Stories by WTTW News

Best-selling author Tom Clancy died at age 66. Back in 2002, Elizabeth Brackett interviewed Clancy on an episode of Chicago Tonight. Watch the web extra video from our archives.

We check in with Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam about the ongoing government shutdown.

After appealing to the Supreme Court for help, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle hopes the system is one step closer to resolving the massive backlog of Cook County criminal cases resulting in some inmates waiting years for their cases to be adjudicated. Carol Marin and her guests take a closer look at the effort to improve criminal courts operations. Read letters from President Preckwinkle and Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Kilbride.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and local leaders are scrambling to make a deal to privatize Chicago’s ports. Paris Schutz has the story.

In August, Bishop Elizabeth Eaton became the first female presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a four-million member denomination. Bishop Eaton will be installed as presiding bishop this Saturday, October 5 in Chicago. Read an interview with Eaton.

Why did beautiful bronze reliefs at a Hyde Park church create an artistic controversy? Geoffrey Baer answers this question and more in this week’s edition of Ask Geoffrey.

Rare Tiffany masterworks are on display in a lavish Chicago home of the late 19th century.

We check the pulse on the first day of the health insurance exchange open enrollment.

It's day one of the government shutdown. We assess the local impact.

Just how serious is the government shutdown? Federal employees missing paychecks will feel it, but what about the economy as a whole? And who is really to blame? We have analysis.

He was a polarizing and enigmatic president, not unlike the man who would succeed him 100 years later. We talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning author of a new biography of President Woodrow Wilson.

A massive art project is already gone but not so easily forgotten.

With the government hours away from a possible shutdown, we take a look at the impact on Chicago. Paris Schutz has the details.

The clock is ticking down on a midnight deadline for a government shutdown. What would a shutdown mean for the country and can it be avoided with a delayed implementation of ObamaCare? Carol Marin and her guests have analysis.

James "Big Cat" Williams breaks down the turnovers and shoddy tackling that led to the Bears' first loss of the season against the Detroit Lions. Watch a web extra video.

Arlene Marks stopped painting several years before she moved into assisted living. But when she arrived, she found new inspiration. Jay Shefsky has a profile of a suburban artist rediscovering her art and painting charming portraits of her neighbors. Read an article and view a slideshow.

Melanie Kupchynsky has been a violinist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for more than 20 years. She began playing the violin at the age of 4 and her first teacher was her father, known to everyone else as “Mr. K.” After her father's death, Kupchynsky co-wrote a book called Strings Attached, recounting the lessons learned from her father. Read an excerpt from the book, view photos, and listen to music clips.

A book called Picturing Illinois takes a look back in time through Chicago history using picture postcards. We revisit a conversation with the book's authors. View a slideshow.

We share what you had to say about sand mining near a state park and the state of the economy in tonight’s viewer feedback.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss the week's top headlines.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss the possibility of an African American candidate running against Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the prospect of ADM moving to Chicago. Watch the web extra video.

A fiesta at the zoo, free jazz concerts, and a Bunky Echo-Hawk exhibit at the Field Museum; Chicago Tonight knows what's going on this weekend.

The celebrated work of nanny-turned-photographer Vivian Maier remains on view at the Chicago History Museum and opens next week at the Union League Club.

Illinois lawmakers must be paid, a Cook County judge ruled on Thursday, in response to Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to suspend lawmakers' salaries because of their failure to solve the state's pension crisis. Judge Neil Cohen ruled the move to withhold pay unconstitutional. Chicago Sun-Times Springfield Bureau Chief Dave McKinney gives us the details. Read the full order, along with statements from Quinn and Cullerton.

The fiscal year ends on Monday and the federal government still does not have a solution on how to fund the upcoming year. We break down the chances of a shutdown and the effects it would have.