Stories by Alex Ruppenthal

A study of rock minerals from northern Canada provides evidence that the Earth might have supported life hundreds of millions of years earlier than thought, according to research led by UChicago scientists.  

Tim Mapes, House Speaker Michael Madigan’s top aide, has resigned following allegations made by a state employee accusing Mapes of making sexually inappropriate remarks.

Finger-licking festivals, dance music and a bounty of books usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

CPS Inspector General Nicholas Schuler says the district’s current method lends itself to conflicts of interest between employees and the victims they’re tasked with protecting.

Suzan-Lori Parks’ fascinating three-hour trilogy, now on stage at the Goodman Theatre, probes the meaning of freedom, and all the complexity and ambivalence that word can carry with it.

Watch the June 5, 2018 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Chicago Public Schools says that by August it expects to have the results of a top-to-bottom review of its practices for handling cases of sexual misconduct. More from CPS CEO Janice Jackson.

If you’re not ready to raise chickens in your backyard, you could try your hand at another popular trend: urban beekeeping.

State Senate President John Cullerton and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin on a major bipartisan agreement and lingering pieces of unfinished business.

A machine developed at the Illinois Institute of Technology will help scientists search for elusive new particles that could reshape physicists’ understanding of how the universe operates. 

Former SUPES co-owner Gary Solomon believes he should have received a shorter sentence than former CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett. A federal appeals court disagreed.

When it comes to road safety, Illinois is one of the top states in the country, according to a report from personal finance website WalletHub. But the state got poor marks in other safety categories.

Consumer watchdogs are warning residents across Chicago and beyond to be on the lookout for lottery scams that cost residents tens of millions of dollars in the last year alone.

A set of proteins long used to evaluate the well-being of humans can also serve as a marker for the welfare of animals in zoos and aquariums, according to a new study. 

Yael Farber’s blistering contemporary South African version of “Miss Julie,” the 1888 August Strindberg classic, is far and away the most brilliant play to arrive on a Chicago stage this season. 

Watch the June 4, 2018 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

An explosive Chicago Tribune investigation reveals sexual abuse of students and failures to respond at Chicago Public Schools. We speak with one of the lead reporters on the series.

Alligator recording artist and 2016 Blues Hall of Fame inductee Edward Harrington, aka Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, died Friday of heart failure, his family reports. He was 83 years old.

Why the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum wants you to keep your eye out for baby turtles on the move.

The latest member of Brookfield Zoo’s four-generation family of western lowland gorillas was born June 1, the third offspring of Koola, the newborn’s 23-year-old mother. 

Claiming the Board of Education knew a Hubbard High School security guard posed a “significant threat” to students but did nothing to remove him, two former students are now suing the board.

It’s one thing to star in your local high school musical. It’s a very different thing to take possession of the internationally renowned stage of Lyric Opera of Chicago. That’s just what these students did.

Gov. Bruce Rauner, flanked by Republican and Democratic legislators alike, did something Monday for the first time in his nearly 3.5 years as governor: he signed into law a new state budget.

Many studies on breast cancer have shown racial disparities in diagnosis and survival rates. New research suggests characteristics of a woman’s neighborhood could be contributing to those disparities.

Through repeated failures and mistakes, Chicago Public Schools failed to protect hundreds of students from sexual abuse and misconduct by its own employees, according to a bombshell report from the Chicago Tribune.

The EPA has failed to implement a 2016 regulation aimed at reducing landfill emissions of methane and other pollutants, according to a lawsuit filed this week by Illinois and seven other states.