Stories by Marc Vitali

A 1970s project to bring public art to Chicago is investigated in this look at enamel painting in Chicago, its influence and legacy.

Chicago is going back to the banks to borrow more than $1 billion, despite its recent junk bond status. Paris Schutz details why the city's chief financial officer says it's necessary.  

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton joins Carol Marin to talk about the Springfield summer session's budget showdown.

Last weekend, the nonpartisan Council of Great Lakes Governors held a summit to discuss how to prevent a repeat of last year’s toxic algae bloom that left more than 400,000 without drinking water. We’ll talk with experts about the summit and the economic and technological advantages that Lake Michigan provides to Chicago. 

An Intrinsic Schools classroom holds roughly 50 to 60 students. Though, it's counterintuitive to what research says about smaller classrooms, the school splits those students into multiple smaller groups. Brandis Friedman takes a closer look at this unique charter school model.

Elizabeth Alexander wrote and delivered the poem, Praise Song for the Day at President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009. Three years later, her husband died suddenly of a heart attack - four days after his 50th birthday party. Her new book is a touching memoir about her love and deep loss.

We share what you had to say about Elizabeth Brackett's report on the aging Mackinaw Straits pipelines, and whether a city income tax should be considered to help solve Chicago's fiscal troubles.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists tackle the week's top local stories on Chicago Tonight: The Week in Review.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss Ald. Joe Moore's call for a graduated city income tax to help solve Chicago's pension problems.

Celebrate the Blues in Grant Park; visit The Barack Obama Presidential Library; and sample the best ribs in town. Chicago Tonight has your weekend picks.

With billions of new revenue needed over the next few years to fund pensions, is a city income tax on the table? We get reaction from aldermen and budget experts.

The political game of chicken between Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic lawmakers got even more heated this week as the two sides went toe-to-toe over the issue of freezing property taxes. Chicago Tonight analyzes the pros and cons of a property tax freeze with experts. 

The Great Lakes contain 90 percent of the fresh water in the U.S. and the Straits of Mackinac have some of the most pristine water in the Great Lakes. But underneath the water are more than 60-year-old pipelines carrying crude oil and natural gas. Elizabeth Brackett has the details.

David McCullough is an author, narrator, historian, and lecturer. He’s received two Pulitzer Prizes, the National Book Award, and nation's highest civilian award, The Presidential Medal of Freedom. In his new book, The Wright Brothers, McCullough takes us back to 1903 when two unknown brothers from Ohio changed the course of history.

A new exhibit in Hyde Park shares its name with a building that has generated a lot of publicity, protest, and angst over the last several months: The Barack Obama Presidential Library. But unlike the officially curated and managed home of the future former president's legacy, the Barack Obama Presidential Library housed at The Hyde Park Free Theater describes itself as “a community museum of, for, and by the people.”

We share what you had to say about Carol Marin’s conversation with Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, Exelon Corporation’s request for a rate hike, and Illinois’ continuing struggle with the state budget.

With no budget and only weeks before the new fiscal year starts, the state is careening toward a government shutdown. Who would that impact? 

The battle over the state’s budget continues to heat up. We’ll talk with Chicago Tonight Springfield reporter Amanda Vinicky about the latest news coming out of the state’s Capitol. 

Named one of Time’s 100 most influential people last year, Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, a Ugandan educator, joins us to talk about her advocacy for women and girls who have survived years of kidnappings and violence at the hands of the Lord’s Resistance Army warlord in Uganda.

Students at Haines Elementary School in Chinatown are learning the Next Generation Science Standards by building solar-powered cars and portable homeless shelters. Teachers there are combining all aspects of a STEM education--science, technology, engineering, and math--while students complete fun projects.

Once thought impossible, new research suggests people can learn perfect pitch. University of Chicago paleontologist and science explainer extraordinaire Neil Shubin is back to discuss that, the unique way trap-jaw ants avoid predators, “virgin births” in sawfish, and the shrinking of Mount Everest.

On the eve of the world premiere of On Your Feet! — a new musical based on the lives of Gloria and Emilio Estefan — Chicago Tonight talks to the couple about their extraordinary life together.