Efforts to pass a stronger plan making the City Council more accountable were sidelined yesterday. Aldermen tells us what happened behind the scenes.

The Cook County Sheriff's Office is finding a way to keep certain criminal defendants at home and on the job, instead of in jail while they await trial. Brandis Friedman takes a look at how a two-year pilot program designed to release inmates jailed for low-level offenses is working so far.

It's the weekend for love, but Valentine's Day can leave some feeling awfully lonely. A University of Chicago neuroscientist joins “Chicago Tonight” to discuss the science of loneliness and its potential health hazards.   

In the 1950s, a loose affiliation of Chicago artists haunted by World War II tried to capture emotional intensity in their creations. Dubbed "The Monster Roster," a collection of their work is on display at the Smart Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Chicago. We take a tour.

Hear what viewers had to say about our web-exclusive story about a tent city in the South Loop and Carol Marin's panel of aldermen discussing expanding the inspector general's powers when we read feedback from the "Chicago Tonight" website, and our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Watch the February 10, 2016 full episode of Chicago Tonight.

City Council today proved that it is ready for reform – just not very much reform. It was a tense debate over which reform measure to support: one that would give Inspector General Joe Ferguson broad, sweeping powers to investigate and audit aldermen, or a more hands-off approach favored by powerful Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward). Paris Schutz has the story.

President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday afternoon—nine years to the day after he announced his run for the White House on the steps of the Old State Capitol. In a return to his old stomping grounds as a state senator, the president invoked many of the same themes from his 2007 speech.

Sears writes down the value of its trade name and the Sun-Times owner buys a stake in Tribune Publishing. We get the latest on these stories and more business headlines with Crain's Chicago Business deputy managing editor Ann Dwyer.

The curtain is about to go up on a highly anticipated new theater on the North Shore designed by renowned architect Jeanne Gang. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the space.

As aldermen debate who should be allowed to investigate them, former City Council watchdog Faisal Khan talks about his time at City Hall and why he billed the city for a flat-screen TV.

Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin joins us to discuss the Lucas Museum's latest setback, the Lathrop Homes redevelopment, possible new building guidelines for South Michigan Avenue and more.

Afternoon tea in the parlor and dressing in black tie just to have dinner at home: that was everyday life for the fictional, aristocratic Crawley family. Starting today, Downton fans can get an up-close look at those fashions in a new exhibit at the Driehaus Museum. Brandis Friedman takes us inside.