Stories by Alex Ruppenthal

For the fifth straight year, dozens of animals have returned to O’Hare International Airport, where they are helping to clear invasive vegetation that can harbor wildlife and pose risks to aircrafts during takeoff. 

Authorities are looking for two to three men they believe are responsible for five robberies in the area this month.

Readers react to the prospect of a casino in Chicago.

Watch the Aug. 23, 2018 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The recent GOP federal tax cut law isn’t very popular among Democratic politicians. But city officials are taking advantage of one provision that could jump-start development in blighted areas.

Remembering the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, as captured by two local photographers.

A Cook County jury took about three hours to convict the man accused of fatally shooting 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton at a Kenwood park on the South Side in 2013.

With the stated mission of providing low-income housing, an Ohio-based nonprofit received millions in loans and tax breaks. But a Chicago Tribune investigation has uncovered a pattern of mismanagement and broken promises.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is revising its recommendations on cervical cancer screenings for some women. A local doctor talks about what that means for patients.

Gov. Bruce Rauner says a suite of new laws will “dramatically improve” mental health and addiction treatment in Illinois as part of a larger effort to address the state’s opioid crisis.

More than a million pangolins have been poached from the wild in the past 10-15 years, according to Brookfield Zoo. What conservationists are doing to change that.

Chicago’ and Illinois’ budgets could both use extra padding – money for schools, and to pay pension debts. One option? More gambling. But just what are the chances? 

Watch the Aug. 22, 2018 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

An urban farming program that started barely two years ago with 7 acres of land near a former steel mill celebrated a milestone Wednesday.

Assessing the impact of a guilty verdict and plea deal on the presidency of Donald Trump: a discussion with former federal prosecutor Patrick Cotter.

“Each garden, we’re finding, is its own microcosm this year,” said organic gardener Jeanne Nolan. “Some are bountiful and others are delayed. That weather stressed out the plants some, and we’re seeing the results of it.”

In honor of her late son, Elizabeth Gerlach wrote a children’s book featuring a protagonist who uses a wheelchair. “I would like to be able to reduce the stigma of kids with disabilities,” she said.

District leaders are updating policies on how students and staff can digitally communicate as it works to root out sexual misconduct inside its schools.

Witty women, global fare, sweet treats and art fairs usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

An exhibition conveys the role of the publishers of Ebony and Jet magazines in spreading the word on black culture from their onetime offices at 820 S. Michigan Ave.

Local reaction to a stunning two-year grand jury investigation that details alleged sexual abuse of more than 1,000 individuals by 300 “predator priests” – and a cover-up by church officials.

Watch the Aug. 21, 2018 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The candidate pool in the race for mayor grows once again – and a new poll has some surprising results.

A bill signed into law this week seeks to incorporate composted soil into state-funded landscaping projects. 

The names of prospective district volunteers must now be run through sex offender registries and the statewide list of violent offenders before they can be hired.

A march planned for Saturday commemorating the 1968 anti-war protests held during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago will not just be a “nostalgia event,” says organizer Andy Thayer.