Stories by Alex Ruppenthal

About 100 Southeast Side residents attended the first public meeting addressing exposure to neurotoxic manganese since the city became aware of it in 2016. “How are you going to keep us healthy?” one resident asked.

The former police board president, appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, on why she now wants to replace him.

Mississippi’s long-running literary tradition includes renowned names like William Faulkner, Eudora Welty and Richard Wright. Add to that list the only woman to win the National Book Award twice: Jesmyn Ward.

Sports gambling gets a big boost from the U.S. Supreme Court. What that could that mean for Illinois. 

The enormous dinosaur cast replacing Sue the T. rex at the Field Museum will be here in just a few weeks. And the new resident now has a name.

“The cost of medicine should never, ever prevent anyone from getting the treatment they need,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a statement. 

Eddie Arruza and guests discuss the difficulties Trump Tower has faced leasing space. With guests Heather Cherone, Natasha Korecki, Laura Washington and Chris Jones.

An Emanuel appointee jumps into the Chicago mayor’s race. Illinois lawmakers have less than three weeks to pass a budget. Will they? And Chicago’s Lincoln Towing may lose its license.

As the U.S. grapples with opioid addiction, chronic pain patients say the medications they rely on are being reduced and they’re being treated like “junkies.” “We’re not drug addicts,” says a patient with excruciating neuropathic pain.

Your responses to a Harvard scientist’s research into climate change.

Watch the May 10, 2018 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

The proposed new Foxconn plant in Wisconsin gets an air quality exemption. We speak with a former senior EPA administrator on the impact of that move and more.

After 20 years in the fashion industry, Owen Deutsch wasn’t planning on getting back into photography. But then he discovered a new subject: birds.

What “deep games” are and how they can provide more than entertainment. We speak with game developer Doris Rusch of the Deep Games Laboratory at DePaul’s School of Design.

Chicago libraries serve “a multitude of community functions” and should be open longer, says Kang Chiu of the Chicago Coalition of Library Friends.

From the Special Olympics to Congress and beyond: The new book “Eunice” explores the formidable impact of Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

She says she offers a progressive vision for the city. Lori Lightfoot formally announces her campaign to take on Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

“That just goes to show you how many illegal guns get out here on the streets of Chicago,” CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson told media Thursday.

A “chicken in distress” call last month led to an unusual rescue effort in Lincoln Park – and an award for the Chicago Police Department.

A pair of Chicago Police officers allegedly paid off informants with stolen goods to obtain search warrants, and falsified police reports to cover up their actions.

Street performers, fair trade pop-ups, tiny homes and indigenous plants usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Stern warnings on state budget prospects from a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog.

Among its several honors, Will Snider’s “How to Use a Knife” was named a finalist for a PEN Center USA Literary Award. Based on this exceptional Shattered Globe production alone, it should have won the prize.

To put Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s fundraising advantage into perspective: a total of $6.6 million has been raised so far in this campaign, according to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform – $6.1 of it by Emanuel.

Watch the May 9, 2018 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Two women bring new accusations against R&B superstar R. Kelly. Veteran music journalist Jim DeRogatis joins us with the latest.