Stories by Nick Blumberg

In February's election, challenger Derrick Curtis had a slight advantage over incumbent Ald. Lona Lane, though neither received a majority of the vote. The two will face off in next month's runoff election, and Chicago Tonight will host a forum to discuss the issues facing the 18th Ward.

Author Gillian O'Brien joins us to discuss her book Blood Runs Green, a non-fiction account of the largely forgotten murder of a prominent Irish-American doctor who was also the member of a secretive Irish Republican organization.

The race for the open seat in Chicago's 11th Ward has gone to a runoff between Patrick Daley Thompson and John Kozlar. Thompson is an attorney and Water Reclamation Commissioner. He's also a nephew of Richard M. Daley and grandson of Richard J. Daley. Kozlar is a law student and neighborhood advocate who ran and lost in the 2011 race. They join us.

Chicago's 2nd Ward has been significantly remapped and includes a diverse array of neighborhoods, from parts of downtown Chicago to Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village. We'll host a conversation between Brian Hopkins and Alyx Pattison, the two candidates for alderman who will face each other in an April 7 runoff election.

Drivers using the Jane Byrne interchange face major closures starting Tuesday night.

State lawmakers want to make it easier for students to skip the PARCC test by introducing a new bill to opt out of standardized testing.

The Chicago Plan Commission has OK’d an Obama Library on public parkland.

Voters in more than a third of Chicago’s 50 wards will head to the polls again in April. In Tuesday’s election, no clear winner emerged in 19 races for alderman across the city. 

Voters across Chicago overwhelmingly support an elected school board, according to results of a non-binding referendum that appeared on the ballot Tuesday in 37 of the city’s 50 wards.

This week, there was another new discovery of footage from Chicago's Eastland Disaster. 

We discuss the recent changes in dietary guidelines and how they affect the way we're supposed to eat.

Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders are trying to find ways to close a gap in the current year's budget and will soon start debating the governor's austere proposal for the coming fiscal year. We talk with lawmakers about what to expect.

Gov. Bruce Rauner releases his budget for the coming fiscal year. We'll analyze his priorities with fiscal experts, and discuss how likely he is to get the Democratically controlled General Assembly to see things his way.

When Gov. Bruce Rauner announced the hiring of former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, he called the two-term Republican a "superstar governor" with a proven track record. We'll learn more about Lingle's time in office and her legacy in Hawaii from Chad Blair, political reporter for the Honolulu Civil Beat.

With just two days until Gov. Bruce Rauner delivers his first budget address, analysts are debating how best to tackle Illinois’ massive budget deficit. The Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation has released a five-year state budget roadmap that it says will stabilize Illinois while protecting important government services.

The Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation has released a five-year state budget roadmap that it says will stabilize Illinois while protecting important government services. The group says its plan will eliminate the state's unpaid bills by Fiscal Year 2020 and make sure state budgets are balanced.

As electronics retailer RadioShack files for bankruptcy protection and stores like Sears and JCPenney look for ways to revamp their image, we discuss the challenges for major retailers with Crain’s Chicago Business retail reporter Brigid Sweeney.

President Barack Obama plans to visit Chicago next week where he’ll reportedly declare part of the Pullman neighborhood on the far south side a national monument, Chicago’s first.

Three new cases of measles have been confirmed in Cook County, health officials announced Monday. That brings the statewide total to nine infected people. Seven of the cases, including six small children, have been linked to a Palatine day care center.

As Gov. Bruce Rauner lays out his policy priorities in his first State of the State address, Illinois lawmakers analyze what he had to say -- and what we can expect from his budget address later this month.

Mick Ebeling went from being a film and TV producer to founding an organization that solves challenging problems around the world. His hands-on approach to "hacking" processes has helped him make extraordinary changes to people's lives.

Roey Gilad, Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, joins Chicago Tonight to discuss the elections in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming visit to the U.S. Congress, as well as relations between the U.S. and Israel, and in the Middle East.

As the economy and employment rates improve, young people may be getting left behind. We’ll learn about a new report on the jobless rate among teens in Chicago.

Gov. Bruce Rauner has proposed "right-to-work zones" that would weaken union control in certain areas. The move is sure to touch off a fight with labor unions, and may need legislative action to become a reality. We'll talk about the governor's ideas about unions, his management style, as well as the new COO and CFO he's appointed.

A new report from Crain's Chicago Business found in 2013 nearly four out of every 10 hospital beds in Illinois were vacant. We'll talk with reporter Kristen Schorsch about why there are so many extra beds and what hospitals can do about the problem.

Teachers, parents, and administrators have been debating whether schools should start implementing the PARCC standardized test, designed to align with the new Common Core standards. We talk with two educators about whether it's time to put the PARCC in place and the value of standardized testing.