The global health crisis has ravaged communities around the world — and locally. But in the city of Aurora, local officials have sounded an optimistic tone. We visited the far western suburb as part of our reporting series, COVID-19 Across Chicago.

Since testing positive for COVID-19 last month, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin has made a full recovery. He joins us to discuss his city’s response to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic is presenting new challenges to communities across Chicago that are already struggling. We visit Albany Park as part of our reporting series.

Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood is home to immigrants from all over the world. But the area is now seeing an uptick in gun violence and threats to housing stability, the area alderman says.

The West Side neighborhood of Austin has become a hot spot for COVID-19 cases. According to the city, it falls into a zip code that has recorded a COVID-19 case rate of between 431-720 people per 100,000. 

Like other predominantly African American neighborhoods in Chicago, Austin has seen a disproportionately high number of COVID-19 cases. We speak with state Rep. La Shawn Ford, whose district includes much of the neighborhood and several western suburbs.

Social distancing and the statewide stay-at-home order has changed the way reporters gather and share the news. We check in with Michael Romain, editor of the Austin Weekly News, as part of our series COVID-19 Across Chicago.

The Little Village community has already been hit disproportionately hard by COVID-19. Now, residents are fuming about the demolition of a smokestack that gave rise to a plume of dust and particulate matter that wafted through the neighborhood.

The 44th Ward alderman talks about how the North Side communities he serves, including Boystown and Wrigleyville, are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus has effectively shut down what locals describe as the world’s largest contiguous LGBTQ neighborhood. How businesses, social service agencies and others are dealing with the pandemic.

Despite federal health recommendations, thousands of Wisconsin voters waited hours in long lines outside overcrowded polling stations on Tuesday so they could participate in a presidential primary election.

After a lot of back-and-forth between Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Republican state legislators and the state’s Supreme Court, Wisconsin’s spring election went forward Tuesday. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, many municipalities struggled to staff and operate polling places. 

Dennis Duchene, president of local tourism bureau Visit Kenosha, says that so far, fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has been “pretty severe.” 

The pandemic is causing extreme distress in communities all across Chicago. Chatham, on the city’s South Side, is home to a high population of African American senior citizens – a group that is doubly vulnerable to severe complications from the disease. 

Black Chicagoans account for 72% of COVID-19 deaths in the city, while only making up 30% of the overall population, public health officials announced Monday. “It is something we’re following very closely,” said 6th Ward Ald. Roderick Sawyer.

Coronavirus-related shutdowns have had a dramatic impact on communities all across Chicago, but north suburban Highwood has felt the squeeze on two fronts.