Stories by Christine Hurley

We take an exclusive look at The Field Museum’s Dermestid Beetle Colony in the first episode of our online series, Chicago Tonight's "Field Trip." Watch the video.

Illinois is now the 20th state to allow medical marijuana. Gov. Pat Quinn signed House Bill 1 on Thursday, which legalizes the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Paris Schutz has the details.

With a budget shortfall projected at over $300 million, what’s a city budget director to do? Alexandra Holt joins us to discuss her plan of action for the City of Chicago. Read the city's 2013 Annual Financial Analysis.

A photo of earth from 1 billion miles away, what the Curiosity Rover has discovered after a year on Mars, and a spacecraft that may now be traveling beyond the solar system. Astrophysicist Chris Lintott joins us to explore some of the latest and most amazing stories from outer space. View a slideshow and vote on your favorite photo in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2013 Contest.

Could patients complaining of early signs of dementia be right -- even if tests say they're perfectly normal? We have some of the latest Alzheimer's research, including "subjective cognitive decline," when people sense that their memory is failing, even when no one else can notice a difference. Read an article.

In the heart of Chicago, shaded by the afternoon shadow of Michigan Avenue skyscrapers, watered by the mist of Buckingham Fountain wafting through the air, is a farm. The surprising site is one of many small, sustainable, organic farms that have been created and are run by Growing Power, an organization that teaches farming and entrepreneurial skills to kids in Cabrini Green, Altgeld Gardens, Roosevelt Square and other places around the city. We take a look inside. Read an interview with Monte Henige, CEO of Tru Fragrance, a fragrance development company that uses ingredients from Growing Power Chicago in their products.

Chicago Shakespeare’s production of The Comedy of Errors began a tour of 18 Chicago parks. We talk with Chicago Shakespeare’s Executive Director Criss Henderson and actress Lanise Antoine Shelley. Learn more about the program and view a map.

Gov. Pat Quinn responds to the lawsuit filed against him by Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton. The two legislative leaders filed suit Tuesday challenging the governor's decision to withhold paychecks from lawmakers until they come up with a pension reform solution. Paris Schutz has the details. Read Quinn's statement.

Could private dollars provide the key to building innovative, efficient infrastructure in Chicago? We chat with the new head of the city's controversial Infrastructure Trust.

Humboldt Park neighbors come together to get gangs off the street corner. Elizabeth Brackett has the story.

Could Chicago be the next Taksim Square? We talk with Rick Perlstein, who wrote about Chicago’s protest culture in The Nation.

Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation says that requests for rat control services are down 15 percent this year.

While Jay Shefsky tagged along with city workers to learn more about rat control in Chicago, we were curious to find out about other local organizations that had alternative ways of dealing with rats – aside from spreading poison to kill the pesky creatures. We spoke with Jenny Schlueter, Community Cats Program Director at the Tree House Humane Society, about a “green” approach to rat control in Chicago called the Cats at Work Project. Read an interview.

In a Field Museum exhibition, a Chicago photographer teams with a nationally known journalist to document and explore the North Dakota oil boom. Hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – passed the Illinois House legislature, and the controversial drilling practice will soon have implications for the state. We revisit a preview of Fractured: North Dakota's Oil Boom. View a slideshow of images from the exhibit and read a web article.

We revisit a conversation with Curb Your Enthusiasm star Jeff Garlin about his new independent film Dealin’ with Idiots, a youth baseball comedy. Watch the film trailer and a web extra conversation with Garlin.

Venture capitalist Bruce Rauner, co-founder of private equity firm GTCR, won the GOP nomination. 

He’s got the job Bruce Rauner wants; Gov. Pat Quinn is seeking re-election to a second full term.

The CTA says it has saved $10 million this year, but it faces a host of other financial problems and the rollout of the new Ventra fare card system. Will fares go up? Paris Schutz has the latest.

In light of Pope Francis’ statements on gay priests and women during an 80-minute impromptu press conference, we take a look at his papacy and how it compares with others.

Are you sick of traffic jams and lakefront path congestion on the 7-mile stretch on the north end of Lake Shore Drive? An overhaul of the Drive from Grand Avenue all the way to the end at the Hollywood curve is in the planning phase. Some ideas include reducing driving speeds, easing the Oak Street curve, adding bus-only lanes, relieving traffic pinch points, and improving lakefront access and easing overcrowding on the lakefront path. We have analysis.

We talk with Chicago Public Library Commissioner Brian Bannon about his vision for bringing the city’s libraries into the 21st century.

The City of Chicago says it now has a greener and more cost-effective way to treat ash trees infested by the destructive Emerald Ash Borer. City crews are inoculating the trees. Officials say the treatment will spare tens of thousands of trees from being cut down, and saves $1,000 per tree in removal costs. We look at how effective the treatment is. Read an article.

Chicago Sun-Times Theater Critic Hedy Weiss joins us to review shows currently on Chicago area stages, including Shrek the Musical at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Slowgirl at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and Mojada at Victory Gardens Theater. Learn more about the plays and watch a web extra video review.

In the second mass killing of protesters in three weeks, Egyptian authorities attacked protesters in Cairo Saturday, killing 72. M. Cherif Bassiouni, a war crimes expert and law professor at DePaul University, joins us with insight into the conflict.

New York-based ad firm Omnicom and Paris-based ad firm Publicis merged on Sunday, creating the largest advertising firm with $23 billion in combined revenue. The merger might create complications since it will bring together rival clients, such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, and AT&T and Verizon. We have analysis.

Sen. Dick Durbin says the U.S. House of Representatives' bill to cut funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative by 80 percent would severely impact programs created to address ecological problems facing the Great Lakes. Programs to keep Asian carp out of the lakes would be slashed, among others. Elizabeth Brackett has the details. Read a fact sheet.