Stories by Jay Shefsky

Forty years ago, Chicago elected its first female mayor. We remember the historic victory of former Mayor Jane Byrne.

Alan Menken performs his delightful one-man show to a packed house in the Loop as his first hit musical, “Little Shop of Horrors,” receives a terrific production on the North Side.

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 370,000 Chicago residents had cast their ballots for the city’s next mayor, treasurer and, in some wards, alderman. 

The three-year funding award will be used to develop population-specific cancer prevention and screening programs at community hospitals and health centers in Austin, Humboldt Park and South Shore.

Brittani Rice, 18, and Senobia Brantley, 19, were both killed late Monday in what police believe may have been a “targeted” attack on the South Side.

It will be several weeks before a judge decides whether the public will get a look at the sealed court file in the Jussie Smollett case.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s reputation as a rising political star and legal crusader was badly tarnished by her office’s handling of two celebrity cases involving “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett and R. Kelly.

The winner of Chicago’s mayoral runoff election will join seven other black women currently serving as mayors in major U.S. cities, including Atlanta and New Orleans.

Watch the April 1, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Measles, a virus once thought to be eradicated in the U.S. less than 20 years ago, seems to be rearing its head again. Where are we seeing the virus take hold, and why doesn’t it completely die off?

Behind the good cheer, Ernie Banks hid a melancholy and lonely man. We talk with Ron Rapoport, the author of “Let’s Play Two,” a new biography about Mr. Cub.

Candidates are making their final sprint toward Tuesday’s runoff election. Will voters show up? Carol Marin leads a political roundtable with three journalists who have followed the race closely.

Chicago’s historic 2019 election will soon be over, ushering in big changes to city government. 

The Frederick C. Robie House – a masterpiece of Prairie School architecture – reopened to the public Friday after a multimillion-dollar restoration both inside and out.

After teasing social media by announcing the discovery of “unprecedented” dinosaur fossils under a Michigan Avenue storefront, the Field Museum unveiled a new pop-up exhibit that replicates a “dig site” where paleontologists search for fossils. 

Northwestern University is one of dozens of medical centers across the country studying whether the drug can protect against or slow down the progression of the disease in patients already experiencing symptoms.

Anthony Jakes was just 15 years old when he says he was held by police for 16 hours and beaten into falsely confessing to participating in a 1991 murder. He served 20 years before he was released from prison.

Attorney Steve Greenberg believes the celebrity attorney may have “bullied” or “manipulated” the Cook County state’s attorney into filing sexual abuse charges against R. Kelly.

In some ways the contest between Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot reflects a movement happening nationally in the Democratic Party as typically younger, fresh faces with less political experience challenge the more established “old guard.” 

Eddie Arruza and guests discuss an assessment by veteran city hall reporter Fran Spielman of the frenzied final stretch of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s term and why she believes Emanuel is “obsessed” with his legacy.

Jussie Smollett is cleared of all felonies, leaving the mayor and police superintendent livid – and the Cook County state’s attorney under fire. And in election news, a new poll shows a lopsided race for mayor.

Here is the looming question: How could three great talents (Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens and Terrence McNally) go so completely wrong with this Broadway musical “inspired by” the 1997 animated musical film?

Kapuki, a 13-year-old eastern black rhinoceros, is expected to give birth to a baby calf in May. 

The Jussie Smollett case may be over, but confusion over the surprise ending is rampant. Why was the “Empire” star offered a deal? Was his record expunged? We tackle those questions and more.

A new rule would require that mammography providers notify women who have dense breast tissue, a risk factor for breast cancer.

One of the four women whom R. Kelly is charged with sexually abusing publicly leveled her accusations against the R&B singer in a televised interview that aired Thursday.