WEBVTT 00:02.000 --> 00:05.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight: remembering the work and life of a longtime correspondent 00:05.200 --> 00:07.700 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% for "NewsHour." 00:07.700 --> 00:10.300 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% ELIZABETH BRACKETT, Journalist: And the question people are now asking is, what will the long-term 00:10.300 --> 00:12.133 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% impact on their community be? 00:12.133 --> 00:16.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Elizabeth Brackett once said she wouldn't take no for an answer. 00:16.400 --> 00:21.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And it was a trait that came to define much of her 40-year career in journalism, including 00:23.300 --> 00:27.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% more than 25 years as a special correspondent based in the Midwest for the "NewsHour." 00:29.066 --> 00:32.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% ELIZABETH BRACKETT: These three acres of corn are all that Boyer (ph) has left of the 800 00:32.366 --> 00:34.266 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% acres he planted this year. 00:34.266 --> 00:36.233 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% He's completely wiped out. 00:36.233 --> 00:40.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Whether she was covering the impact of devastating floods in Iowa, the 00:40.400 --> 00:45.366 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% space shuttle Challenger disaster, or families fleeing after Hurricane Katrina, Elizabeth's 00:47.833 --> 00:51.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% reports stood out in the way she captured the voices of those affected. 00:51.433 --> 00:53.366 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% WOMAN: We have been walking since yesterday. 00:53.366 --> 00:56.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% We have had people that have been walking for three days. 00:56.100 --> 00:58.000 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Everybody's out on the bridge. 00:58.000 --> 00:59.300 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Nobody gave us nothing. 00:59.300 --> 01:01.033 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% We haven't eaten in three days. 01:01.033 --> 01:04.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: She was competitive. 01:04.000 --> 01:09.000 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% And as one of her producers at the "NewsHour," Merrill Schwerin, put it, "She always pushed 01:10.466 --> 01:14.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% for more, more interviews, more phone calls, more perspective." 01:14.533 --> 01:19.533 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% Elizabeth wanted to be at the front of a breaking story, as was the case when she covered the 01:20.900 --> 01:23.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% heated battles over an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas. 01:23.533 --> 01:27.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Three hours after patients had gotten into the clinic, those who had 01:27.533 --> 01:30.800 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% not been arrested from Operation Rescue were still on the street. 01:30.800 --> 01:34.333 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Elizabeth was a true Chicagoan at heart. 01:34.333 --> 01:39.333 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% She worked for several TV stations, most notably with our colleagues at WTTW for two decades, 01:41.700 --> 01:46.466 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% where she was a correspondent and host for "Chicago Tonight." 01:46.466 --> 01:51.433 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% She often focused on education and the deadly toll of gun violence. 01:53.366 --> 01:56.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But she loved politics as well, and Illinois was a great place to focus on that. 01:58.600 --> 02:02.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% She reported extensively on the downfall of former Governor Rod Blagojevich. 02:02.066 --> 02:04.200 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% And she wrote a book about it. 02:04.200 --> 02:06.733 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% ELIZABETH BRACKETT: The calls for impeachment are growing. 02:06.733 --> 02:11.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% There is now a bill introduced into the Illinois legislature calling for impeachment, in the 02:12.400 --> 02:14.433 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% House. 02:14.433 --> 02:17.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: She received numerous awards during her career, including national and 02:17.800 --> 02:21.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% regional Emmys, as well as a Peabody Award. 02:21.433 --> 02:26.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% She retired, so to speak, in 2014, but still was reporting 10 stories a year for WTTW. 02:28.233 --> 02:29.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Well, after all that worry, it didn't rain. 02:29.233 --> 02:34.233 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% And I really had a great week. 02:36.266 --> 02:39.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Remarkably, she completed her first triathlon at age 50 and went on to win 02:40.766 --> 02:44.733 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% five global titles in her age group. 02:44.733 --> 02:49.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Elizabeth died Sunday after an apparent bicycle accident on the lakefront path in her beloved 02:50.866 --> 02:53.066 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% hometown of Chicago. 02:53.066 --> 02:57.566 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% She was 76 years old. 02:57.566 --> 02:59.600 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% And we are heartbroken. 02:59.600 --> 03:03.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And, online, we have more remembrances of Elizabeth from producer Merrill Schwerin, 03:03.566 --> 03:06.800 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% who, together, they worked on dozens of stories. 03:06.800 --> 03:10.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% That and more is on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour.