors — mostly moms — join together to advise officials and the public. ‘We can’t not say something.’

May 11, 2020 at 7:02 a.m.

In between telehealth appointments with patients, preschool Zoom calls, daily household tasks and, in one case, childbirth, a group of doctors — mostly moms, all with young children — are...

A vaping device seen Oct. 2, 2019, in Chicago.

Could vaping make coronavirus worse? Doctors aren’t sure but still urge quitting. ‘What better time than now?’

May 4, 2020 at 9:00 p.m.

Doctors couldn't figure out why a young man, recently hospitalized in an intensive care unit, was experiencing a severe course of COVID-19, given his age. It led Dr. Clara Schroedl,...

Cubs Charities donates iPads to keep UIC hospital patients connected to families

April 24, 2020 at 3:32 p.m.

As hospital patients battle illness alone — a consequence of visitor restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic — staff members are figuring out how to use technology to connect them to...

Dolton village trustee and community activist Andrew Holmes, left, delivers about 200 bags of food to Our Savior Senior Apartments, a large senior housing building in Dolton on March 20, 2020.

Volunteer your time, donate money, or create masks. Here’s how Chicagoland can give back during the coronavirus pandemic.

April 23, 2020 at 5:31 p.m.

The spread of the coronavirus pandemic has placed an extra burden on many essential workers, primarily health care professionals. But there are other Chicagoland laborers who have felt the demand...

Jonathan Singer, a Loyola professor and an expert on suicide, on April 22, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus pandemic creates suicide risk. ‘This could last years’

April 23, 2020 at 5:10 p.m.

After years of a steady climb in suicide deaths, prevention advocates worry there could be a mental health fallout from the coronavirus pandemic for years to come. Consequences of the...

A man walks past the empty square at the Louvre Pyramid in Paris on March 17, 2020, while a strict lockdown comes into in effect in France to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Remember influenza? Stay-at-home order and other coronavirus precautions seem to have halted a bad flu season and ‘probably saved thousands of lives’

April 18, 2020 at 5:50 p.m.

Measures that have kept Chicagoans in their homes in an effort to flatten the curve of the coronavirus pandemic have had another benefit, experts say — stopping a nasty influenza...

A woman with gloves and face mask heads north along State Street as the Chicago theatre signage looms overhead April 9, 2020, in Chicago.

Northwestern researchers find racial, socioeconomic disparities in Chicagoans’ concern over the coronavirus pandemic

April 11, 2020 at 1:57 a.m.

Chicago-area residents with health problems were less likely to worry about getting COVID-19 if they were black or living under the poverty level in the week before the stay-at-home order,...

Catherine Payne, who was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, takes a walk around her neighborhood in Chicago on April 8, 2020.

Oncologists, patients weigh treatment and coronavirus risk. ‘Cancer is a disease that does not wait.’

April 10, 2020 at 6:00 a.m.

As the coronavirus pandemic intensified, so did Catherine Payne's strategies for avoiding infection while undergoing chemotherapy. The 33-year-old West Town woman was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in November...

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