Stories by Alexandra Silets

Chicago may be home to many Fortune 500 companies, but are corporate headquarters here shrinking? We get the latest from Crain's Chicago Business.

The new, original PBS show “Mercy Street” is a sprawling Civil War drama set in a hotel in Alexandria, Virgina that has been commandeered by the Union Army as a hospital. The six-episode series blends fiction with historical settings in a town where Confederate and Union soldiers mingled with a slaves and free people. We talk with two of the show's producers. 

A decision this week by a federal judge could green-light plans for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the futuristic-looking proposal from film mogul George Lucas currently facing a lawsuit over its proposed lakefront location.

Watch the the February 2, 2016 episode of Chicago Tonight.

Just a day after the Chicago Teachers Union rejected the school board's latest contract offer, Chicago Public Schools is announcing cuts. CEO Forrest Claypool says the district is still working to avoid teacher layoffs, but some staffers will lose their jobs in order for the district to save money.

The Chicago Teachers Union is fighting mad and pursuing legal action to strike immediately. We get the latest from CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey.

On Monday, the World Health Organization declared the Zika virus an international public health emergency. Dr. Allison Arwady, chief medical officer of the Chicago Department of Public Health, joins us to discuss the virus and the risk it poses to Chicago jet-setters.

The cost of Illinois’ budget impasse? The income tax would have to go up 100 percent if the state’s debt is to be paid off through revenue alone, according to state Comptroller Leslie Munger. How much longer can the state teeter along without a budget? Paris Schutz has more.

Michigan Gov. Rick Synder is facing calls to resign over his administration's bungled handling of the contaminated water crisis in Flint. A former high-ranking official at the Environmental Protection Agency tells us what she thinks went wrong.

A yearlong international arts festival underway in Chicago celebrates the legacy of William Shakespeare and commemorates the 400 years since his death. Barbara Gaines of Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Anthony Freud of Lyric Opera Chicago join us to discuss the festival and the Bard’s legacy.

Watch the February 1, 2016 full episode of Chicago Tonight.

White House hopefuls are getting their first test with voters tonight in Iowa, where caucusing is in full swing. Joining us from Des Moines, Iowa to talk about that and more is "Chicago Tonight's" Carol Marin.

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union bargaining unit say they spent hours and hours considering the school board's "serious" contract offer. But on Monday, the group announced that they could not accept it.

A recent Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that just 1 percent of Chicago police officers are responsible for almost a third of all misconduct lawsuits. Joining “Chicago Tonight” to discuss what it will take to hold police officers truly accountable are Lori Lightfoot and Sergio Acosta.

Seven years ago, the Illinois Senate voted to impeach and remove Rod Blagojevich. Senate President John Cullerton, Republican leader Christine Radogno and the author of a new book are here to talk about that political crisis as well as the state's current budget mess.

There was a time in Chicago when the accordion was everywhere—and not just for polkas. These days, the accordion is not the powerhouse that it used to be, but there is at least one place where the instrument is still going strong. Jay Shefsky went to check it out.

The Chicago History Museum has turned to Kickstarter to fund a project that would train high school students in East Garfield Park how to record oral history interviews with local residents. Learn more about the Forty Blocks project.

Hear what viewers had to say about Paris Schutz's interview with Mayor Rahm Emanuel when we read feedback from the "Chicago Tonight" website, and our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Chicago is seeing a rise in high-rise construction with 34 new buildings over 200 feet tall currently under construction. That number has doubled in the last 15 months. What’s causing the sky-high building boom? Curbed Chicago editor AJ LaTrace joins "Chicago Tonight" to explain.

Chicago Public Schools denied Friday that about 150 students from around the city could lose a widely celebrated magnet arts program at the end of the current semester, despite statements made earlier this week to the contrary.

Over the course of five decades, Vivian Maier documented city life by taking more than 100,000 photographs, many of them in Chicago. The now-famous street photographer would have celebrated her 90th birthday on Monday. We revisit our story that introduced “Chicago Tonight” viewers to her incredible images.

Attendance was down 30 percent last year at the museum, largely due to its hugely popular retrospective of David Bowie's career–the museum's most-attended exhibition ever. Most other Chicago museums fared better, according to 2015 attendance data compiled by Museums in the Park.

Joel Weisman and his panel discuss a possible breakthrough in contract negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools, Gov. Bruce Rauner's State of the State address and the 30th anniversary of the Bears Super Bowl win.

Earlier this evening, the union announced a possible breakthrough in contract talks after the day's bargaining session wrapped up.

It’s 2016 and we’re still three metaphorical minutes away from global doom. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists say global warming and nuclear weapon proliferation pose serious threats to mankind.