Stories by WTTW News

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss the week's top headlines.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists debate whether crying babies should dine at high-end restaurants. The hot topic was prompted by the recent tweet by Alinea owner Grant Achatz, who took to social media to share his dilemma. Also, they discuss the recent City Council action to ban e-cigarettes in restaurants. Watch the web extra video.

A baseball convention, a zombie film festival and a meet and greet with Jon Heder; Chicago Tonight knows what’s going on this weekend.

We speak with medical and policy specialists regarding the City Council ordinance passed Wednesday to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products. Read an interview.

Chicago City Council approves the first infrastructure trust project but it's much smaller than initially sold. Paris Schutz has the story.

17-year-olds can now vote in the primary election on March 18. We sit down with the two men that helped make that possible, Stevenson High School teachers Andrew Conneen and Dan Larsen, and Stevenson high school student Neli Farahmandpour, who testified in Springfield to the Senate Executive Committee. Read an article.

The lead actor in the cult classic Napoleon Dynamite, joins us to talk about the film and his career. Watch the film trailer.

We share what you had to say about City Council's regulation of e-cigarettes in tonight's viewer feedback.  

Has the Catholic church come clean? Archdiocesan officials speak at length about the release of documents outlining priest sex abuse. Paris Schutz has the details. View a graphic of incidents and allegations.

The Chicago City Council passes a ban to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products. Carol Marin and her panel of aldermen weigh in on this issue, and get the latest from inside City Hall. View graphics on e-cigarette sales across the United States, and read an interview with a local doctor about the health risks and benefits.

A local doctor weighs in on the risks and benefits of e-cigarettes. Read the interview.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle may soon have the authority to release nonviolent offenders from the chronically crowded Cook County Jail, after the County Board of Commissioners voted to approve the resolution giving her said authority. Brandis Friedman has the latest.

We are joined by author Peter W. Singer to talk cybersecurity, his new book and what you need to know to protect yourself online. Read an excerpt.

To mark the 157th anniversary of Chicago's first science museum, we take a look at some surprising specimens - including a Chicago rattlesnake.

Billionaire Beanie Babies creator Ty Warner evades prison over his conviction of hiding money overseas. Paris Schutz explains why.

Chicago Board of Education’s Inspector General Jim Sullivan joins us to talk about his latest watchdog report detailing the waste, fraud and corruption he uncovered this year in the Chicago Public Schools. Read the full report.

We talk with Grammy-Award winner Che “Rhymefest” Smith about his new talk show on WVON-AM that focuses on politics and social issues in Chicago. Read an interview and view a slideshow.

Scientists at west suburban Fermilab have installed the final piece on a massive particle detector called NOvA that may answer some very big questions. We go deep underground to uncover how the contraption might do that. Read an article.  

We take a tour of the MINOS underground facility and watch the installation of the last NOvA Far Detector module. Read a behind-the-scenes blog and view a slideshow.

We take a look at fun, funky and completely unexpected words with Jason Riggle, a University of Chicago linguist who cast his vote on a wide spectrum of words that range from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Did you ever wonder how prize racehorses get from Chicago or Kentucky to, say, Dubai? We revisit a story where Jay Shefsky takes us to O'Hare Airport to meet a man who makes his living flying around the world with racehorses. Read an article.

Carol Marin takes a look at the state of the race for Illinois governor with Dave McKinney, Springfield Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun-Times, Amanda Vinicky, Illinois Public Radio and WUIS Statehouse Bureau Chief, and Mark Anderson, NBC-5 Chicago's Ward Room political blogger.

Gov. Pat Quinn asks for emergency action to protect Illinois residents from petcoke. Elizabeth Brackett reports.

School districts across the country are reporting a shortage of special education teachers. We take a look at Chicago Public Schools' shortage and find out how districts and universities are working to fill the void. Read an article and watch a web extra video.