Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday held a press conference to lay blame for the weeks-long partial state government shutdown at the feet of House Speaker Mike Madigan, and to decry lawmakers for taking a pay raise when there's no budget in place. We'll get the latest Springfield news from Chicago Tonight's Amanda Vinicky.

In a city that has 50 aldermen, it might not come as a surprise that Illinois has the most units of government in the country, nudging out the competition with 6,964 governmental bodies, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This fact isn’t lost on Gov. Bruce Rauner, who created the Local Government and Unfunded Mandates Task Force to come up with recommendations on how to trim down that number. We discuss the task force’s recommendations.

Need your car detailed or piano tuned? Whether you're looking for an event caterer or a portrait painter, dog groomer or furniture mover, Chicago magazine's just released list of the "Best of Chicago" highlights 72 shops, services, and activities that make the Windy City second to none.  

Chicago Sun-Times Theater Critic Hedy Weiss joins us to review the Steppenwolf’s Grand Concourse, Black Ensemble Theater’s Men of Soul, Lookingglass Theatre Company’s Moby Dick, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s The Little Mermaid.

This is week three of the partial state government shutdown. Carol Marin talks with four lawmakers about whether a compromise is in the foreseeable future.

Swimming safely in the Chicago River is now one giant step closer to reality, according to sanitary officials. Chicago Tonight details the new disinfection process making that possible.

Author and Basecamp founder Jason Fried joins Chicago Tonight for a conversation about changing the way we work – and why showing up to an office every day doesn't mean we're actually being productive.

In preparation for becoming public school teachers, students at Illinois State University's College of Education are receiving a full immersion in Chicago this summer. It's called the Summer Teacher Education Partnership for Urban Preparation, or STEP-UP.

The phone of the future may be able to detect depression, says a new study from Northwestern University's School of Medicine. Clinical psychologist Stephen Schueller of Northwestern's Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies joins us to discuss the study's findings.

The WTTW organic vegetable garden is thriving this summer despite all the rain and fluctuations in temperature. The Organic Gardener Jeanne Nolan joins us to harvest mid-summer crops. She’ll also give us some tips on what vegetables can still be planted at this point in the season.

We share what you had to say about Forrest Claypool’s appointment to lead Chicago Public Schools and the return of happy hour to Illinois bars. 

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss this week’s top stories.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss Democrat Andrea Zopp's bid for the U.S. Senate, and talk further about the buzz surrounding the resurgent Cubs.