Stories by Alexandra Silets

President Donald Trump is calling a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin “deeply productive.” We get reaction to the historic Helsinki meeting.

Watch the July 16, 2018 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

At River Park on Chicago’s Northwest Side, a concrete dam standing 4 feet high is being prepped for removal. But it’s not just any dam – this happens to be the last waterfall within Chicago city limits.

Meet a photographer who captures a “culture under threat” in an area named last month by Forbes magazine as one of the 12 coolest neighborhoods in the world. 

Chicago police release body camera video of a fatal shooting by one of their own, but it’s not enough to stop more community protests. A live report from the South Shore neighborhood.

In her new book “The Monarchy of Fear,” Martha Nussbaum explores the role that fear may have played in the election of President Donald Trump.

Illinois police will be able to temporarily confiscate guns from individuals found by a court to present a danger to themselves or others, under a law signed Monday by Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Public housing across the U.S. will become smoke-free at the end of the month. What that means for some 60,000 residents in Chicago.

With the 30th anniversary of the Discovery Channel’s popular “Shark Week” fast approaching, the Shedd Aquarium is calling on visitors to help protect a key habitat for “one of the world’s most misunderstood species.”

In the feverish intensity of its emotions alone, this Tennessee Williams revival directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge is grand opera from start to finish. 

The district says it will spend $26 million to add 160 social workers and 94 special education case managers in schools across the city. 

Police officials waited less than 24 hours after a fatal shooting in the South Shore neighborhood to publish video footage of the incident involving 37-year-old Harith Augustus.

A dozen states have enacted laws granting criminal immunity to those who enter vehicles to rescue domestic animals that appear to be suffering. Should Illinois be the 13th? 

A 162-year-old Chicago home rumored to have once been a stop on the Underground Railroad is now the site of an excavation. What archaeologists are hoping to unearth.

A man faces charges after confronting a woman at a Cook County forest preserve. The mayor and governor feud on Twitter over a controversial anti-violence march. And Groupon’s biggest offer ever: the company itself.

Eddie Arruza and guests discuss a recent spate of racially charged incidents caught on video.

The U.S. Department of Justice is violating federal law by refusing to distribute millions in funding to Illinois due to a dispute over immigration policies, according to a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general.

More fallout in the wake of a viral video that has resulted in hate crime charges and a police officer’s resignation.

Watch the July 12, 2018 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Nearly 30 years ago, artist Keith Haring enlisted the help of 500 Chicago students to paint a 488-foot long mural. Chicago Tonight caught up with a trio of those teens who grew up to be artists themselves. 

City Hall insiders said she was “warehousing” dogs – but the ousted executive director of the city’s animal shelter denies that claim. Susan Russell joins us in discussion.

Illinois ranks sixth in the nation when it comes to the percentage of state legislators who are women. A new panel aims to increase the number of women in Illinois politics.

In what is an extremely rare occurrence, a male weedy sea dragons recently accepted an egg transfer from a female and is now carrying 46 fertile eggs on his tail.

So far this year, nearly a dozen bats have tested positive for rabies in Cook and Will counties alone.

The Chicago-based, bestselling author of “Gone Girl” talks about her newly adapted HBO miniseries and more.

Watch the July 11, 2018 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”