Stories by Alex Ruppenthal

More than two dozen of the state’s best tree climbers will face off in challenges this weekend when a little-known event returns to Chicago after a decadeslong hiatus.

The Trump administration fights back against widespread criticism of its slow response to Hurricane Maria, while Chicago’s Puerto Rican community mobilizes to try to send supplies and water to the island.

A big change could be coming to the police accountability apparatus.

A new wrinkle in Chicago’s legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Watch the Sept. 26, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Meet Clive Stockil, a conservationist being honored in Chicago who is helping Zimbabwe’s rhinos bounce back from the threat of extinction.

Barbara Flynn Currie was elected to the House in 1978. Twenty years later, House Speaker Michael Madigan tapped her to be the House majority leader—the first woman to hold the position. Currie discusses her decision to call it quits.

The fall theater season is in full swing. Chicago Sun-Times theater and dance critic Hedy Weiss shares her recommendations at the Court Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Lyric Opera and more.

Get ready, writers and editors: We take a look inside the newest edition of the Chicago Manual of Style and discuss its most attention-grabbing new rules with Carol Fisher Saller.

Researchers from the University of Chicago and University of Illinois at Chicago will join forces to study the health effects of pollution on local residents, thanks to a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Chicago Public Schools principals learned this week that they won’t lose money if enrollment figures following the first two weeks of school were below projections made when budgets were estimated in July.

Gov. Bruce Rauner now has the next 60 days – until late November – to act on a bill that would expand taxpayer-funded abortions in Illinois.

Is the head of a new Chicago police watchdog group about to jump ship just weeks into the job? 

Watch the Sept. 25, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Barbara Gaines, Chicago Shakespeare Theater founder and artistic director, talks about the wild twist on a classic that opens their 31st season.

Northwestern University alum Lisa Byington made history earlier this month as the first woman to call a college football game on the Big Ten Network.

The announcement of a new Chicago arena initially generated some controversy, but the sparkling new building is just about ready for its close-up. We get an exclusive look inside.

Sixty years ago, on Sept. 25, 1957, nine courageous African-American teenagers changed history. We revisit our 2015 interview with the Little Rock Nine.

The number of homicides in the U.S. increased about 8 percent between 2015 and 2016, new data from the FBI shows. Chicago was responsible for more than 20 percent of the jump.

Fifteen new high-resolution security cameras will target those who illegally dump old furniture, tires and other waste across the city.

The governor said a bill requiring mobile apps to seek users’ permission before collecting and sharing their geolocation data would cost the state jobs without “materially” improving privacy protections.

If you tuned in to watch any NFL game Sunday, you saw nearly all the football players in the league—and even some owners—join in a silent protest during the national anthem. Sports columnist Rick Telander weighs in on the controversy.

According to data from the National Registry of Exonerations, Illinois has a false confession rate more than three times higher than the national average. Is there “a culture in Chicago of solving cases by confession?”

More than 2,000 exoneration cases are on record in the U.S., according to the National Registry of Exonerations. Only a handful of people appear on that list twice, and one of them is Chicago native Dana Holland.

Calls for the ouster of CPS CEO Forrest Claypool and General Counsel Ronald Marmer come on the heels of a leaked report alleging Marmer violated the district’s ethics code.

A new study suggests that Earth’s tectonic plates began moving 3.5 billion years ago – about half a billion years earlier than previously thought.