Stories by Crystin Immel

Chicago’s technology incubator, 1871, seeks public funding to expand for the second time in a year, following a 25,000 square foot expansion last year. The potential state-backed expansion concerns privately run co-working spaces and offices that rival 1871. We hear the latest from Crain's Chicago Business reporter John Pletz. 

Painter Archibald Motley created a revealing body of work that captured Chicago people and nightlife during the Jazz Age. We revisit our story about the Motley exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Over Memorial Day weekend, a new part of the Chicago Riverwalk opened from State Street to Clark Street. Carol Ross Barney has been leading the Riverwalk design for more than a dozen years. We sit down with her to talk about the project. 

We share what you had to say about the Chicago-based documentary series The School Project's final message, the new Method soap factory in Pullman, the Metropolitan Water District's new holding tank project, and our interview with the Little Rock Nine.

Eddie Arruza and his panelists discuss the national trend of decriminalization of marijuana, and the likelihood of Governor Bruce Rauner signing it into law here in Illinois. 

Eddie Arruza and his panel of journalists discuss the week's top stories on Chicago Tonight: The Week in Review. Headline topics include Mayor Emanuel's second-term agenda, the problematic Peoples' Gas main replacement program, and the fight for $15 minimum wage. 

Get up close and personal with technology at the Museum of Science and Industry; celebrate the men and women who served our country; and take a tour of future storm water reservoir. Chicago Tonight has your weekend picks.

As Illinois' Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan pushes for a three percent millionaire's tax to raise fresh revenue for the cash-strapped state, Republican lawmakers respond with a proposal for term limits to limit the power of long-time legislative leaders like Madigan. Chicago Tonight Springfield reporter Amanda Vinicky rounds up all the latest news.

Kids are almost out of school for the summer, but some long days are ahead for Chicago Public Schools as it tries to close a more than $1 billion budget deficit, most of which is tied to a $700 million pension payment that is due. On top of that, district officials are negotiating with the Chicago Teachers Union over a new teacher contract. Chicago Tonight talks with CTU President Karen Lewis.

In a time of tight budgets, why is the CTA pushing a $570 million 'flyover' project? Paris Schutz reports. 

Rabbi Herman Schaalman turned 99 years old this year. After a life spent studying religious texts and the Torah, he’s starting to doubt the existence of God. We'll talk with the rabbi about his own evolution.

Scott Flansburg is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Fastest Human Calculator.” Flansburg correctly added a randomly selected two-digit number (38) to itself 36 times in 15 seconds without the use of a calculator. Flansburg shares his gift and love of math with children all around the world. He joins Chicago Tonight to put our own calculator to the test.

The Museum of Science and Industry premieres a new national touring exhibit that explores how robots, created by human ingenuity, will ultimately be our companions and colleagues, changing how we play, live, and work together.

The newly seated City Council takes another stab at reform as aldermen select someone to lead the new independent budget office. Paris Schutz has the details on that and more on the heated relocation of Riot Fest.

The University of Illinois’ new president is a geophysicist who studies the earth’s atmosphere. But his focus now will be on moving the state’s huge university system forward. We’ll talk with him about possible budget cuts, tuition costs, and his vision for the future.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Financial Times will examine how global cities are driving political, social, and economic policies and solving critical world challenges during a three-day forum. Ivo Daalder, president of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, joins us.

For the first time in 30 years, a brand-new factory has opened in the historic Pullman neighborhood. We take an inside look at how the Method soap is made and find out why it’s so important to the neighborhood.

We dive into sugar and spice and everything nice, or not so nice. In The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, editor Darra Goldstein shares the powerful ways sugar has played a role in our world, both good and bad.

Who makes the city's flowery fireworks happen every summer? Geoffrey Baer digs into Chicago's public gardens, plus visits West Englewood's Old Abe and a gate to nowhere in Streeterville.

The May 31 deadline for state lawmakers to approve a budget and solve a $6 billion shortfall is quickly approaching. We talk with Chicago Tonight Springfield reporter Amanda Vinicky about what tax hikes and other revenue generators are on the table, what services could be on the chopping block, whether lawmakers will be able to pass a budget before the end of the month, and, if not, how that affects the numerous legislative items on their plate. 

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart joins Chicago Tonight to talk about the new county jail director and efforts to get mentally ill people treatment instead of incarcerating them.

Just why did the city's bond rating get downgraded to junk status by one ratings agency? A Moody's official speaks out. Paris Schutz has the details.

The Little Rock Nine changed history when they integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. in 1957. They join us to discuss their activism and their thoughts on the current state of race relations in America.