Stories by Evan Garcia

The storied career of 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke has the potential to end with a prison sentence. A trio of veteran Chicago journalists offer their insight on the federal investigation.

Federal agents raided longtime Chicago Ald. Ed Burke’s ward and government offices Nov. 29, and for the first time there’s insight as to what they were looking for: evidence of an extortion scheme.

Premiering Friday, the show’s fourth season includes stories about interesting people in the city and their talents, passions and projects. Here’s a preview of the season.

The CTA makes a policy change that allows its health insurance plan to cover the cost of gender-affirming surgery for one of its bus drivers.

Tech stocks led the dive Thursday on Wall Street after Apple reported a slowdown on iPhone sales in China. Economist Diane Swonk weighs in.

The new Cook County assessor has vowed to bring fairness, transparency, ethics and modernization to the office. Fritz Kaegi joins us to discuss his 100-day plan and more.

Pope Francis is encouraging U.S. bishops meeting near Chicago to unify as the Roman Catholic church deals with a “crisis of credibility” stemming from the clergy sex abuse scandal.

There is no definitive test to diagnosis the progressive neurodegenerative disease. But that could change, thanks to new research that was able to accurately detect ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases using graphene.

The advocacy group Moms Clean Air Force warns that a Trump administration proposal to weaken standards for emissions of toxic mercury would harm residents and wildlife across Illinois. 

A Cook County judge has already delayed her finding once in the unprecedented trial of three Chicago police officers. The new verdict date is Jan. 17 – a day before the sentencing of former Officer Jason Van Dyke.

Chicago police descended on COPA’s office last Friday following a report of an emailed threat. But COPA officials now say that threat was “false” and the sender has been identified as an agency employee.

The school district’s inspector general found the music director “willfully violated” CPS fundraising guidelines. That’s just one of the investigations highlighted in the watchdog’s just-released annual report.

Activists call on Pope Francis to remove Cardinal Blase Cupich from his role in organizing a Vatican conference on sex abuse. We discuss the story with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Robert Herguth.

Ald. Ricardo Munoz is facing domestic abuse charges, and the field of candidates for Chicago mayor is narrowing. Political reporters Paris Schutz and Amanda Vinicky have those stories and more in this week’s roundtable.

Watch the Jan. 2, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

How did we get the free speech protections we enjoy today, and where might they head in the future? A new book uncovers that – and more.

Ultima Thule, the relatively tiny object in the outer solar system, is now the farthest cosmic body to be reached by humans. We hear from the lead scientist behind the farthest flyby ever.

Meet the founders of the Chicago Furniture Bank, which offers people in need an apartment’s worth of gently used furniture, including beds for each family member, for just $50.

A show at the Art Institute explores the work of a group of Chicago artists who made a strong impression on the art world in the 1960s.

Pet portraits, model trains, fermented tea and a murder mystery usher in the first weekend of 2019. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

The Chicago Police Department has taken steps to combat low morale and suicide among its officers, but some are calling for more to be done.

Geoffrey Baer has some newspaper history hot off of yesteryear’s presses, and dives deep into the fishy story of storm drain covers in this encore edition of Ask Geoffrey.

Preliminary numbers indicate that homicides in Chicago fell last year, though the total again eclipses the number of homicides in Los Angeles and New York combined, according to data released Tuesday.

A new study links higher levels of key nutrients associated with the Mediterranean diet to more efficient brain connectivity and performance on cognitive tests in older adults. 

Nearly 250 Chicago schools have been labelled “underutilized,” according to district data. That total exceeds the number of schools CPS says are running efficiently.

The Trump administration’s plan to roll back limits on toxic mercury pollution will harm Great Lakes fish – and potentially those who eat them, advocates say.