Stories by WTTW News

Former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych is on the lam, wanted for his role in the mass murder of dozens of protestors in Kiev. We hear the latest about the unrest in Ukraine, and get a primer on its history and politics from Northwestern University history professor Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern.  

A new phenomenon in hip hop music, called drill music, is unique to Chicago and gaining in popularity. We talk with one of the genre’s rising stars and examine the criticisms of the music’s lyrics. Read an article and watch a web extra video.

We talk with Chicago Tribune’s Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Blair Kamin about the article series, “Designed in Chicago, Made in China” that details the rapid urbanization of China and the role Chicago architects play in the expansion. View a slideshow of China's urbanization efforts.

We share what you had to say about our conversation with ADHD Doesn't Exist author Dr. Richard Saul and the ruling to expedite same-sex marraige licenses when we read some of our viewer feedback.

Gay couples can now tie the knot in Chicago’s Cook County. Read an interview with Cook County Clerk David Orr and watch a web extra video interview with Charlie Gurion and David Wilk, the first gay couple to get a marriage license today.

More winter storms rock the Chicago area; the Republican candidates for governor debate in Springfield, while Gov. Pat Quinn refuses to debate Democratic opponent Tio Hardiman; the faculty at UIC stages a strike to demand higher wages; and Northwestern football players state their case to unionize to the National Labor Relations Board.

Eddie Arruza and his panel of journalists discuss Illinois’ pension reform overhaul. Watch the web extra video.

A musical, a historical exhibit and a dance camp; Chicago Tonight knows what’s going on this weekend.

Clowns are funny. Clowns are scary. Clowns are divisive – people love ‘em or hate ‘em.

A flood watch and high wind warning is in effect for the Chicago area as temperatures are expected to reach 50 degrees today. WGN's Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling has the latest details. View the city's Pothole Tracker map.

Northern Illinois University President Douglas Baker discusses rising tuition costs, what universities of the future will look like, and his new position as the university’s president. View a graphic on local universities' rising costs.

It’s the earth’s largest freshwater resource. But what will happen in the next 100 years to the Great Lakes and the Great Water Basin? We talk with Phil Enquist, an Urban Designer, about sustainability, strategies, and about urban design aimed at eliminating waste and to ensure fresh water for future generations. View a slideshow.

We meet the Chicago doctor who claims in a provocative new book that ADHD does not exist. Read a book excerpt.

Wish you could get decision-making down to a science? University of Illinois professor Ali Abbas is a leader in the decision analysis field and has created a social website that breaks down theory and practice for its users to make quality life choices. He joins us. Read an interview.

Maria Nezhdanova is a 13-year-old singer from Sochi, Russia who will join us with a performance in studio. She is currently experiencing American culture as a guest of the Chicago Language Travel Company, and she’ll perform as a special guest for the Old Town School of Folk Music on March 5. Listen to an audio clip of her singing and watch a web extra performance.

We share what some of you had to say about our conversations with Judge Diane Wood and Rabiah Mayas when we read some of your viewer feedback.

A free new app is a fun and easy way to improve your writing. Brothers Ben and Adam Long created a program that aims to simplify your writing in the style of Ernest Hemingway.

A National Labor Relations Board hearing is underway to determine whether or not Northwestern University's football team can form a union. Eddie Arruza has the latest developments from today's hearing.

Legislators gather in Springfield today to hash out plans for moving the state forward. Budget proposals, tax hike remedies and the ever-present pension reform issue hang in the balance as the Republican primary draws near. Is progress being made on these issues in the state capital? Do Illinois governor hopefuls have new ideas for state reform, and will we hear about them before the March 18 primary? We have analysis.

Ice now covers 81 percent of the Great Lakes, the largest amount of ice coverage in the last 35 years. While the ice is bad news for Great Lakes shipping, it’s good news for raising the lakes' recently low water levels. Elizabeth Brackett has the story. Read an article.

We talk with Former Secretary of Energy Steven Chu about climate change, fracking and the future of energy policy. Watch a web extra, extended interview with Chu.

Is too much sitting linked to disabilities later in life? We chat with Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine professor Dorothy Dunlop, who is researching the issue. Read the full study.

Terra-cotta shields and emblems dot the exterior of a historic Chicago factory. Geoffrey Baer reveals the meaning of these marks in this week's edition of Ask Geoffrey.

UIC professors cancel classes and take to the picket lines. Paris Schutz has more on what they hope a strike will accomplish.

Has the War on Drugs failed? Diane Wood, the Chief Judge of U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, will discuss the topic at the "Rethinking the War on Drugs" Symposium on Feb. 20-21 in Chicago. She joins us to talk about the issue. Read an interview with another participant in the event, Angela Caputo of The Chicago Reporter.

As prosecutors wrap up their case against former Chicago cop Steve Mandell, accused in a murder plot, Eddie Arruza brings us up to date on the grizzly details of the case.