Stories by Alex Ruppenthal

A first-of-its-kind study shows that forests in Chicago face significant threats from climate change, with native trees especially vulnerable to increases in temperature, precipitation and other changes.

President Trump fires the FBI director investigating his connections to Russia. Lawmakers put Gov. Rauner in a bind on the “abortion bill.” And the Cubs early season struggles continue.

Watch the May 11, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

Cook County has approved hundreds of low-dollar legal settlements in connection with conditions at the Cook County Jail.

Chicago Police Board President Lori Lightfoot talks about misconduct findings against all 15 officers who faced discipline last year.

Legislation proposed this week in the Illinois Senate would require electronics manufacturers to pay for permanent recycling drop-off sites set up by counties.

The Chicago Police Department documented 72 hate crimes in 2016 – a 20-percent spike compared to 2015. That increase falls in line with hate crime upticks in other large U.S. cities, like New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

How young is too young for a student to be expelled from school? A new bill going through the state Legislature would keep preschoolers from being kicked out of class.

The author of a new book explores the lives of young factory workers exposed to radium in the 1920s.

The recently installed “Flying Creatures Initiative” on the southeast corner of Wabash Avenue and Randolph Street is part of the city’s Year of Public Art.

A conversation with actors Anthony Murphy and Chicago’s own Jonathan Weir from the production “Aladdin.”

Northbrook native Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor for the world's first commercial spaceline, returns to Chicago to receive Adler Planetarium's Women in Space Science Award. 

Annual physicals often come with a roster of tests, and the results of those tests can leave many of us scratching our heads. Scientists at the University of Illinois are trying to change that.

We visit the Art Institute of Chicago to find out more about the 19th century oil painting “Arrangement in Grey and Black, Number One” – commonly known as “Whistler’s Mother.” 

Celebrate Mother’s Day with spring blooms, handmade designs, food trucks and more. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

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

A retired former FBI supervisor and two former assistant U.S. attorneys share their reactions to the ouster of FBI Director James Comey.

Brew news with Lagunitas Brewing Company founder Tony Magee.

In passing House Bill 40, Illinois senators tossed a political hot potato into Gov. Bruce Rauner’s lap ahead of the 2018 gubernatorial campaign.

Adam Selzer, author of the new book “H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil,” joins us to discuss the latest chapter in a story that's already more than a century old.

Geoffrey Baer explores an eccentric architect’s wacky proposal for the World’s Fair.

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.

The city’s neighborhood cleaning program kicked off this year with additional graffiti-removal crews and new chemical-blasting trucks.

Illinois’ fiscal woes do not appear to be discouraging out-of-towners from visiting, according to figures released by the state’s Office of Tourism.

The political inertia that’s left Illinois without a budget can’t continue, according to a report released Tuesday by the non-partisan Civic Federation. 

Watch the May 9, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."