Alison Bowen – Page 18

When COVID-19 closed Lurie’s playroom, it took away a refuge for sick children. Staffers improvised to bring toys to them — but they need your help.

September 30, 2020 at 7:06 p.m.

Like many 6-year-olds, Chase Petersen loves Legos and pizza. Unlike others, he has a port in his chest for cancer treatments. Diagnosed with langerhans cell histiocytosis when he was 4...

Workers adjust a sign on Sept. 28, 2020, as they prepare for the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday night in Cleveland.

What we can learn from how Trump and Biden speak during Tuesday’s 1st presidential debate

September 29, 2020 at 11:58 a.m.

The presidential candidates will face off for the first time at Tuesday night's debate in Cleveland. President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have been attacking each other...

Lesa Donaghy plays with her 3-year-old son at Raymond Park on Aug. 6, 2020, in Evanston.

‘There’s not balance:’ Single parents struggle with being the sole decider, caregiver and teacher

September 24, 2020 at 1:06 p.m.

Lesa Donaghy was barely managing to juggle it all — a job, her college coursework and caring for her 3-year-old son. And that was before this spring. Then the pandemic...

A lab worker holds up a sexual assault evidence collection kit Sept. 22, 2009, at the Forensic Science Center run by the Illinois State Police in Chicago.

Illinois launches online system to track rape kits in new cases. But not every hospital is on board.

September 23, 2020 at 11:49 a.m.

A lab worker holds up a sexual assault evidence collection kit Sept. 22, 2009, at the Forensic Science Center run by the Illinois State Police in Chicago. Sexual assault survivors...

Ed Cortez sits outside Caledonia Senior Living & Memory Care in North Riverside on Sept. 17, 2020, with a donated tablet filled with meditation apps and breathing exercises.

Nursing home staffers face stress and their own COVID-19 worries

September 21, 2020 at 2:37 p.m.

During a year most have found stressful, Ed Cortez finds meditation calming. Cortez, 53, works at Caledonia Senior Living & Memory Care in North Riverside, where his duties as a...

Doug McConnell is circled by a boat and a kayaker as he begins his swim Sept. 13, 2020 off Lighthouse Beach.

After losing father and sister to ALS, Illinois man swims nearly 20,000 strokes from Evanston to Chicago to raise funds

September 17, 2020 at 11:59 a.m.

When Doug McConnell reaches 100 swim strokes, he thinks about his father. At 400, he thinks about his sister. He thought about both of them this week when he swam...

Findings released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that Americans are facing increased symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Young adults, people of color and unpaid caregivers face increased mental health risks 6 months into pandemic

September 11, 2020 at 4:42 p.m.

Nearly six months after Illinois shut down, how is our mental health? Not great, in a nutshell. As many Americans know, the coronavirus brought with it many additional stressors. Job...

Erik Graff stands in the front door of Heirloom Books on Sept. 9, 2020. The shop was conceptualized by his friend Chelsea Carr Rectanus, who died last month. Graff is trying to keep the store open.

Friends hope to save Edgewater bookstore after founder Chelsea Carr Rectanus dies at 32

September 10, 2020 at 4:25 p.m.

When she was growing up, Chelsea Carr Rectanus valued the books that were passed down within her family. They were heirlooms — scribbled notes in margins, a grandmother's signature on...

A 6-year-old smiles while showing off her new backpack during a tour of the new learning center at the Sylvia Center.

Chicago homeless shelter creates remote-learning spaces for kids living there and seeks donations

September 3, 2020 at 4:00 p.m.

One little girl grinned as she showed off her new Elsa backpack. Another girl crafted a green nameplate for the desk that will be hers for remote learning. Both were...

A rape kit in the emergency department at Mount Sinai Hospital in December 2019.

After pressure to clear languishing DNA evidence like rape kits, Illinois reduces backlog by 31%

September 2, 2020 at 3:17 p.m.

After years of pressure to clear a large backlog of DNA evidence awaiting analysis, state officials have reduced it by 31%. According to the most recent data from the Illinois...

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