Stories by WTTW News

University of Chicago linguist Jason Riggle discusses some of the top words of 2019, including “they,” “existential” and “climate emergency.”

Watch the Dec. 30, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The past year’s population growth rate in the United States was the slowest in a century due to declining births, increasing deaths and the slowdown of international migration, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Chicago has a thriving live music scene today, but many of the city’s legendary venues are long gone. A new book from Neal Samors and Bob Dauber remembers many of those 20th century nightspots.

Dorothy Olson Pauletti came to Chicago at age 17 and played piano professionally for nearly eight decades. At 102, she’s still living musically.

New HIV diagnoses have been dropping in Chicago for years, reaching a record low in 2018. Yet as HIV rates decline, city health officials say other sexually transmitted infections are reaching record highs.

Both local and state police will be ramping up their patrol deployments Tuesday night to maintain safety at busy New Year’s Eve events and along roads as marijuana legalization takes effect.

“Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning” will premiere Thursday on Lifetime. The six-hour series will run for two hours a night for three consecutive nights, concluding Saturday. 

As Illinois prepares to join the recreational market on Wednesday, officials are renewing warnings to consumers against carrying such products over state lines. 

With the new year come recreational marijuana, growing federal investigations, the search for a Chicago police superintendent and some soul-searching for the Bears. We peer into the crystal ball.

Greg Zanis has set up crosses after the school shootings at Columbine, Sandy Hook and Parkland. He also placed crosses after the Las Vegas music festival shooting and the Orlando nightclub shooting.

This year, the germs roared back. Measles tripled, hepatitis A mushroomed, a rare but deadly mosquito-borne disease increased – and that was just the United States. A look back at some U.S. disease trends in 2019.

A judge set a $5 million bond Friday for a state corrections officer who’s charged in the Christmas Day shootings of his wife, adult son and another man in a small eastern Illinois community.

Ready to ring in the ‘20s with a roar? Whether you’re feeling sporty or prefer to go glam (or do both!) we’ve got 10 ideas for your big night out.

Brian Travis was arrested on Christmas Day at O’Hare International Airport and charged with sexually assaulting an underage female student from an Albany Park neighborhood high school.

Mike Luttig, who will retire next week, is the latest executive to leave the beleaguered company. In addition to CEO Dennis Muilenburg who was pushed out this week, Kevin McAllister, the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, was forced out in October.

A young Chicagoan is celebrating the season of giving year-round with his “blessing bags.” Jahkil Jackson tells us about his mission to help the homeless and his recent appearance on Marvel’s “Hero Project.”

In less than a week, marijuana will be legal in Illinois. Cannabis dispensaries are preparing for long lines and excited customers, but it’s likely that not everyone who wants it will be able to legally buy it, at least not right away.

At a time of great division in the U.S., a little bit of Mr. Rogers can go a long way to remind us of simpler times. We revisit a 1985 interview between Fred Rogers and original “Chicago Tonight” host John Callaway.

Before search engines and Wikipedia, where could Chicagoans go when they needed to know something fast? Geoffrey Baer serves up the story of a popular information service.

With Christmas behind us, it’s beginning to look a lot like tax season. We get year-end tips from David Henderson, a CPA at the firm of Duggan Bertsch in Chicago.

The first ads for the 2020 census launched this week in a remote part of Alaska with plans for an advertising campaign for the rest of the country slated for next month, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday.

Watch the Dec. 26, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The Bears look to end a disappointing season on a high note with a win over the Vikings. Former Bears offensive lineman James “Big Cat” Williams gives us his take.

Winter birds, beer steins, poinsettias and bicycles usher in the post-holiday weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

A new state commission has just over three months to come up with recommendations on how Illinois can “improve public trust in government.” On Monday, the group had its initial meeting in Chicago.