Stories by Alexandra Silets

Join us Monday at 7 p.m. for the second of three mayoral candidate forums, moderated by Phil Ponce. Watch on WTTW11 or live on our website, Facebook and YouTube.

A federal judge could decide this week whether or not to toss a lawsuit challenging the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. 

A rare yellow-hued Blanding’s turtle who called Chicago home has moved out to the suburbs, where she’s helping to spread the word about the plight of her endangered species throughout Illinois.

A fundraiser started by City of Aurora officials has raised more than $72,000 in just two days to support the families of those who lost their lives in a shooting at a local manufacturing plant.

Classes will resume Tuesday at four Chicago International Charter Schools following a two-week long strike that ended early Monday morning.

An initial background check failed to detect a felony conviction that should have barred the man who killed five co-workers and wounded six other people at a suburban Chicago manufacturing plant from buying the gun.

Chicago police said Sunday they’re still seeking a follow-up interview with Jussie Smollett after receiving new information that “shifted” their investigation of a reported attack on the “Empire” actor.

Police have identified the gunman who killed five people at a suburban Chicago business and shot and wounded five police officers.

A medical supply sterilization company in suburban Willowbrook was shut down Friday by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency due to elevated cancer risks.

Eddie Arruza and guests discuss a newly discovered videotape purportedly showing R&B singer R. Kelly engaging in sexual acts with an underage girl.

Mayoral candidates square off on “Chicago Tonight.” Jason Van Dyke is attacked in prison. Is R. Kelly about to be indicted? And the controversial alliance between the Cubs and a conservative media outlet.

A tiny African antelope that belongs to one of the smallest species of its kind in the world received a name befitting his Feb. 14 birthday.

The harmonies, dissonances and inflections of the conversations among the four men who form Ma Rainey’s fractious band are something of a spoken-word blues opera in this Writers Theatre revival.

Plaintiffs claim they were framed by disgraced former police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his tactical team at a South Side housing project, and that a “code of silence” allowed it to happen.

Two men characterized by police as “persons of interest” in the attack against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett have been arrested on “probable cause that they may have committed a crime,” a Chicago police spokesman said Friday.

Chicago police say local media reports that allege the attack against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was a hoax are unconfirmed.

Chicago Tonight kicked off its series of forums Thursday with four of the 14 candidates vying to be Chicago’s next mayor: Jerry Joyce, Neal Sales-Griffin, Bob Fioretti and John Kozlar.

Illinois legislators moved quickly Thursday to deliver one of new Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s top campaign promises, a gradual hike in the statewide minimum wage from $8.25 to $15 an hour.

Watch the Feb. 14, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

On the first anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, we examine the role of cliques and alienation in high school life – and what lessons may be learned.

How a recently discovered film shot in Chicago more than 120 years ago still makes a powerful statement – without saying a word.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announces a plan for transitioning Chicago buildings to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035. But community advocates say the plan ignores existing environmental threats in some parts of the city.

This haunting, visually fascinating interpretation of Leo Tolstoy’s massive 1877 novel serves as the latest evidence of the unique ability of the Joffrey to turn dance into riveting, multi-dimensional theater.

As part of its ongoing efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, the Drug Enforcement Agency announced Thursday it’s launching a yearlong digital billboard campaign across the Chicago area.

“The next time this could happen they could kill him,” Tiffany Van Dyke told the media through tears at a press conference Thursday. “I cannot bury my husband.”

Odds may still favor the eventual construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, but it’s no longer a sure thing in the face of a formidable legal challenge by a parks advocacy group.