Stories by Marc Vitali

SOFA CHICAGO is the exceptional art fair devoted to design, and this year marks its 20th anniversary. It fills Festival Hall at Navy Pier through Sunday.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss the week's top headlines.

Joel Weisman and his guests take a closer look at the Chicago Cubs trial run of new signage at Wrigley Field, and the rooftop owners strenuous objections. Watch the web extra conversation.

Orpheus and Euridice at the Eckhart Park Pool, a winter farmers’ market, and an art exposition at Navy Pier; Chicago Tonight knows what’s going on this weekend.

The Chicago Police Department announced crime is down, but its overtime costs will be three times higher than expected. Is the drop sustainable or just a band-aid on a longer term problem?

The Federal Reserve will continue propping up the economy, saying Washington is to blame for impeding economic growth. We hear from economists about the prospects of improvement as the nation heads toward its next fiscal deadlines.

Activist Bill Ayers joins us to talk about his new book, Public Enemy: Confessions of an American Dissident. Read an excerpt, and watch a web extra video.

Liz Callaway is a clarion-voiced singer of the Broadway stage. She's also the daughter of the man who started this show, John Callaway. She joins us, accompanied by her son, Nicholas Callaway Foster, to sing and share stories. Watch web extra videos.  

We share your reactions to a new report about fire department response times in this week’s viewer feedback.

English sculptor Sir Anthony Caro died last week at the age of 89. This was big news in the art world, where his abstract works created a new language for the medium. In Chicago, it wasn't news.

Members of the pension committee join us to talk about the likelihood of the state's $97 billion dollar pension problem getting resolved during next week's veto session.

While glitches plague the federal health insurance marketplace website, we discuss how things are going for people here in Illinois.

Did you ever wonder how prize racehorses get from Chicago or Kentucky to, say, Dubai? Jay Shefsky takes us to O'Hare Airport to meet a man who makes his living flying around the world with racehorses. Read an article.

A street near Soldier Field honors a fallen World War II hero. Geoffrey Baer has that soldier's story, and he answers your questions in this week’s edition of Ask Geoffrey.

A new book, Unthinkable: Iran, the Bomb, and American Strategy by author Kenneth Pollack, explores the advantages and potential consequences of different foreign policy approaches. Pollack joins us to discuss the book. Read an excerpt.

One of the more daring highlights of the fall arts season promises to be Chicago Opera Theater’s staging of the mythical romance “Orpheus and Eurydice.”

The Chicago Transit Authority's new Ventra payment card is still giving some riders big problems. We have the latest.

Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is now officially in the custody of the Federal Prison Bureau. Yesterday, he tried to report early to the federal correctional facility in Butner, North Carolina, but was turned away. Elizabeth Brackett and her guests unravel what happened, and what the 48-year-old will face during his two-and-a-half year term.

Paris Schutz gets a rare one-on-one with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson – the architect of the controversial bank bailout of 2008. Watch a web extra conversation.

Susan Smith Richardson, the new editor and publisher of The Chicago Reporter, joins us to talk about her role, changes to the publication, and adapting to the digital age. Read an interview.

We revisit Jay Shefsky’s story about a musical instrument you've probably never heard of, and Habib Wardak, the young Afghan immigrant who was a sensation on it as an 8-year-old refugee in Pakistan. Listen to Wardak perform, and view a photo gallery.

Chicago radio legend John Records Landecker joins us to talk about writing his memoir, Records Truly is My Middle Name. Watch a web extra video from 1978 about Landecker, and the job of a disc jockey.  

A new report says the Chicago Fire Department is failing to meet its goals in responding to fires and medical emergencies, and response time in some wards is worse than in others.  We have the story.

Will the General Assembly solve the $100 billion pension problem? What is happening in the race for Illinois Governor? And, will same-sex marriage pass during the second week of the Veto Session? Carol Marin and her panel of guests break down what’s happening in Springfield.

Hillary Clinton returned to her hometown today to give a speech before the Jewish United Fund. Paris Schutz has the details.

Chicago Tribune Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Blair Kamin calls Jeanne Gang’s Chicago Park District Boathouse “stunning.”  He joins us to discuss the boathouse, as well as the new addition to the University of Chicago Laboratory School, and the latest on the demolition of Bertrand Goldberg’s historic Prentice Women’s Hospital.