Stories by Marc Vitali

Champion of Art and Culture Shared His Enthusiasm and His Smarts

Gov. Bruce Rauner has targeted public employee salaries and collective bargaining rights in his first few weeks on the job. How will the Illinois General Assembly respond when he delivers his State of the State speech on Wednesday? We have a preview.

Gov. Bruce Rauner granted licenses on Monday to companies to grow and sell medical marijuana in the state. The move comes after a review by the Rauner administration and the Illinois Attorney General, amid fears that Gov. Rauner would take months to reach a decision on the coveted licenses.

Roey Gilad, Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, joins Chicago Tonight to discuss the elections in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming visit to the U.S. Congress, as well as relations between the U.S. and Israel, and in the Middle East.

The hands of the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic indicator of how close we are to a global catastrophe, have been moved to the 11:57 position. Kennette Benedict, executive director of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, explains her publication's decision to move us closer to midnight.

It's said that with age comes wisdom, but unfortunately that wisdom is accompanied by a long list of possible age-related health issues. Local experts weigh in on how to maintain your health into your senior years.

Veteran Chicago journalist Andrew Patner passed away Feb. 3 after a brief battle with a bacterial infection. He was WFMT’s Critic-at-Large since 1998, and presented the weekly programs Critical Thinking and Critic's Choice.

Digging Out of the Blizzard Archbishop Blase Cupich PARCC Test Controversy Adjuncts and Tenure Viewer Feedback: 2/2

Chicago digs out from its fifth biggest snowstorm on record. How do residents feel the city did?

Archbishop Blase Cupich talks about his surprise appointment by Pope Francis, how he intends to reverse the decline in Catholics attending mass, and what the church is doing to rebuild trust broken by priest sexual abuse scandals.

The federal government is warning Chicago Public Schools against sanctions for its decision to administer the controversial PARCC test to 10 percent of students.

Two main tracks exist for professors in the academic world: tenured and non-tenured faculty. Across the nation, some non-tenured, adjunct faculty members are asking for higher wages, benefits and a more equal system. Can these two levels of professorship continue to exist? Is one becoming more predominant than the other? And what is the effect on the cost and quality of education? We discuss these questions and more with our panel.

We share what you had to say about recent stories when we read some of our viewer feedback.

The five mayoral candidates met for their second forum before the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss this week’s headlines.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss the latest reports of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's motorcade again running red lights.

Back on the Job Controversial Buyout for President of College of DuPage Checking in on the Mayoral Race Youth Employment Rate Lagging in Chicago New Exhibit Looks at Crime Photos in Chicago

International Kennel Club Dog Shows, Sixth Annual Revel Bowl, and Short Shakespeare! Macbeth; Chicago Tonight knows what’s going on this weekend.

Chicago Shakespeare stages an abridged version of Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy and gets right to the point of one of his darkest plays.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis is back at work and talking to Chicago Tonight about her recovery, the mayoral race, and the controversial PARCC testing.

A controversial and expensive buyout for the president of the College of DuPage has enraged critics who say the $763,000 severance agreement lacks transparency and damages the publicly funded community college's reputation. We hear from the one board member who voted against the deal. 

Mayor Emanuel has at times had trouble with organized labor, but not today. He got an enthusiastic endorsement from several of the city's trade unions. This as a new Tribune poll gives the mayor a big lead over his challengers, but short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff

As the economy and employment rates improve, young people may be getting left behind. We’ll learn about a new report on the jobless rate among teens in Chicago.

A new exhibit at Roosevelt University looks at crime photography in Chicago in the 1920s and '30s -- and in the last few years.

Tickets for the Grateful Dead's July 3-5 reunion shows at Soldier Field are in high demand. The band received more than 60,000 envelopes of mail-in ticket requests.

We share what you had to say about Gov. Rauner’s expected push to diminish the influence of unions and bicycle safety in Chicago.