Stories by Alexandra Silets

Republican lawmakers help President Donald Trump in his first whirlwind week in office. Democratic Congress members join us with their reactions.

About 1,300 high school students completed Project Lead The Way’s college- and career-readiness credentialing program last year. More than 60 of those came from Stevenson High School – the highest total for any individual high school in the country.

2017 in Chicago is off to another violent start. Public schools face a resource crunch. And an educator experienced in how those problems intertwine is trying to tackle both.

Thousands have expressed interest in a march urging Donald Trump to release his tax returns. “We want to see your taxes, Mr. President,” said organizer Taran Brar.

For 36 years, professor Peter Hayes sought to understand and explain the Holocaust to students at Northwestern University. He joins us to discuss his new book. 

Viewers sound off on our interview with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Restaurant deals, a polar plunge, the White Sox and a hip-hop festival usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Gov. Bruce Rauner largely bypassed Illinois’ myriad troubles and instead spent much of his speech Wednesday listing his administration’s achievements and calling for cooperation. 

Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city that harbors undocumented immigrants is on thin ice, but the mayor and other city leaders say they aren’t backing down.

Watch the Jan. 25, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

The increasing frequency of tornadoes, and a new study on gun violence. Those stories more from the world of science with Rabiah Mayas.

Board President Frank Clark said Wednesday that CPS has worked out a way to fill a $215 million void left in its 2017 budget. But the district says no final decisions have been made.

The governor strikes a conciliatory tone in his State of State address. We get reaction from public policy professionals with different points of view.

Author Michael Eric Dyson on the challenges faced by black Americans, and why it’s up to whites to address racial inequality.

Geoffrey Baer solves the mystery of a viewer’s “vague memory” from the 1940s, revisits an exhibit at the Century of Progress and opens the door to the Evanston History Center.

The decadeslong fight to clean up the Chicago River took a step forward last week with the resolution of two lawsuits targeting phosphorous discharge that has polluted waters from Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico.

Wednesday morning officials from the Chicago Department of Public Health and UIC signed an agreement to strengthen and formalize their yearslong partnership. 

Gov. Bruce Rauner is poised to deliver a State of the State address Wednesday expressing optimism about Illinois’ future, but his one-time compatriot Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants him to apologize.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel slams the governor for not having proposed a balanced budget, and suggests Gov. Bruce Rauner begin his State of the State address Wednesday with an apology to taxpayers.

Watch the Jan. 24, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Is CPS denying support services for children with special needs in order to save money? We speak with the author of a new report from the Better Government Association.

A team of Illinois legislators has spent the past six months looking for some way to fix the state’s broken education funding model. But with only a week left before its final report is due, concerns have surfaced about how soon any changes will be made.

From Ukraine to Syria, a former foreign policy adviser to President George H. W. Bush sees a “World in Disarray.”

Illinois residents would pay a personal income tax rate of 4.99 percent under the latest incarnation of a bipartisan proposal proffered by Senate leaders. 

Reem Asaad led the “lingerie campaign” that helped get women into the workforce in Saudi Arabia, and is now using her platform to highlight the ways social media has impacted the changing Saudi culture.

Dozens of Chicago activists met last week to plan a defense of environmental policies that appear vulnerable under the administration of President Donald Trump.