Stories by WTTW News

We share what you had to say about the CTA's new Ventra fare card payment system and on new options available for flu vaccines 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 continue their conversation about Chicago gun crimes by asking whether Mayor Rahm Emanuel needs to change his personal way of handling the issue. And, are there are other strategies that haven’t been tried to curb the violence? Watch the web extra video.

Run for Science, Apple Fest and contemporary artwork; Chicago Tonight knows what's going on this weekend.

RIC Blackhawks schedule: Blackhawks Travel Squad: October 25 – 27: Denver, CO Midwest Sled Hockey League Tournament #1 November 21 – 24: Pittsburg, PA NHL Sled Classic January 3 – 5: St. Louis, MO Midwest Sled Hockey League Tournament #2 February 7 – 9: San Antonio, TX  Midwest Sled Hockey League Tournament #3 March 7 – 9: Chicago, IL Midwest Sled Hockey Championship “Wirtz Cup” April 10 – 13: Marlborough, MA USA Disabled Hockey Festival “National Championships”

Northwestern University's Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art will be closed for the remainder of the calendar year.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb announced that there will be no new indictments in the death investigation of 21-year-old David Koschman. Mayor Richard M. Daley's nephew, Richard Vanecko, was charged with involuntary manslaughter in Koschman's 2004 death. Carol Marin has the details. Watch a web extra video.

We analyze what Wednesday's Federal Reserve announcement to continue the stimulus program will mean for the economic recovery.

The billionaire maker of Beanie Babies admits to not paying taxes on offshore bank accounts. Paris Schutz has more on a government crackdown that could nab more tax cheats in the future.

Catching the flu may be the last thing on your mind as summer unwinds, but flu season is right around the corner. This year, there will be more vaccine options to help prevent against the influenza virus than in years past, including a vaccine that prevents against four strains instead of the traditional three strains of the virus. Read symptoms and tips to avoid the flu.

The international art world comes to Navy Pier for the annual Expo Chicago. We get an early look as the artists, curators and gallery owners prepare for the big weekend. Read an interview with an exhibit curator and view a slideshow.

Geoffrey Baer answers your questions about disappearances, reappearances, and sudden appearances across Chicago – like the giant Buddha heads emerging from the earth in Rogers Park and North Lawndale – in this edition of Ask Geoffrey.

We revisit Jay Shefsky's profile of Chicago's sled hockey team -- that's the hard-hitting, fast-paced sport played by amputees and others with lower limb disabilities. Read an article and watch a web extra video.

We share what you had to say about factory farming and our interview with vegan activist Gene Baur, founder of Farm Sanctuary, in tonight's viewer feedback.

A blues and soul singer to shake up your expectations. Read the Artbeat blog.

Lawmakers take the governor to court over getting their paychecks back. Paris Schutz has the latest. Read the full lawsuit.

We take a look at what Bill Daley was like inside the Obama administration. Read a book excerpt.

Chicago and Cook County home prices are up nearly 12 percent in the second quarter of 2013. We get the latest on the housing recovery from Geoff Smith, the Executive Director of the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, and Loretta Alonzo, the 2012 president of the Illinois Association of Realtors.

We hear the latest on the big rollout of the CTA’s new Ventra card fare payment system, the status of the CTA’s Ashland Avenue Bus Rapid Transit proposal, and the CTA’s push to keep riders away from the dangerous third rail and oncoming trains.

The horrors of the meatpacking industry are well-documented in history but the current state of meat production may be equally as grim. We talk with the “conscience of the food movement,” vegan activist Gene Baur. See before-and-after photos and read stories of Farm Sanctuary’s successful rescues.

Chicago Sun-Times Theater Critic Hedy Weiss joins us to review shows currently on Chicago area stages, including Other People’s Money by Shattered Globe Theatre at Theater Wit, The Mountaintop at Court Theatre, and In the Heights at The Paramount Theatre. For our online audience, Weiss will also review A Raisin in the Sun at TimeLine Theatre. Learn more about the plays, and watch Hedy's web extra video review.

We revisit a story about a pair of artists who met, married and lived at Jane Addams’ Hull House during the Depression era. Their works are currently on view at the Koehnline Museum on the campus of Oakton Community College in Des Plaines. Read an interview and view a slideshow.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses, churches and museums, but the great Prairie architect also designed a book or two. The most significant was called The House Beautiful. Only 90 copies of The House Beautiful were printed, and fewer than 30 are accounted for. Read the Artbeat blog.

What are some of the finest story songs by Chicago songwriters? Read the Artbeat blog.

Bill Daley faces the public after announcing that he is dropping out of the race for Illinois governor. Paris Schutz has the details. View a timeline of Daley's political career.

Bill Daley shocks the political arena and drops his candidacy from the race for Illinois governor. What does this mean for Gov. Pat Quinn and for the Republican field? We have analysis.