Stories by Matt Masterson

Katrina Burlet, who coached the prison's debate team, says she was banned from all correctional facilities after her program was shut down. She hopes a new lawsuit will restore her team.

Nothing more concisely captures the impressive scope of the work done on Chicago-area stages than this annual list of nominations.

It’s been two months since the U.S. Supreme Court came out with its landmark Janus v. AFSCME decision. Now, on to the next front in the battle over the future of public employee unions.

Watch the Aug. 27, 2018 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Horse-drawn carriages have trotted along Chicago’s downtown streets for decades, but an ordinance making its way through City Council could outlaw the industry for good.

Cardinal Blase Cupich speaks out after finding himself in the middle of a firestorm between a former Vatican official and Pope Francis.

Reflections on the life of the late Arizona senator, Republican leader and two-time presidential candidate who died Saturday from brain cancer.

As Chicago Public Schools teachers return to the classroom this week, many will have a new leader at the top of their union.

Qui Nguyen’s play, now receiving its Chicago premiere at Writers Theatre, is a second generation, rap-era kid’s flashy, sexually charged version of a story about the pain and rage that come with being a refugee, and the difficult process of assimilation. 

A new law allows Illinois farmers to grow cannabis for non-drug uses, making Illinois the latest state to legalize a crop that experts say is growing in demand.

The legal minimum age to purchase tobacco products in Illinois will remain 18 after Gov. Bruce Rauner last week vetoed legislation that would have raised the age to 21. 

Two women acting as ride-hailing service drivers have reportedly robbed multiple riders at gunpoint across the Near North Side in recent months, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Eddie Arruza and guests discuss President Donald Trump’s mounting legal woes and how they could impact Chicago politics.

A new poll shows a sizable lead in the race for governor. Juries convict two in the murder of Hadiya Pendleton. A renewed push for a Chicago casino. And a controversial acquisition for the Cubs.

Six students from the University of Illinois at Chicago are starting the fall semester a little early – and a couple thousand miles from campus.

For the fifth straight year, dozens of animals have returned to O’Hare International Airport, where they are helping to clear invasive vegetation that can harbor wildlife and pose risks to aircrafts during takeoff. 

Authorities are looking for two to three men they believe are responsible for five robberies in the area this month.

Readers react to the prospect of a casino in Chicago.

Watch the Aug. 23, 2018 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The recent GOP federal tax cut law isn’t very popular among Democratic politicians. But city officials are taking advantage of one provision that could jump-start development in blighted areas.

Remembering the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, as captured by two local photographers.

A Cook County jury took about three hours to convict the man accused of fatally shooting 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton at a Kenwood park on the South Side in 2013.

With the stated mission of providing low-income housing, an Ohio-based nonprofit received millions in loans and tax breaks. But a Chicago Tribune investigation has uncovered a pattern of mismanagement and broken promises.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is revising its recommendations on cervical cancer screenings for some women. A local doctor talks about what that means for patients.

Gov. Bruce Rauner says a suite of new laws will “dramatically improve” mental health and addiction treatment in Illinois as part of a larger effort to address the state’s opioid crisis.

More than a million pangolins have been poached from the wild in the past 10-15 years, according to Brookfield Zoo. What conservationists are doing to change that.