Joe Mahr

A speed camera is seen on Western Avenue south of Addison Street in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on Oct. 26, 2020.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot defends plan to start issuing speed camera tickets for cars going 6 mph over the limit as ‘safety’ issue. City data shows a more complicated picture.

October 27, 2020 at 8:03 a.m.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended her plan to begin issuing speed camera tickets for cars going 6 mph over the limit, declaring on Monday "it's clearly a public safety issue" while...

Illinois hits another sad COVID-19 milestone — 5,000 deaths in long-term care — as cases rise

October 23, 2020 at 8:49 p.m.

Illinois long-term care facilities are experiencing their biggest jump in COVID-19 cases in months, as the state passed a tragic milestone: 5,000 deaths among residents. In the past week, Illinois...

‘Vote. Vote. Vote. Vote. Vote.’ Women’s March holds mix of smaller in-person, virtual events amid pandemic and widening political gender gap

October 17, 2020 at 6:23 p.m.

Mary O'Connor didn't mind the chilly morning air, the blustery wind or even the occasional drizzle as she joined about 20 others to rally on a suburban corner as part...

Wearing masks to protect from transmitting COVID-19, people stand in line for early voting at Truman College in Chicago on Oct. 14, 2020.

COVID-19 numbers are rising in Illinois. How worried should the Chicago area be?

October 18, 2020 at 12:14 p.m.

Illinois just announced a record number of new COVID-19 cases. Positivity rates for coronavirus testing are up too. So are hospitalizations and deaths. But a deeper look at the data...

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.

‘Nobody knew how to handle this situation’: How COVID-19 decimated Illinois nursing homes, exposed government flaws and left families in frustrating limbo

September 24, 2020 at 1:50 p.m.

At a two-story nursing home in Willowbrook, close to the front entrance, is a resident's room where crystal ornaments of birds and butterflies adorn the window. It's where 93-year-old Joan...

A hearse leaves the Cook County medical examiners office April 16, 2020, in Chicago.

COVID-19’s true toll in Illinois is likely higher than reported. A closer look at ‘excess deaths’ in 2020.

August 28, 2020 at 4:44 p.m.

The official COVID-19 death toll in Illinois may not account for at least 1,000 fatalities — and potentially far more — that could be attributable to the pandemic, according to...

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike talks to reporters during a briefing on COVID-19 at the Thompson Center on April 1, 2020, in Chicago.

Illinois nursing home complaints not investigated for more than 3 months amid pandemic that killed thousands of residents

August 21, 2020 at 6:37 p.m.

A month after firing the state's top nursing home regulator without explanation and disciplining another, the Illinois Department of Public Health acknowledged Friday that the agency did not investigate complaints...

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