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Blood is washed away from the sidewalk on April 1 after a 24-year-old man was shot and killed on South Eberhart Avenue on the South Side of Chicago, Ill. According to published reports, the man was the 73rd homicide victim and the 39th victim under the age of 25 in Chicago this year.
Related story: Murders fall 42 percent in America's deadliest city: Chicago
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Demonstrators are arrested while protesting school closings, March 27, 2013, in Chicago, Ill. About 50 people were cited and released after refusing to move from a street during a show of civil disobedience. More than 1,000 demonstrators held a rally and marched through downtown to protest a plan by the city to close more than 50 elementary schools. The city claims the closings are necessary to rein in a looming $1 billion budget deficit. The closings would shift about 30,000 students to new schools and leave more than 1,000 teachers with uncertain futures.
Peter Foley / EPA
Bagpipers march in the 252st Annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade in New York, on March 16, 2013.
With bagpipes galore and plenty of Guinness, Irish-American revelers – and their less lucky non-Irish counterparts – celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with parades across the country on Saturday.
“This is the mother of all St. Patrick’s Day parades,” said Dani O’Connell of New Jersey, who joined the shamrock-wearing masses along New York’s Fifth Avenue. “I’ve got my St. Patrick’s Day parade hat. It’s about getting all dressed up and goofy and having fun – without or without the booze.”
Paul Beaty / AP
David Westerby of Kenosa, Wis. left, yells during the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, on Saturday.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny marched alongside New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as crowds packed the route of the 252nd annual parade, and presented Bloomberg with a traditional Irish teapot.
“The Irish are found in every borough, every corner of New York,” Kenny said at a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast, NBC New York reported. “In previous generations, they came heartbroken and hungry, in search of new life, new hope. Today they come in search of opportunity to work in finance, fashion, film.”
New York’s festivities put those in the old country to shame, said Ewan Armstrong, who was visiting from London.
“I’m really digging the bagpipes,” said Armstrong, 23.
Green-clad lads and lasses in Chicago bundled up for their city’s parade as temperatures hovered in the mid-thirties – but it would take more than that to keep Chicago Journeyman Plumbers from their annual rite dyeing the Chicago River a radiant jade, NBC Chicago reported.
Of course, St. Patrick’s Day does not properly start until Sunday, when Boston will hold its annual parade.
“There’s no place like the City of Boston when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day traditions and celebrations,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in a statement on Friday.
Timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images
Members of the Ireland Police department wait to join the rest of the parade on 5th Avenue during the 252th New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 16, 2013.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Tour boats travel the Chicago River after workers dyed it green to kick off the city's St. Patrick's Day celebration on Saturday in Chicago. The dying of the river has been a tradition in the city for 43 years.
Brian Kersey / Getty Images
Anish Kapoor's sculpture "Cloud Gate," commonly known as "the bean," is covered in snow on March 5, 2013 in Chicago, Ill. The worst winter storm of the season was expected to dump 7-10 inches of snow on the Chicago area.
By Edith Honan, Reuters
More than six inches of snow fell at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport causing 900 flight cancellations, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.
Washington, D.C. and its suburbs face what could be their heaviest snowfall in two years on Wednesday, as a fierce storm headed east after blanketing the Midwest, snarling traffic and causing hundreds of flight cancellations. Read the full story.
Jim Mone / AP
A storm system stretching from the Dakotas to the Florida Panhandle is predicted to bring snow to the mid-Atlantic states.
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
An unidentified girl looks skyward as she joins others around the gravesite of Hadiya Pendleton.
Nam Y. Huh / AP
Danyia Bell, 16, left, and Artureana Terrell , 16, read a program for the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton.
One of Hadiya Pendleton's close friends happily remembered their last moment together.
"Her smile lit up a room," she said. "The last thing I saw before they put her in that ambulance was her smile and I know she's smiling down on us now."
-- Reported by Alexandria Fisher, NBCChicago.com
The first lady joined hundreds of mourners on Saturday at the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton, 15, who was killed at a park near her Chicago high school. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.
