Stories by Jay Shefsky

When a developer painted over a beloved and iconic mural on a shuttered Pilsen community center last month, the response was swift and strong.

In the late 1950s, the Chicago Defender and Pabst Brewing Company sponsored the Miss Wonderful 1958, an all African-American beauty contest. Meet Ernestine Terry, who was one of the contestants.

Life as an amphibian is no easy hop through the woods. Why Chicago scientists are measuring levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) in Lake County frogs.

A lawsuit alleges Secretary of Education Betsy Devos violated federal law and abandoned “critical federal protections” for students that were set to take effect this month.

As more cruises and kayaks join commercial barges on the river, some tour boat operators are concerned about safety. Learn the “rules of the road” for Chicago waterways.

For more than a decade, a network of nonprofit organizations has been addressing gang violence by hosting summer basketball games in neighborhoods across the city.

For 30 years, Paul Meincke covered local, national and international news for Chicago’s ABC7. Now, he’s in the midst of another adventure: a canoe trip along the length of the mighty Mississippi River. We check in via Skype.

The Chicago Police Department says the city saw 56 shootings and eight homicides from Friday night to Tuesday night, with the majority occurring Monday on the city’s South and West Sides.

A massive food festival, live music, fine art and Irish fiddles usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

This fall, Roosevelt will begin offering a new scholarship to future STEM teachers, thanks to a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Watch the July 5, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Chicago might be called the Second City, but we can lay claim to a few big historical firsts. Geoffrey Baer shares his favorite firsts in this encore edition of Ask Geoffrey.

After a bruising two-year battle, Illinois may be on the brink of a budget. Lawmakers from either side of the budget divide join us with insights.

The head of the nonprofit group Violence Interrupters says his platform includes job creation, reducing gun violence, boosting public school funding and bridging gaps between Democrats and Republicans.

Thursday will be do or die for an income tax increase and Illinois’ first budget since July 2015, following a warning from Moody’s that the state is under review for a credit rating downgrade.

Lincoln Park Zoo will give away hundreds of condoms this week as part of a nationwide outreach program to draw attention to the link between human population and endangered species.

Artwork by Lilly Wachowski, best known as co-director of “The Matrix,” honors 27 transgender people killed last year—and allows the viewer to look them in the eyes.

As the national debate over gender-neutral bathrooms continues, Northwestern says its new facility is the first of its kind at a major Chicago university.

Illinois is a single step away from having its first budget in years, after a whirlwind of Fourth of July action that saw the state Senate swiftly overriding Gov. Bruce Rauner’s vetoes of a $5 billion tax hike and $36.1 billion budget that the senators had passed just hours earlier.

Illinois senators will spend Independence Day voting on a budget and income tax hike. Even if both plans pass, it doesn’t necessarily mean Illinois will get its first budget in two years. 

Following a highly controversial move in 2013 to close 50 elementary schools, Chicago Public Schools has sought to sell the vacant properties. Find out who is buying the shuttered schools, how much they’re paying, and what the sites could be used for.

Dr. Catherine Humikowski described her job at Comer Children’s Hospital as “perfect.” But dealing with trauma—and her own near-death experience in 2013—prompted her to take a break.

City officials say the ordinance affirms that government agencies will not practice discrimination-based operations, but some activists say the city could do more to protect immigrant and minority rights.

Like many humans approaching their elder years, a 49-year-old western lowland gorilla named Ramar has been dealing with knee pain.

In a stunning turnabout from the partisan divisions that has kept Illinois without a budget for the past two years, Republicans joined with Democrats to pass $5 billion in new taxes, along with a $36 billion budget.

Illinois escaped an immediate slump to “junk” bond status as it began its third consecutive year without a budget—a politically depraved condition that’s a first for modern state governments. Get the latest from Springfield.