Stories by Alex Ruppenthal

Visitors can expect snow flurries on their next trip to the zoo, even in the middle of summer. Four snowy owl chicks hatched last month are already flapping their wings and will soon attempt to fly. 

We raise a glass to one of the first female architects in the U.S. with a rum-based sipper that creates beauty from the sour, the bitter and the strange.

A staff shakeup in the Rauner administration. Big layoffs predicted after Cook County’s soda tax is blocked in court. New owners at the Chicago Sun-Times. Big changes ahead for Lake Shore Drive. And in sports, a major crosstown trade.

The Sun-Times publisher and editor-in-chief talks about the newspaper’s new owner and what’s ahead for the 69-year-old paper.

A stunning Windy City Swap: Sox ace pitcher Jose Quintana is being sent about 8 miles north.

Watch the July 13, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

The trillion-ton iceberg is now drifting. While experts say it poses no immediate threat, is the event itself the precursor of more change to come as the global environment warms?

Award-winning musician, writer and producer Brian Culbertson joins us in conversation.  

Summer means sprinklers, ice cream trucks, and reading outside on park benches, lawns and beaches. If you’re looking for a good book to take to the pool, we’ve got you covered. 

Big cuts are coming to the Cook County Sheriff's Office, including nearly 400 jail guards. “We had no way to plan for this,” said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.

Music festivals, secret gardens, dancing lions and—oh la la!—French flair usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

A group of investors led by former Chicago Ald. Edwin Eisendrath has completed its purchase of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Reader.

Watch the July 12, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

It is one of the city’s crown jewels, but parts of Lake Shore Drive have not been upgraded since before World War II. A new plan gives parts of the drive a real “wow” factor.

While Illinois residents should expect to see a smaller paycheck in short order, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza says it will takes months for the increased revenue to truly buttress state coffers.

Illinois legislators have finally passed a budget, but the impasse did not leave the state’s public universities unscathed: faculty and staff were laid off, student enrollment dwindled and bond ratings were downgraded.

The public is invited to weigh in on public health policy ideas at a series of upcoming town hall meetings. Get dates, locations and more details.

After intense lobbying in Springfield, lawmakers this month passed legislation that could ultimately disconnect 1.2 million landline users in Illinois. 

One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s finest public buildings is ready for the public again. We take a look inside the restoration of Unity Temple.

The Illinois State Board of Education is still waiting to hear back from Washington on its proposed education accountability plan, but an independent review found the state likely has room for improvement.

Up to 40 percent of women take antibiotics late in their pregnancies or while nursing. A new study rethinks the common practice of prescribing such drugs when they aren’t warranted.

Are you ready to party like it’s 1925? That’s the last year Chicago experienced a solar eclipse like it will next month. To celebrate, the Adler Planetarium is hosting a daylong block party, and you’re invited.

Adler Planetarium astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz will spend the next year figuring out how humans can get along while exploring one of the more curious planets in our solar system: Mars. 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced that thousands of layoffs will start next week as an appeals court Monday dealt a blow to the new tax.

Watch the July 11, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin analyzes a new report that envisions new uses and upgrades for Chicago’s Pedway.