Stories by Brandis Friedman

Some schools are changing the structure of the classroom and how students are learning. Brandis Friedman visits one West Side charter school that's taking a personal approach to learning.

More scrutiny on the Chicago Police Department. On Tuesday, a City Council member called for the abolishment of the Independent Police Review Authority, and a new report cites allegations that the fiancée of new police superintendent Eddie Johnson is part of a probe into cheating on a lieutenant’s exam.

Presidential candidates are competing for a win in Tuesday's primary in Wisconsin. James Warren of the Poynter Institute joins us to talk delegate math and what that means for the contenders on both the Democrat and Republican side.

Watch the April 5, 2016 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Could a spice help rebuild Afghanistan? Could it decrease the production of poppy for opium? Meet three Chicago war veterans who have started a business with these goals in mind.

Field Museum curators break down the taxonomy of candy in a new "Brain Scoop" video. 

A controversial casting notice for the mega-hit Broadway show "Hamilton" has ignited a firestorm in the theater world. Has the show's nontraditional casting become reverse discrimination?

State Sen. Andy Manar plans to introduce a new school funding formula bill on the floor of the Illinois Senate on Wednesday. The bill, if passed, would shift money from wealthier districts to poorer districts—with cuts to wealthier districts being phased in over four years.

You don't have to be an expert birder or ecologist to enjoy songs and calls from native and foreign birds in Chicago this time of year. Here's what to listen for.

A groundbreaking study partially conducted at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago found that a marijuana extract greatly reduced severe seizures in some children.

Chicago's own Marina City is featured as one of 10 American homes in a new PBS series hosted by Geoffrey Baer that premieres tonight.

Paintings of Chicago by Robert Guinan, who died Saturday, are sought after in Europe and have been exhibited in Rome, Vienna and Paris.

The Chicago History Museum has a whole slew of Abraham Lincoln memorabilia. But until now, at least one item – Lincoln’s family carriage – had not been on display since 1986. See it and the president’s deathbed starting Saturday.

The weather may not reflect it, but it's opening day for baseball. There's big time expectations for Chicago's long-time losing Cubs. WBEZ's Cheryl Raye Stout and Danny Ecker of Crain's Chicago Business have the stats on how the season's shaping up for the Sox and Cubs.

Thanks to fewer potholes this year, the city is already beginning to resurface 55 miles of roads. See a map of the roads that will be resurfaced.

Hear what viewers had to say about the Chicago Teachers Union one-day strike and our story about one teacher who opted out of the strike when we read feedback from the "Chicago Tonight" website, and our Facebook and Twitter pages.

People who took public transportation to the Cook County Court building Monday at 26th and California were surprised to find that the lockers they used to protect their phones were gone. And with a courthouse cellphone ban in effect, it left many not knowing what to do.

Crews are working around the clock to prepare Wrigley Field for next Monday's home opener. What will be ready to go, and what will continue to be under construction through the season?

State lawmakers return to Springfield this week to vote on a number of measures, but not on the agenda is the No. 1 topic of discussion—the state budget that should have gone into effect last year.

The Ukrainian Village music venue first opened the night before Halloween 1993. During its first decade, Empty Bottle would become a magnet for underground rock, post-punk and experimental music. A soon-to-be released book chronicles of some of its 23-year history and shares testimonies from the artists and fans who love it.

In the new book "Equal is Unfair," authors from the Ayn Rand Institute argue that fighting income inequality is misguided. One of the authors joins “Chicago Tonight” to argue his case.

Nearly 60 years ago, an amateur fossil collector named Francis Tully stumbled upon an incredibly peculiar fossil. The odd jumble of physical attributes – a tube-shaped body, eyes on stalks, and a long, skinny snout with a claw or jaw at the end – looked like they would be more at home in a Dr. Seuss book than in the swamps of Illinois.

In 1978, photographer David Gremp spent a year documenting 14 Chicago libraries, their neighborhoods and their patrons. Gremp snapped hundreds of images, giving his subjects a simple directive: look straight into the camera.

While many Chicago teachers boycotted going to work today to participate in the Chicago Teachers Union’s day of action, Lane Tech High School teacher Mike DeRoss showed up for work because he felt it was the right thing to do.

A new interactive exhibit on climate change at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum addresses “the defining issue of our time,” says Steve Sullivan, senior curator of ecology at the museum.