Mitch Smith

A blocked space and campaign billboard near the Fiserv Forum, the site of the upcoming Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, on July 10, 2024. Some people voiced indifference or regret that their city was hosting the Republican National Convention. Others welcomed the spotlight. (Jamie Kelter Davis/The New York Times)

Here’s how Milwaukee — a heavily Democratic city — is feeling about welcoming thousands of Republicans for the party’s convention

July 12, 2024 at 3:57 p.m.

Milwaukee is days away from a rare turn in the international spotlight, with the Republican Party coming to town to nominate Donald Trump for the presidency.

What places are hardest hit by the coronavirus? It depends on the measure.

November 12, 2020 at 4:22 p.m.

The coronavirus is tearing across the United States at an alarming pace. Hospitals are filled to perilous levels. More than 120,000 new cases are being identified every day. And ever...

Lil BUB and owner Mike Bridavsky attend the screening of "Lil Bub & Friendz" during the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. Lil BUB will host the Chicago Internet Cat Video Festival next month.

Lil BUB to host Internet Cat Video Festival

May 10, 2019 at 12:02 a.m.

The film festival's host has her own TV show, her own clothing line and an irresistible face. Also: She's a cat. Lil BUB, a square-faced feline from Indiana, is the...

A Schaumburg jeweler is hoping to set the record for couples renewing marriage vows at the same time later this month.

Schaumburg jeweler aims for vow-renewal record

May 23, 2019 at 7:57 a.m.

A Schaumburg jeweler is hoping to break a world record this month by having more than 1,087 couples simultaneously renew their wedding vows. In order to make history, Candice Milstein...

Rosemont-based drum corps spends summer on road

June 18, 2018 at 2:09 p.m.

They arrived in north central Illinois early on a June morning, slept a few hours on a middle school floor, spent the day sweating on a makeshift football field and...

Cops: Animal shelter director growled at guards

May 21, 2019 at 5:50 p.m.

Accused of driving drunk into a northwest Indiana backyard, an animal shelter director first asked arresting officers if they wanted to adopt a stray iguana found wandering the streets of...

Coin collectors gather at the World's Fair of Money in Rosemont Tuesday for a chance to buy the new gold half dollar. The coin, which features President John F. Kennedy, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Gold Kennedy coin a draw at Rosemont show

May 21, 2019 at 5:50 p.m.

Chicago-area coin buyers had dibs Tuesday on a new gold half dollar, with eager numismatists forming a three-block line in hopes of adding to their collections, organizers said. The special...

West Side neighbors rally behind woman, 85, being evicted

May 21, 2019 at 5:47 p.m.

For almost half a century, Alice Polk has lived in the tidy two-story house on Chicago's West Side. Longtime residents call her a neighborhood staple, a woman who raised her...

Activists: South Side hospital patients caught in ‘trauma deserts’

August 19, 2019 at 2:00 a.m.

For the nearly 2,200 people shot last year in Chicago, getting to a trauma center within minutes was often their best hope of not becoming one of the city's 415...

Hundreds gather at funeral for slain West Side 11-year-old

June 1, 2019 at 10:40 a.m.

Hundreds gathered Saturday at a west suburban church — young and old, friends and dignitaries, family and strangers — to mourn a little girl who fell victim to Chicago's streets...

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