Stories by Kristen Thometz

State and local officials are again saying the risk of catching the coronavirus remains low in Illinois, but they’re expanding the state’s capacity and methods to test for the virus.

Track maintenance will close four “L” stations in the Loop this weekend from 2 a.m. Saturday until 2 a.m. Sunday, according to the Chicago Transit Authority. Get the full details.

The young crescent moon and the blazingly bright planet are in conjunction. Look to the western sky shortly after sunset Friday to see for yourself.

Imagine being so close to Martin Luther King Jr. as he gives one of the world’s most famous speeches that you notice the creases in his face and then realize the late civil rights leader is looking you square in the eye.

A new transit safety plan calls for dozens of police officers on CTA lines and a dedicated support center that will focus on solving crimes committed on the city’s trains and buses.

The five men who were killed by a co-worker at a Milwaukee brewery include an electrician, a Navy veteran, a father of two small children, a fisherman and a grandfather who is being remembered as someone who “always put his family’s needs before his own.” 

Chicago made national news this week when an archdiocesan official suggested plant-based “meats” are a cheat during Lent’s meatless Fridays.

At a community meeting Thursday in Humboldt Park, several dozen people spoke about their interactions with police. Sunday marks one year since a consent decree governing the department’s conduct took effect. 

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich referred to Mark Vargas as the “mystery man” that led the effort to get him out of prison. But who is he? And why did he want to take on that case?

Former school administrators John Thuet and Michelle Brumfield were ousted amid “multiple allegations of serious misconduct.” But in an exclusive interview with “Chicago Tonight,” they say CPS has told them nothing about those allegations.

With a comic convention in town this weekend, we welcome comic book dealer Vincent Zurzolo – and his million-dollar collection.

Chicago’s “L” lines are today operated by the centralized Chicago Transit Authority. But for many years, private companies actually ran and managed individual branches. Geoffrey Baer has the story of one of them.

The Chicago Fire Department has long been overwhelmingly white, but that’s changing, in part due to discrimination lawsuits and, more recently, with the help of group that mentors and trains young first responders.

If you needed to build a business, how quickly could you pull together a plan? What if you had to do it without access to the internet? These men did just that – in an atypical setting. Here’s how.

A “spiritual sequel” to the 1992 horror flick of the same name, “Candyman” filmed all around Chicago last summer and fall. Anything look familiar?

Chicago real estate developer Sterling Bay is looking to cash out on the fast-food giant’s headquarters. 

Watch the Feb. 27, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

A family friendly expo Saturday offers workshops, a resource fair and more for those curious about raising livestock in the city.

About 4 in 10 American adults are obese, and nearly 1 in 10 is severely so, government researchers said Thursday.

Jury selection is underway in the trial of a 46-year-old man charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Paul Bauer, a 31-year police veteran near the Thompson Center in 2018.

Clover sprouts served at Jimmy John’s restaurants have been linked with an E. coli outbreak that has sickened 14 people in five states, including six people in Illinois. The company said it is no longer serving sprouts.

Members of Chicago’s Native American community were surprised in the best kind of way on Wednesday when the Chicago Board of Education approved the change of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day in its school calendar.

Lee Phillip Bell, who co-created “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” and hosted her own daytime talk show in Chicago for 33 years, has died. She was 91.

President Donald Trump declared that a widespread U.S. outbreak of the new respiratory virus sweeping the globe isn’t inevitable even as top health authorities at his side warned Americans that more infections are coming.

Global stock markets lost more than $3 trillion in value this week as investors fled amid growing concerns of a coronavirus pandemic. So what’s the outlook for the U.S. economy?

In less than three weeks, Illinois voters will go to the polls. Will the state have a big role in weeding out the Democratic presidential field? And how will the contentious race for Cook County state’s attorney shake out?