Nam Y. Huh / AP
A kid enjoys a snow sled in Chicago, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Lake and McHenry counties for most of Thursday, with freezing rain, sleet and snow possibly stretching over the morning and evening commutes.
John Gress / Reuters
Ronnie Chambers Jr. looks at his mother Tahitah Myles (obscured) as she collapses during the funeral for his father Ronnie Chambers, 33, a victim of gun violence, in Chicago Feb.4. Shirley Chambers of Chicago had four children - three boys and a girl. Now they're all gone. Her son, Ronnie Chambers, was the last of the single mother's children - all victims of gun violence in Chicago over a period of 18 years.
John Gress / Reuters
Ronnie Chambers Jr. puts his head on the shoulder of his mother Tahitah Myles during the funeral for his father Ronnie Chambers, 33, a victim of gun violence, in Chicago Feb. 4.
By John Gress, Reuters
It’s not every day that an assignment teaches you something about your own childhood.
When I was 7 years old my father, who shared my name, passed away and when I looked down today, I saw a boy, Ronnie Chambers Jr., who is about the same age as I was back then, sitting at my feet with RIP carved in the back of his hair. He was there mourning the loss of his father, who also shared his name.
Ronnie Chambers was shot in the head on January 26. His mother, Shirley Chambers, has lost all four of her children to gun violence.
Seeing Ronnie Jr. today caused me to choke up a little, thinking about the parallels between his life and mine. Seeing him move about the church seemingly unaware of the gravity of the situation, explained to me in that moment why all I can recall about my father's funeral was sitting in my uncle's lap during the service, and a photo of my father in his casket which my mother used to keep in the glove box of her car.
John Gress / Reuters
Shirley Chambers cries during the funeral for her son Ronnie Chambers, 33, a victim of gun violence, in Chicago on Feb. 4. Shirley Chambers of Chicago had four children - three boys and a girl. Now they're all gone. Her son, Ronnie Chambers, was the last of the single mother's children - all victims of gun violence in Chicago over a period of 18 years.
John Gress / Reuters
Tahitah Myles raises her hands as she is comforted during the funeral of Ronnie Chambers, 33, the father of her son and a victim of gun violence, in Chicago Feb 4.
John Gress / Reuters
Shirley Chambers collapses during the funeral for her son Ronnie Chambers, 33, a victim of gun violence, in Chicago Feb. 4.
For me, as significant as that day was, to a child it wasn’t much different than many other church experiences we have while navigating through the adult world. The situation was already emotional for me having met Ms. Chambers last week during an interview. Looking her in the eye and saying my goodbyes, I was left speechless, knowing there was nothing I could do to comfort her in her bereavement, other than a long look of solace and my silence.
Read more posts from Reuters photographers on their blog here.
John Gress / Reuters
Firefighters spray down hot spots on an ice covered warehouse that caught fire Tuesday night in Chicago on Jan. 23. Fire department officials said it is the biggest fire the department has had to battle in years and one-third of all Chicago firefighters were on the scene at one point or another trying to put out the flames.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
A truck is covered in ice as firefighters help to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23 in Chicago, Ill.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
A firefighter helps to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23 in Chicago, Ill. More than 200 firefighters battled a five-alarm fire as temperatures were in the single digits.
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Chicago firefighters battle a five-alarm blaze in single digit temperatures at a warehouse on the city's South Side, Bridgeport neighborhood on Jan. 23 in Chicago.
By John Newland and Daniel Arkin, NBC News
A massive fire ripped through a warehouse in Chicago's South Side Tuesday night, as firefighters were hampered by bone-chilling temperatures so low that water froze on their uniforms.
The 170 firefighters on the scene battled the elements on two fronts as the monster blaze consumed a warehouse building, endangering an adjacent structure, while temperatures dipped into the single-digits.
“This is a major fire,” the Chicago Fire Department posted on Twitter, adding that the scale of the response -- five alarms plus two “special” calls for additional trucks -- was “extremely rare.” Continue reading.
Related: Chicago firefighters battle major blaze in freezing temperatures
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23 in Chicago.
