Stories by Jay Shefsky

A remarkable new app brings us face-to-face with the 1915 Chicago tragedy.

East Chicago residents are getting the toxic soil dug out of their yards. But why has it taken the EPA so long to begin cleaning up these neighborhoods?

Ruby Bridges became a civil rights icon at the age of 6, when she became the first African-American child to attend a previously all-white elementary school in New Orleans. She joins us in discussion.

Lake Calumet has changed shape and purpose many times over the years. Geoffrey Baer takes a look at its past and future in this week’s edition of Ask Geoffrey.

A plethora of pumpkins, eerie mind games and Dr. Ruth usher in the weekend – and Halloween. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

The United Educators of UNO reached a tentative agreement early Wednesday morning with the UNO Charter School Network to stave off what would have been the nation’s first-ever charter school teacher strike.

It's home to an estimated 30 million objects from across the globe, but only about 25 percent of the Field Museum's collection has been cataloged in a digital database. Starting Thursday, volunteers can help grow that percentage.

How difficult is large-scale voter fraud, and how are Illinois officials assuring the integrity of the upcoming election?

Watch the Oct. 18, 2016 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

A concrete Cadillac goes for a spin. We look at the restoration of this unusual work of art–and how it cemented its reputation.

Sharon Fairley, the head of the city's Independent Police Review Authority, is here to talk about the new police oversight agency set to replace it.

In conjunction with “Tattoo,” the museum's latest exhibition on the history of the tattoo which opens Friday, it has opened a pop-up shop. Learn more.

Second City cast members report racist audience outbursts, and some cast and management have left the venerable theater. We take a closer look at recent changes with theater critic Chris Jones.

SUPES Academy CEO Gary Solomon pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal court Tuesday, opening the door for co-defendants Tom Vranas and Barbara Byrd-Bennett to be sentenced for their bribery scheme.

A paralyzed man is able to experience the sense of touch through the use of a robotic arm controlled by his brain. The breakthrough was made possible, in part, by years of research by a University of Chicago professor.

The Grammy Award-winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird performs this weekend at the Arts Club of Chicago. We hear from them in conversation and performance.

Chicago’s 606 trail is only a little over a year old and already there is an ambitious proposal to extend it. 

The city narrowly missed a massive teachers’ strike last week, but another is brewing for parents at a major charter school operator.

Yoko Ono on Monday morning debuted her first public art installation in the Americas on Jackson Park’s Wooded Island.

Watch the Oct. 17, 2016 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Illinois students are outpacing the U.S. average, while Chicago Public Schools says its graduation rate is growing at three times the national rate.

Immigrant and refugee women find joy, companionship and healing in knitting. Jay Shefsky takes us to their workshop.  

It's time to harvest the last of the summer crops in the WTTW garden before the first frost.

A penny-per-ounce soda tax could be coming to Cook County. We talk with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle about that and her 2017 budget goals.

A new book gives the inside scoop on some of Chicago’s most beautiful buildings.

Just what genre is the new movie about House Speaker Michael Madigan? Hear what viewers had to say when we read feedback from the Chicago Tonight website, and our Facebook and Twitter pages.