Patrick M. O'Connell

Patrick M. O'Connell is a former Tribune reporter.

A man passes in front of an empty building along Market Street on May 28, 2020, in Rockford.

Midwestern cities continue to lose population. Two of the fastest-shrinking are in Illinois.

June 9, 2020 at 3:26 p.m.

Two Illinois cities, Rockford and Decatur, are among the fastest-shrinking cities in the country, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, part of an ongoing trend of Midwestern cities losing...

Lyons firefighters deliver Tim Sachs and his two daughters Natasha, 8, right, Katrina, 10, and their dog Carol to dry ground after heavy rains flooded homes in the area of the intersection of Southview Avenue and Circle Drive on May 18, 2020, in Brookfield.

More rain, more floods, more often. Why wet basements and swollen rivers are becoming the new spring reality for Illinois.

May 22, 2020 at 1:24 p.m.

The record-setting spring rains that pummeled the Chicago region this May overwhelmed northern Illinois rivers, knocked out power to Willis Tower, filled Lake Michigan to the brim and forced thousands...

‘Unreal’ rains flood homes, knock out power and put Chicago on the cusp of wettest May ever

May 20, 2020 at 12:06 p.m.

Kelli Peterson, rain boots on, stepped cautiously onto the submerged footbridge in her yard, gripping the sides to steady herself against the pulsating current of Spring Creek. The creek, which...

Banners hang over windows outside the Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church on May 17, 2020, in Chicago.

Hundreds defy stay-at-home order to attend church while mayor’s office warns that violators may be cited after review

May 18, 2020 at 3:37 a.m.

Met by protesters and defying the stay-at-home order, Michael Valentine attended services Sunday at Metro Praise International Church in Belmont Cragin, an area that has been particularly hard hit by...

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during the daily news briefing about the coronavirus pandemic on May 3, 2020, at the Thompson Center in Chicago.

Governor: ‘No other way’ to curb coronavirus than to stay the course on stay-at-home restrictions

May 4, 2020 at 11:29 a.m.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Sunday announced 2,994 new cases of the coronavirus in Illinois, the second-highest daily total since the pandemic began. But the governor also said 19,417 new tests...

In 2008, Steven Lucy, left, then-intern at the Yerkes Observatory, shows Rolf Riekher the landmark refracting telescope in 2008.

Closed for months, historic space observatory once again has a bright future after U. of C. donation

May 1, 2020 at 6:00 a.m.

Yerkes Observatory, the birthplace of modern astrophysics where Carl Sagan, Edwin Hubble and a pair of Nobel laureates studied galaxies, stars and black holes, is one step closer to a...

A man takes a smoke break outside the main doors of Symphony Nursing home in Joliet on April 15, 2020. Symphony of Joliet continues to lead the state in the number of deaths tied to a facility, with 26, according to the state data.

Newly released state figures show jump in COVID-19 deaths at some Illinois long-term care facilities

April 26, 2020 at 12:43 a.m.

The state released figures this weekend that showed a dramatic jump in deaths of those linked to long-term care facilities — to 625, more than double reported a week ago....

Gov. J.B. Pritzker arrives in a mask to speak April 19, 2020, at the Thompson Center during the coronavirus pandemic.

After President Trump makes comments about possibly using disinfectants to fight coronavirus, Illinois Poison Center sees increase in calls, state health official says

April 26, 2020 at 12:31 a.m.

In the two days since President Donald Trump made remarks about the possibility that somehow injecting disinfectants into the human body may help fight the novel coronavirus, the Illinois Poison...

Justin Reyes administers a COVID-19 test to Maria Suarez outside Heartland Health Centers in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood on July 10, 2020.

COVID-19: Where do we go from here? Experts say contact tracing, more testing key to suppressing new coronavirus, reopening economy

April 28, 2020 at 5:13 p.m.

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, new questions arise every day. We started taking concerns from Tribune readers to experts in early March. For our newest set of questions and...

An ambulance leaves the Chateau Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Willowbrook on March 17, 2020, where officials announced March 18 that those testing positive with COVID-19 had grown to 42 people.

New data shows far reach of COVID-19 in Illinois nursing homes: At least 286 deaths, nearly a quarter of the toll in the state

April 20, 2020 at 3:38 a.m.

Amid revelations of alarming and deadly COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes, the Pritzker administration on Sunday released for the first time details of the number of cases and deaths tied...

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