Mayor Lori Lightfoot this week painted a grim picture ahead of her Oct. 21 budget address as the city tries to close a massive budget gap. Our politics team tackles those stories and more in this week’s roundtable.

Chicago officials on Tuesday announced $8 million in grants for expanded mental health care services across the city, including for some of Chicago’s most vulnerable residents: those experiencing homelessness.

Quarterback Nick Foles fails to get the job done against the Colts. Can the Bears find an offense Thursday night? Former Bears offensive lineman James “Big Cat” Williams gives us his take.

Vice President Mike Pence and his Democratic challenger, California Sen. Kamala Harris, are set to face off in a debate that will offer starkly different visions for a country confronting escalating crises.

Watch the Oct. 7, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

In November, Illinois voters will be making a choice about how the state taxes income. But a last-minute lawsuit claims the ballot itself is flawed and is raising questions about how it may impact retirees.

The COVID-19 pandemic has many Americans rethinking how they’re going to vote this year, with huge numbers applying for mail-in ballots. Emmerson Buie Jr. talks about the FBI’s priorities, and what steps they’re taking in Chicago.

Why is it that one candidate can win the popular vote but another wins the electoral vote and thus the presidency? Because that’s how the framers of the Constitution set it up.

Watch the Oct. 6, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

The Supreme Court, already poised to take a significant turn to the right, opened its new term Monday with a jolt from two conservative justices who raised new criticism of the court’s embrace of same-sex marriage.

In an op-ed, DePaul University history professor Tom Mockaitis says the president’s failure last week to recognize and condemn violent, far-right groups like the Proud Boys could encourage clashes on Nov. 3.

Nearly a dozen of President Trump’s allies and team members have tested positive for the coronavirus just four weeks ahead of the election. We discuss the potential political fallout of the president’s diagnosis.

Jimmy Carter, who served just a single term in the White House, is widely seen as a model ex-president but largely unsuccessful president. Now, the 96-year-old is the subject of a full-length, independent biography.

The possibility for high school students to play all fall sports is again at a standstill. We discuss the situation with a student, a lawyer and a doctor.

Here’s a rarity in the downtown office market amid the pandemic: a company secures a sublease for its office space. Crain’s Chicago Business Editor Ann Dwyer joins us with that story and more.