Stories by Marc Vitali

With the third edition of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival under way, we visit with the co-directors of the festival's opening show. 

A trio of current and former Chicago police officers have been acquitted of charges that they conspired to hide details of the Laquan McDonald shooting. Watch live reaction to the verdict.

A Cook County judge says a trio of current and former Chicago police officers did not conspire to hide details of the Laquan McDonald shooting in an unprecedented trial that put a spotlight on the police department’s so-called code of silence.

New year, no booze – at least for the month of January. That’s the idea behind the “dry January” trend. 

The governor’s third executive order requires a review of emerging industries so that state money for workforce training can be best used.

Chicago Building Department spokesman Gregg Cunningham says the agency will list the violations during a court hearing next week. 

Watch the Jan. 16, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Looking back 50 years to the inauguration of former Gov. Richard Ogilvie, and the politically risky decision he made shortly thereafter.

Eddie Lampert, the hedge fund owner who steered Sears into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October, is aiming to keep open roughly 400 stores and preserve tens of thousands of jobs.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes the helm, and a date for early voting in Chicago is set. Political reporters Carol Marin, Paris Schutz and Amanda Vinicky have those stories and more in this week’s roundtable.

A $6 billion mixed-use development on the North Side is scheduled for a city vote next week, even though final plans have yet to be drawn up. Some aldermen and community groups are asking, “What’s the rush?”

Retired Col. Jennifer Pritzker details her scathing rebuke of the Republican Party's positions on transgender individuals.

In 1971, Bruce Iglauer founded a Chicago record company that would reach a worldwide audience. We look back at 50 years of the blues.

Zoo officials say they’re hopeful that 2-year-old Ela and newcomer Apache, 7, will have a successful breeding season this winter and produce a litter of wolf pups in the spring.

Were three Chicago cops following procedure after an officer-involved shooting? Or did they engage in a cover-up to try and protect their fellow officer? That’s what a Cook County judge will decide this week.

A 19-year-old man from Elgin allegedly stole a cellphone belonging to an individual he met through an unidentified dating app. 

With current enrollment of just 20 students and a small incoming class projected, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced it will close St. Joseph College Seminary. 

Watch the Jan. 15, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

On his first full day in office, new Illinois. Gov. J.B. Pritzker moved to give approximately 20,000 state employees raises they’d been denied by former Gov. Bruce Rauner since 2015. 

Although his tenure has been marked by several school controversies, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is touting his achievements at both Chicago Public Schools and the City Colleges of Chicago. 

A law passed in 1976 gives the president authority to declare a national emergency. President Donald Trump has said he’d use the declaration to free up $5 billion to fund a border wall at the Mexican border.

They were among the first African-Americans to be accepted into the U.S. Marines Corps. Now, surviving members of the Montford Point Marines fear they could lose their veterans hall in Englewood.

Three groups file amicus briefs joining the original suit filed by Protect Our Parks, alleging it would be illegal for the Obama Foundation to go forward with the project in federally protected parkland.

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Kathy Chaney and Mary Mitchell, who are featured in a new Lifetime docuseries about R. Kelly, weigh in on the latest allegations against the R&B star.

With support from new Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Illinois is getting closer attention throughout the state. 

It takes an actor of formidable technique to bring this two-act, two-hour monologue to vivid, active, almost cinematic life. From the moment Brendan Coyle emerges from the shadows, the spell is cast.