Stories by Marc Vitali

The Great Lakes are home to an estimated 180 invasive species. Freshwater biologist Scott Colburn, who recently joined a research team at the Shedd Aquarium, tells us about the latest efforts to protect Lake Michigan from invasive fish, mussels and more.

Starting in early February, the Food and Drug Administration will prohibit the sale of some flavored e-cigarette cartridges, including fruit, mint and candy flavors, as part of an effort to curb youth use.

The majority of Chicago Public Schools’ district-run elementary and high schools are not being properly utilized, according to new data.

Static electricity was first described more than 2,500 years ago, but scientists have never been able to fully explain what causes it. Researchers at Northwestern University now think they may have solved the mystery.

The independent record label sets the gold standard for roots music in Chicago and beyond. We visited the headquarters of Bloodshot Records on the eve of its silver anniversary – and got an earful.

Watch the Jan. 2, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Two toddlers died early Thursday after a woman believed to be their mother allegedly stabbed a 70-year-old man, left one of the children in a bathtub and threw the other child out an 11th-floor apartment before jumping herself, police said.

Trump was vague about what the plan would entail but suggested “certain flavors” in cartridge-based e-cigarettes would be taken off the market “for a period of time.”

The sale of marijuana for recreational purposes became legal Wednesday in Illinois to the delight of pot fans — many who began lining up hours early at dispensaries.

A winter wonderland, fitness classes, bald eagles and a classic fairy tale usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Illinois’ governor granted more than 11,000 pardons for low-level marijuana convictions on Tuesday, describing the step as a first wave of thousands of such expungements anticipated under the state’s new marijuana legalization law. 

Shoddy record-keeping and the degraded condition of more than 2,400 sets of fetal remains that were found in the Illinois garage and a car of a late Indiana abortion doctor mean those remains cannot be identified, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by Indiana’s attorney general.

Trees collected through Chicago’s annual holiday tree recycling program are turned into mulch and wood chips for use at Chicago Park District locations. 

The lawsuit charges that the late Rev. Donald McGuire, a globe-trotting Jesuit with ties to Saint Teresa of Calcutta, abused Robert J. Goldberg “more than 1,000 times, in multiple states and countries,” during sojourns to spiritual retreats throughout the United States and Europe.

The family of the murdered Chinese scholar had accused university social workers of acting with “deliberate indifference” toward warning signs shown by Brendt Christensen.

The Chicago Bears (8-8) wrapped up their season Sunday with a 21-19 win over the Minnesota Vikings. We review the season’s highs and lows with former Bears offensive lineman James “Big Cat” Williams.

Are local officials and cannabis dispensaries ready for the rush of customers when recreational marijuana becomes legal Wednesday? We visit a pot shop in Lakeview to see how it’s gearing up for green.

From the first-ever image of a black hole to growing concern over climate change, we review some of the year’s top science stories with three of our regular science contributors.

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.