Stories by Paul Caine

“Blockbuster” and “epic” are the words being used to describe the cases on the U.S. Supreme Court docket this term. We discuss the key cases.

In one of Cook County Jail’s maximum security units, some detainees are given access to pens for the towering task of writing their memoirs. How these men are earning a new label: authors.

A new book by a Chicago community activist and mentor explains how cities can become safer and more equitable, and why we all have a stake in our neighborhoods. 

It looks like an art project, but a seven-floor structure at Lincoln Park Zoo is outfitted with logs, bricks, sticks and other materials to provide cozy spaces for insects to nest.

Is there a connection between losing the ability to smell and a greater risk of dementia? A co-author of a new University of Chicago study says it “may be an important early sign.” 

A new charge against 28-year-old suspect Brendt Christensen opens up the possibility of the death penalty for the Champaign man charged in the disappearance and murder of a Chinese student.

Tommy Shimoda, 24, won gold and bronze medals in speed skating at the Special Olympics World Winter Games this year in Austria. This week, he was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, becoming the first Special Olympics athlete to receive the honor. 

The inspector general calls it a “culture of abuse.” How he says police officers are gaming the system to collect millions in overtime pay.

Just weeks after its relaunch as the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the agency is officially looking for a new chief administrator.

Watch the Oct. 3, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

How has free college tuition worked out for some students? City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor Juan Salgado joins us.

Author and Northwestern University professor Wendy Pearlman interviewed more than 300 refugees for a new book of oral histories, “We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled.” She joins us in discussion.

How is the city addressing bike safety as well as concerns relating to inequality and bike infrastructure? Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield joins us.

A new report ranks Chicago’s chances of landing a massive new Amazon location as high—but will the costs be worth it?

Low-income pregnant women are more likely than their wealthy counterparts to experience chronic placental inflammation, which is linked to preterm birth and low birth weight, a new study finds. 

Dressed in little more than black-and-white body paint, a PETA supporter on Wednesday will urge passersby to skip performances this month by a circus company with a track record of mistreating animals. 

In the wake of the massacre of concertgoers in Las Vegas, Chicago is preparing to host one of its largest annual events, the Chicago Marathon, on Sunday. Mayor Rahm Emanuel says the city is ready.

The Chicago Police Department says that for the second month in a row, homicides in Chicago were lower than they were during the same month the year before.

Watch the Oct. 2, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

President Donald Trump recently said the heart of his tax proposal “is a giant, beautiful, massive – the biggest ever in our country – tax cut.” We take a closer look at the plan.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Monday the city is not only offering emergency responders to help Puerto Rico, but has already accepted 1,600 evacuees. 

There were nearly 1,900 fatal opioid overdoses in Illinois last year, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. We speak with Nirav Shah, the agency’s director, about the state’s fight against the crisis.

Chicago could become the first U.S. city outside of California to adopt a policy requiring it to purchase food from sources that meet a set of health, environmental and fair labor standards.

An eyewitness recounts what she saw in Las Vegas on Sunday night during what has become the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Meet one of the first African-American flight attendants and hear the unusual way her mother inspired her love of travel.

More than 125 animal welfare experts from around the world will gather in October to share new research and best practices related to caring for animals in zoos and aquariums.