Flames rekindled at a Chicago warehouse, which had ignited in fire Tuesday night. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
Chicago Fire Department
A photo released on Twitter by Chicago Fire Media shows a warehouse on fire on Jan. 22, 2013.
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Chicago firefighters battle a five-alarm blaze in single-digit temperatures at a warehouse on the city's South Side on Jan. 23, 2013.
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
An ice-covered pair of gloves belonging to a Chicago firefighter stand on a railing behind him in single-digit temperatures during a five-alarm blaze in the city's Bridgeport neighborhood on Jan. 23, 2013.
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Icicles form on a fire hose from single digit temperatures as Chicago firefighters battle a five-alarm blaze in the city's South Side on Jan. 23, 2013.
By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News
A five-alarm fire ripped through a warehouse in Chicago’s South Side Tuesday night.
“This is a major fire,” the Chicago Fire Department posted on Twitter, adding that the scale of the response – five alarms plus two “special” calls for additional trucks -- was “extremely rare.” About 170 firefighters were on the scene.
“This fire has about one-third of the city fire apparatus at this location,” the department said on Twitter. Read the full story.
Related: Fire and ice: Icicles cover smoky remains of massive Chicago blaze
Firefighters in Chicago spent the night battling a five-alarm blaze in single-digit temperatures. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
John Gress / Reuters
Zac Vawter, a 31-year-old software engineer from Seattle, Wash., pauses after climbing the stairs to the top of the 103-story Willis Tower using the world's first neural-controlled bionic leg in Chicago, Ill., Nov. 4. According to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, their Center for Bionic Medicine has worked to develop technology that allows amputees like Vawter to better control prosthetics with their own thoughts. Vawter made the climb during the RIC SkyRise Chicago event, a fundraiser for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Brian Kersey / AP
Zac Vawter, who is fitted with an experimental "bionic" leg, is silhouetted on the Ledge at the Willis Tower in Chicago. Vawter, who is in training to climb to the top of the tower using the new prosthesis, recently took the elevator to the 103rd floor to see the view after an afternoon of work in the lab.
The Associated Press reports — Zac Vawter considers himself a test pilot. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become a research subject, helping to test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that's controlled by his thoughts.
He will put this groundbreaking "bionic" leg to the ultimate test Sunday when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's Willis Tower, one of the world's tallest skyscrapers. Read the full story.
Editor's note: These photos were taken on October 25, 2012 and made available to NBC News today.
Brian Kersey / AP
Biomedical engineer Annie Simon, left, and research prosthetist Elizabeth Halsne fit an experimental "bionic" prosthetic leg on Zac Vawter at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Brian Kersey / AP
Dr. Levi Hargrove, lead researcher for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Center for Bionic Medicine, holds an experimental 'bionic' prosthetic leg.
Brian Kersey / AP
Physical therapist assistant Suzanne Finucane, right, helps Zac Vawter as he practices walking at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
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A single monitor remains on above a trading pit on the floor of the of the Chicago Board Options Exchange in Chicago, Oct. 29, 2012. The CBOE and other U.S. financial exchanges were closed today and will remain closed Tuesday because of Hurricane Sandy.
Associated Press reports — On Monday, shortly after midday, the New York Stock Exchange announced it would close stock trading for a second day Tuesday due to a once-in-a-century storm. Once in a 124-year storm is more apt. The last time trading was halted for two consecutive days due to weather was in 1888.
This time, instead of snow drifts 40-feet high, surging water threatens to crest between 6 and 11 feet. And instead of the Blizzard of 1888, it is the more benign sounding, but equally disruptive, Hurricane Sandy. Full story…
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Trading jackets, which traders are required to wear before entering the trading floor, hang in the coatroom at the Chicago Board Options Exchange in Chicago, Oct. 29.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
The trading floor at the Chicago Board Options Exchange sits deserted in Chicago, Oct.29.
Richard Drew / AP
The floor of the New York Stock Exchange sits empty of traders in New York, Oct. 29. Trading has rarely stopped for weather. A blizzard led to a late start and an early close on Jan. 8, 1996, according to the exchange's parent company, NYSE Euronext. The NYSE shut down on Sept. 27, 1985 for Hurricane Gloria.
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