Still recovering from his January stroke, Sen. Mark Kirk sent a video message to the Illinois delegation at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

As Republicans finished their official events this morning, word spread that Gov. Pat Quinn had vetoed the gambling bill outright. Some of the Republican lawmakers we spoke with this morning had supported the bill, others had opposed, but all seemed united in criticizing the way the governor handled the veto.

Members of the Illinois delegation wandered through the lobby of the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in steamy Tampa today, and were treated to a magnificent ice sculpture of the capitol - the site of many meltdowns.

Earlier this year, Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed an Ethics Reform Task Force to review the current ethics ordinance and make recommendations on how to improve it. The four-man task force released the first part of their recommendations back at the end of April, citing 34 specific recommendations on how the city could strengthen their ethics ordinance and curb corruption. The long-awaited part II of the report was finally released Monday.

What is the historic role of a political convention? We look at how conventions have evolved and if they still matter today.

Chicago Tonight correspondent Paris Schutz is in Tampa at the Republican National Convention. View his Twitter stream for the latest news, photos and videos.

Amid Republican party unity, some GOP gubernatorial hopefuls start testing the waters, so to speak. Paris Schutz has more on this, and the outlook for the rest of the Republican National Convention from Tampa.

Jeffrey Brown from the PBS NewsHour has been covering the Republican National Convention. He joins us from Tampa with the latest on RNC events and more.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss the week's top headlines.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists have a web-exclusive conversation.

Chicago Tonight's Paris Schutz gears up to attend the Republican National Convention next week.

Employing ex-offenders to reduce violence in some of Chicago's most dangerous communities? That's what the city's about to do with CeaseFire. We talk with executive director Tio Hardiman about the path to stop the shootings.

We read what some of you had to say about the failure of the special session to come up with a pension solution in tonight's Viewer Mail.

For the time being, pension reform is off the radar in Springfield. We ask two members of Gov. Quinn's pension working group what they'll do next.

The day of reckoning that wasn't. State Rep. Tom Cross and State Sen. Christine Radogno join us with insight into what went wrong with the governor's special session.

Northerly Island is getting a makeover. We have some of your thoughts in tonight's Viewer Mail.