Stories by Alex Ruppenthal

Chicago didn’t quite crack the top 10, but the city did receive four out of five “park benches” and moved up to No. 11 in the latest ranking of park systems in the nation’s 100 biggest cities.

Illinois lawmakers are set to spend the bulk of the Memorial Day weekend at the capitol, as Illinois edges closer toward entering a third straight year without a budget.

This week, the city of Chicago is coming through on a promise made two years ago to survivors of torture.

Following a “marathon” bargaining session Wednesday night, educators at Passages Charter School announced they have reached a tentative three-year contract agreement with school management. 

Same-day water testing conducted at UIC's School of Public Health will give Chicagoans more timely alerts about water quality at their favorite beaches this summer. 

For the second consecutive year, the city of Chicago experienced higher levels of population loss than any other city in the nation, according to 2016 data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Some high-profile civic groups are getting together to pressure state lawmakers to finally get a full-year budget done. 

Illinois representatives Wednesday are beginning to vet the $37.3 billion spending plan – as well as the tax hike that would support it – passed a day prior by their Senate peers.

A scenic bike ride, street festivals, baseball, mole and a State Street parade usher in the long weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago. 

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

Harnessing the power of the human body to prevent illness – that’s the goal behind a $100 million gift to the University of Chicago Medicine.

Here’s something that might surprise you: The best place in the entire state of Illinois to see birds during their spring migration is in the city of Chicago. 

Fifty years after Loving v. Virginia, depicted last year in the film “Loving,” a new study examines interracial marriages.

A day after a CTU vote revealed a widespread lack of confidence in the school district chief, Claypool defended himself before the Chicago Board of Education, comparing objections from union critics to those coming from the governor.

The clean economy: What is it, and how is Chicago faring? A new report tells the story.

For the first time, Brookfield Zoo is exhibiting a pangolin, a rare animal native to Africa and Asia.

Two years ago, Park Ridge resident Kentaro Yamada began work on a series of human interest portraits – with a twist: each would include a prized possession levitating before the subject’s eyes.

Why some community groups are mounting opposition to the Obama Library's Jackson Park location and where they say it should go instead.

Watch the May 23, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

After a nearly unanimous no-confidence vote in Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool, members of the Chicago Teachers Union took to City Hall Tuesday to push Mayor Rahm Emanuel to fire the school district chief.

Democrats in the Illinois Senate on Tuesday passed what could be the state’s first complete budget in two years and a revenue package that includes a 32-percent increase in the personal income tax rate. 

“Chicago's Very Own," WGN-TV could be soon owned by a politically active, conservative broadcast company based in Baltimore.  

A state criminal justice agency was awarded nearly $200,000 in grant funding as part of a federal initiative to prevent ideologically motivated violence, but critics say the program discriminates against Muslims.

An Illinois criminal justice agency secured a nearly $200,000 counter-extremism grant without approval from several “partner” organizations listed in its grant application. 

As many Chicago cyclists are starting to shake off the winter cobwebs and get back on their bikes, we take a look at what they can expect this summer. 

The BiAffect app, the winner in a contest using Apple’s Research Kit, was developed to predict manic episodes and depressive moods in people with bipolar disorder, based on how they interact with their cellphones.