Stories by Marc Vitali

Local legend Joe Mantegna is directing “I’m Not a Comedian… I’m Lenny Bruce” starring Ronnie Marmo as the comedian who took a bullet for anyone who values free speech. Marmo also directs and stars in “Bill W. and Dr. Bob,” the true story of the dramatic founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Should guns be allowed where you vote? A look at a potential new gun ban. And what a move to end the grocery tax could mean for you.

State Rep. Bob Morgan said banning guns at polling places is necessary given rising security concerns surrounding elections. Gun rights advocates said the proposal is an answer in search of a problem.

A plan headed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk will allow voters in November to choose half of the Chicago Board of Education. Johnson will appoint the other half, plus its president.

Health officials said they are working to identify and notify people who may have been exposed to measles, including at the facilities where the resident sought medical care.

Just because a species is known to be invasive doesn’t mean it’s officially regulated as such. One Chicagoan learned that lesson the hard way.

The Obama Presidential Center, which broke ground in September 2021, had been slated to open in October 2025.

As climate change accelerates, scientists are scrambling to understand how iceless winters could affect the world's largest freshwater system.

The Bring Chicago Home referendum is back on the ballot. Pushback as plans for a hybrid elected school board move forward. And the difficulty of getting around town with a disability.

It’s part of a nationwide increase in congenital infections, passed along to an infant during pregnancy. If undiagnosed, the baby can be born with a number of health issues, including cataracts, deafness and a low birth weight, or can even be stillborn.

During a brief sentencing hearing, the 76-year-old Terry Link made a public apology. Speaking slowly and with a tremor borne of a neurological condition that has worsened since he left office in 2020, Link said he’d made a mistake and “did not intend to cheat the government.”

For Chicago residents with disabilities, getting around the city can be more of a burden than a simple task. Users and advocates say the Pace Taxi Access Program is plagued by long wait times, verbally abusive drivers and unreliable rides.

Chicago is on the path to getting the hybrid school board preferred by Mayor Brandon Johnson, with the Illinois Senate’s begrudging approval of legislation Tuesday finalizing the transition to an elected school board.

We breathe, eat and drink tiny particles of plastic. But are these minuscule specks in the body harmless, dangerous or somewhere in between?

A three-judge panel of the 1st District Appellate Court unanimously overturned the Feb. 23 decision by a Cook County judge that invalidated the binding ballot question known as Bring Chicago Home. The ruling could still be appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.

U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, a 55-year-old multimillionaire who is among the richest members of Congress, built his White House bid around calls for a new generation of Democratic leadership while spending freely from his personal fortune.

The blues legend will close out the festival, set for June 6-9.

Preservation Chicago announced its annual "7 Most Endangered" list Wednesday.

Some teenagers in Illinois who are too young to vote for this year's primary and general election are already preparing for their first chance to vote in other future elections.

Haley didn’t endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead, she challenged him to win the support of the moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her.

There have been 64 homicides recorded through February, according to the Chicago Police Department, and 292 shooting victims from 253 total shootings.

Officer Ella French was shot and killed during a traffic stop on Aug. 7, 2021. Emonte Morgan, 23, is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Advocates weigh in on the controversial IVF ruling in Alabama. And early voting is underway in Illinois as former president Donald Trump survives a ballot challenge — our Spotlight Politics team on that and more.

Tim Mapes was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison, though U.S. District Judge John Kness told Mapes he had “zero hesitation in agreeing, wholeheartedly, that you are a good man,” after reading dozens of letters written to the court on Mapes’ behalf.

A Republican proposal that would give citizens the ability to propose ethics-related constitutional amendments on the ballot received a bipartisan boost Tuesday when former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn endorsed it.

For Eileen O’Neill Burke, locked in a fierce fight for the Democratic nomination for Cook County state’s attorney against Clayton Harris III, her last name has turned out to be a double-edged sword.