Kelli Smith –

Joe Starnes at the eastbound entrance to the Dan Ryan Expressway at 47th Street in Chicago on Jan. 12, 2021. Starnes said he was shot while driving on the Dan Ryan in August 2020. He said his car was totaled in the attack and he has scars and permanent nerve damage in his hand and wrist.

Expressway shootings more than doubled in 2020, and victims and advocates are asking why tougher measures aren’t being taken

January 22, 2021 at 10:03 a.m.

Joe Starnes can't hold a cup of coffee in his right hand. He can't hold much of anything. It's been five months since Starnes' right arm was damaged when someone...

Undra Baldwin and Ashley Graff, both of Elgin, kiss in a Schaumburg hotel room Jan. 4, 2021, after being the first couple married this year by the Cook County clerk. Clerk Karen Yarbrough officiated the ceremony via Zoom.

Elgin couple engaged for 11 years are first to be married by Cook County clerk in 2021: ‘I was just crying tears of joy’

January 4, 2021 at 2:32 p.m.

Ashley Graff and Undra Baldwin had been waiting 11 years to set the date. But last week the date was set for them. Graff, 36, and Baldwin, 37, won a...

Attendees gather during a tree lighting ceremony in the Washington Park neighborhood, Dec. 6, 2020 in Chicago.

Washington Park celebrated its first tree-lighting ceremony this year. Then someone torched the tree

December 31, 2020 at 4:27 p.m.

The phone call from the gas station came about 12:30 a.m. Monday, rousing Donna Hampton-Smith from a deep sleep. She saw the caller ID and felt a sinking feeling in...

Great-grandmother on shooting death of 13-year-old boy: ‘This little guy was fine, they just took his life, just like that for no reason.’

December 30, 2020 at 6:26 a.m.

"Just walking down the street," Lois Jane Simon kept saying as she talked about her 13-year-old great-grandson shot dead on the Southwest Side over the weekend. "Probably didn't even know...

Donnie Kirksey, seen here as coach of Hyde Park Academy in 2010, coached at various local high schools and universities in the state.

Donnie Kirksey, Chicago basketball legend, dies at 57 of complications related to COVID-19

December 29, 2020 at 3:12 p.m.

To many Chicagoans who knew him, Donnie Kirksey was a Hall of Famer in every sense of the word. He was officially recognized as such through accolades in the Chicago...

A man rides a bicycle along the Lakefront Trail in Chicago on Oct. 26, 2020. The day marked the first snow of the season.

First major winter storm to hit Chicago area this week: Snow and ice Tuesday through Wednesday, then maybe another round on New Year’s Eve.

December 28, 2020 at 5:03 p.m.

It's been a historically snowless winter in Chicago, but that's expected to change this week when the area gets hit with its first major storm of the season that could...

Sonja Robinson, right, distributes pizza to her children and a nephew on the first day at their new home in Chicago on Dec. 12, 2020.

‘I moved in 10 days before Christmas. Oh my God.’ A Chicago housing program has helped a record number of families buy homes this year

December 25, 2020 at 7:00 a.m.

A home for Christmas. For years, Sonja Robinson wanted to move out of her three-bedroom apartment and buy a home where her three boys would have room to grow in...

Kelli Smith

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