Federal agents raided longtime Chicago Ald. Ed Burke’s ward and government offices Nov. 29, and for the first time there’s insight as to what they were looking for: evidence of an extortion scheme.

Premiering Friday, the show’s fourth season includes stories about interesting people in the city and their talents, passions and projects. Here’s a preview of the season.

The CTA makes a policy change that allows its health insurance plan to cover the cost of gender-affirming surgery for one of its bus drivers.

Tech stocks led the dive Thursday on Wall Street after Apple reported a slowdown on iPhone sales in China. Economist Diane Swonk weighs in.

The new Cook County assessor has vowed to bring fairness, transparency, ethics and modernization to the office. Fritz Kaegi joins us to discuss his 100-day plan and more.

Pope Francis is encouraging U.S. bishops meeting near Chicago to unify as the Roman Catholic church deals with a “crisis of credibility” stemming from the clergy sex abuse scandal.

There is no definitive test to diagnosis the progressive neurodegenerative disease. But that could change, thanks to new research that was able to accurately detect ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases using graphene.

The advocacy group Moms Clean Air Force warns that a Trump administration proposal to weaken standards for emissions of toxic mercury would harm residents and wildlife across Illinois. 

A Cook County judge has already delayed her finding once in the unprecedented trial of three Chicago police officers. The new verdict date is Jan. 17 – a day before the sentencing of former Officer Jason Van Dyke.

Chicago police descended on COPA’s office last Friday following a report of an emailed threat. But COPA officials now say that threat was “false” and the sender has been identified as an agency employee.

The school district’s inspector general found the music director “willfully violated” CPS fundraising guidelines. That’s just one of the investigations highlighted in the watchdog’s just-released annual report.

Activists call on Pope Francis to remove Cardinal Blase Cupich from his role in organizing a Vatican conference on sex abuse. We discuss the story with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Robert Herguth.

Ald. Ricardo Munoz is facing domestic abuse charges, and the field of candidates for Chicago mayor is narrowing. Political reporters Paris Schutz and Amanda Vinicky have those stories and more in this week’s roundtable.

Watch the Jan. 2, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

How did we get the free speech protections we enjoy today, and where might they head in the future? A new book uncovers that – and more.