Stories by Rebecca Palmore

Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool on Wednesday spoke passionately about the need for education funding reform, calling the current system by which CPS is funded "separate but unequal." Watch our full interview.

Tensions are rising between Gov. Bruce Rauner and one of Illinois' largest unions. We discuss what that could mean for the state with Anders Lindall, public affairs director for AFSCME Council 31; and John Tillman, CEO of the  Illinois Policy Institute.

For 25 years, Redmoon engaged the community in dozens of neighborhoods. Its exuberant street parades and seasonal festivals brought theatrical magic right to the people. But the twin problems of fallout from its Great Chicago Fire Festival in 2014 and an expensive rental space in Pilsen have brought the respected company to its end. We speak with the company's longtime artistic director Jim Lasko.

When we think wildlife, most of us think national parks and far-off forests. But an interactive science project called Chicago Wildlife Watch wants to show us that wildlife is, quite literally, right in our own backyards and outside our high-rise balconies. Seth Magle, director of the Urban Wildlife Institute at the Lincoln Park Zoo, tells us about Chicago Wildlife Watch and how we can all answer the call of the wild. 

Chicago lost out on the Olympics to Rio but this week, world titles will be at stake as 6,500 pro- and age-group triathletes compete in the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final and World Championships. Chicago Tonight's Elizabeth Brackett will be one of them – she tells us what to expect.

Chicago businessman Julius Rosenwald was also a courageous philathropist and his work resonates to this day. The new documentary Rosenwald opens this Friday in Chicago and Highland Park. Chicago Tonight discusses the film–and the man at the center of it–with filmmaker Aviva Kempner, and Peter Ascoli, a faculty member of the Spertus Institute who is Julius Rosenwald's grandson.

Using your words may be the secret to bridging the achievement gap for kids from different economic backgrounds. Find out about the Thirty Million Words Initiative.

The radioactive mushroom cloud of marital unhappiness set off by the hacking of adultery website Ashley Madison keeps growing. But what does the website and its popularity say about modern marriages? And how do Ashley Madison, dating websites, and smartphone apps affect how we build relationships? Tonight, we’ll hear from Eli Finkel, a professor of social psychology at Northwestern University.

It's an exciting time for nature lovers. The world's largest flower – along with its notoriously horrible odor – is about to bloom for the first time ever in the Chicago area. Over at Montrose Beach, a rare carnivorous plant has taken root. Chicago Tonight digs deeper into these mysteries of Mother Nature.

This fall, the Chicago Architecture Biennial will assess architectural projects and experiments from around the world. We'll get a preview of what to expect and find out the results of a competition to add kiosks to the city's lakefront.

High-end treasures in Chicago's Gold Coast are usually found in pricey stores. But we'll tell you about some being uncovered at an archaeological dig on the grounds of a famous house.

Is food printing tipped to become the killer app that puts 3-D printers in every kitchen? Rabiah Mayas is back to discuss printed pizza and other developments in the world of science.

There's a new kid on the block at Brookfield Zoo. On Tuesday, a female zebra was born at the near west suburban zoo to mother Kali, 5, and father Nazim, 15. The birth marks the first addition of a zebra of this type at Brookfield Zoo since 1998.