María Paula Mijares Torres

I am a student journalist from Venezuela that today, more than ever, believes in this public service.

Chicago Tribune •

Una familia recurre a la comedia para sobrellevar el Alzheimer

“Me estaba dando cuenta [...] de que, con algunas de las reglas básicas de la improvisación, realmente se simplificaba la forma de hablar con los cuidadores, ya sea un cuidador profesional o un cuidador familiar, acerca de cómo comunicarse con su ser querido con demencia”, dijo Neumann. “Fue realmente difícil para las familias entender que no se trataba de mentir (a sus seres queridos). Las familias respondían: ‘Bueno, no quiero mentirle a mamá, no quiero mentirle a papá’.
Chicago Tribune •

‘Finding Your Laughter’ documents the struggle of a Chicago family with Alzheimer’s, and how improv made that burden just a bit lighter

One day, Arlieta Hall’s father forgot that you don’t go to Best Buy to get chairs. On another day, he thought her brother was his younger self. That was when Arlieta realized that Alzheimer’s had hit the smartest man she knew. When Milton Hall Sr. was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and progressive dementia, he was 67.
Chicago Tribune •

DCFS staffers removed from duties following suspicious Uptown death of 8-year-old Amaria Osby, officials say

Two state child welfare workers were removed from their duties following the suspicious death of 8-year-old Amaria Osby late last month in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, allegedly at the hands of her mother, officials said. The workers, an investigator and a supervisor, didn’t try hard enough to see Amaria and her family after a hotline call alleged Amaria had witnessed her parents involved in a domestic violence incident at a restaurant in March, according to DCFS...
Chicago Tribune •

Chicago is seeing a wave of union activity. Among the reasons: Workers ‘saw the willingness of their bosses to let them die.’

Last year, Brick Zurek, a shift supervisor at a Starbucks in the Loop, found working conditions at the store becoming increasingly untenable. People coming into the store threatened and screamed at baristas. One person, after being served a cup of scalding hot water, poured it on the manager, Zurek said. On top of that, the store was short-staffed, sometimes with just a few baristas tasked with serving a line out the door...
Chicago Tribune •

Culinary student and shooting survivor Dakota Earley out of ICU

Dakota Earley, the culinary student who was shot last month during an attempted robbery in Lincoln Park, has been released from the intensive care unit, his mother announced on Twitter Wednesday. Joy Dobbs said she received a call with the news around 1 p.m. Wednesday from a nurse at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. “Praise God,” Dobbs wrote at the end of her Twitter announcement later that day after she FaceTimed Earley’s grandmother who was with him at the hospital...
Chicago Tribune •

Man charged with attempted murder in Loop hotel stabbing

A man charged with stabbing another man at a downtown hotel over the holiday weekend was denied bail in court Tuesday, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. Gregory Bell, 42, was charged with one felony count of attempted murder and two felony counts of aggravated battery after stabbing a 56-year-old man during a fight in the fifth-floor hallway of The Allegro Royal Sonesta Hotel about 1 a.m. Sunday, Chicago police said...
Chicago Tribune •

Police looking for man who allegedly pointed a gun at Fox 32 crew on air

Police are trying to identify a man who allegedly pointed a gun toward WFLD-Ch. 32 crew members while a reporter was live on air Wednesday morning. In the Ch. 32 footage, the reporter was doing a story on gun violence in the 400 block of North Clark Street when the man passed behind her and pointed what appeared to be a gun toward the crew. He kept walking down the street with the alleged firearm...
Chicago Tribune •

Cook among 15 counties to move into ‘high’ COVID-19 level Thursday evening: officials

Chicago moved into a “high” community level of COVID-19 Thursday evening, officials said, as the city braces for an estimated 1.4 million people to visit Chicago over Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer season. The development affects areas that include Chicago, Cook County and surrounding counties in northeastern Illinois as well as counties around Peoria, according to an emailed statement from the Illinois Department of Public Health...
Chicago Tribune •

Chicago expected to reach ‘high’ COVID-19 level as soon as next week

Chicago is expected to increase to a “high” community level of COVID-19 next week as positive cases continue rising across the city and suburbs, public health officials said Friday, mirroring the surge of infections around other parts of the country. “While we remain in medium, I expect that we will reach a high level as soon as next week given ongoing COVID trends,” Chicago’s public health Commissioner Allison Arwady said in Friday’s statement...
Chicago Tribune •

Musician reports 1758 violin stolen from South Loop home

Three musical instruments including a 1758 violin were stolen from a town home in the South Loop Wednesday morning while a family of musicians was sleeping. MingHuan Xu, a professional violinist and director of the string program at Roosevelt University, said the antique violin stolen has an immense cultural and personal value. It was made by renowned Italian violin-maker Nicolò Gagliano and was lent to Xu by a private sponsor 20 years ago...
Chicago Tribune •

Charges filed for passenger who jumped onto airplane wing at O’Hare early Thursday, police say

A 57-year-old man was charged with reckless conduct after he pulled the emergency exit on board a plane at O’Hare International Airport Thursday morning and slid off its wing, according to Chicago police. Randy Frank Davila, of Escondido, CA, was due in court on June 27 at 9 a.m. in Br. 23, 5555 W. Grand Ave., for the misdemeanor charge, according to Chicago police...
Chicago Tribune •

Bike advocates alarmed by number of car-related deaths in the city; at least 3 this year

Chicago police are questioning a “person of interest” following the fatal hit-and-run involving a 22-year-old bicyclist on Wednesday night as bike advocates sound the alarm for the number of car-related deaths to cyclists in the city this year. Nick Parlingayan, 22, of Chicago, was at least the third bicyclist fatality in 2022 when he was struck by a vehicle in the 3800 block of North Milwaukee Avenue in the Old Irving Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side around 9:20 p.m. ...
Chicago Tribune •

‘You never notice the little cool things that are around until it is too late’: Auction of beloved Chicago restaurants’ neon signs held in North Center

Loyal customers and curious buyers flocked to a public auction Saturday of Chicago restaurant memorabilia. The most valuable? Neon signs for two long-time North Center neighborhood eateries. The signs, for the now-closed Chicago Joe’s and the possibly soon to be shuttered Orange Garden, sold in the five figures each: $32,450 and $20,060, respectively. The sign for Lakeview’s Dinkel’s Bakery, which officially sold its last pastry Saturday, will be auctioned next month...
Load More Articles