Stories by Nicole Cardos

Since her retirement from the ring a couple of years ago, World Wresting Entertainment champion April Jeanette “AJ” Mendez Brooks has been working on another story line – for a new book.

Pinball machines and Ed Paschke paintings go side by side as a suburban museum becomes an artful arcade.

Inspired by a mother’s concern for her son, new disability awareness cards outline behaviors exhibited by people with disabilities in order to better inform police and first responders.

In 2015, Chicago air pollution reached elevated levels for a total of 151 days, a new report shows, increasing the risk of premature death, asthma attacks and other negative health effects for city residents.

The body of 19-year-old Mohammed Ramzan, a member of the Northwestern University men’s crew team, has been recovered from the North Shore Channel in Lincolnwood. Authorities say he fell into the water early Monday morning during a rowing practice.

After a hyper-partisan confirmation process and a change to the filibuster rule in the Senate, Judge Neil Gorsuch was sworn in Monday by Justice Anthony Kennedy – the judge for whom he once served as a clerk.

An aviation security officer is put on leave after a passenger is dragged from an overbooked United Airlines flight at O’Hare.

It is a new and disturbing mark against the city of Chicago: Early Monday morning a local judge was shot and killed.

The Cubs unveil the new Park at Wrigley as the team plays at home for the first time as World Series Champs.

Watch the April 10, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Viewers weigh in on the complicated system of selling tax liens in Cook County.  

Meet one of the filmmakers behind a new “American Experience” series about the United States’ entry into World War I.

Chicago's mayor and the U.S. education secretary have a 10:30 a.m. meeting scheduled Wednesday morning. But the location and content of their talk is not yet known.

The new Office of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control will “streamline” the city’s current efforts and look for new ways to help prevent and improve the management of chronic conditions and diseases.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Sunday a commitment to transition the city’s municipal buildings and operations to 100 percent clean and renewable energy by 2025.

In the early 1960s, bald eagles were nearly extinct in the lower 48 states. But government protections and conservation measures have had a huge impact on their numbers. “I think it’s an incredible success story,” said biologist Chris Anchor.

A new treatment for a deadly form of brain cancer is seeing dramatic study results. “When I first started, less than 10 percent of patients with glioblastoma were alive at five years. Now we’re at 12 to 15 percent,” said Roger Stupp, a neuro-oncologist at Northwestern University. 

After unknowingly hiring a man convicted of armed robbery, battery and other felonies and misdemeanors, the Chicago Park District is changing its policy on background checks.

A recent wave of videos on social media show Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents arriving at Chicago residences in unmarked cars, knocking on doors while donning vests and jackets that say “police.”

In a sentencing memo filed Friday, Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s attorneys admit she “harbored a very real and greedy sense of entitlement” that she was earning something she deserved by steering millions of dollars in CPS contracts to her former employer.

Noble teachers announced Friday they have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, citing administration's “use of surveillance” to interfere with their rights granted by the National Labor Relations Act.

J.B. Pritzker launches his bid for Illinois governor. The U.S. Senate uses the “nuclear option” to confirm Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. And baseball season gets underway. These stories and more with Paris Schutz and guests. 

Watch the April 6, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Some major policy decisions for the Trump administration as global events heat up.

She made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” in 1981. Liz Callaway joins us in conversation and performance.

Add another name to the field of Democratic candidates for governor – one that has been long anticipated.