Auditor General wants DoIT issues fixed before more agencies come online

By Hannah Meisel  - August 23, 2019

A pair of reports out from Auditor General Frank Mautino’s office found additional  issues with the Department of Innovation and Technology’s Enterprise Resource Planning system, zeroing in on lack of controls within the system that’s supposed to centralize Illinois’ computer

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Former Veterans’ Affairs Assistant Director resigned after investigation into sexual harassment, racial slurs: report

By Hannah Meisel  - August 22, 2019

The former second-in-command of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs resigned last year after an internal investigation into his allegations that he sexually harassed female employees and used racial slurs to target Black employees, according to a report released Wednesday

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Lottery says sales growing under Camelot management

By Hannah Meisel  - August 22, 2019

In a year where the Illinois General Assembly massively expanded gambling throughout the state, the Lottery still makes up more than half of wagering revenues in Illinois, and recent reports indicate it’s growing under new private management after years of

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Boykin courts Brown supporters in clerk race: ‘They’d like to take this office away from us’

By Alex Nitkin  - August 21, 2019

Former Cook County Comm. Richard Boykin plunged Tuesday into the crowded race to be Cook County Circuit Court Clerk by surrounding himself with South and West Side political church leaders, launching a bid to secure retiring Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy

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Speaker’s office workplace report dumps on Mapes, but allows Madigan to point to progress

By Hannah Meisel  - August 21, 2019

House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) was left mostly unscathed by a long-awaited outside investigation into claims of sexual harassment and intimidation within the the Illinois Capitol — but the report called on him to pay closer attention to the behavior

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‘I’m in it to win it:’ Defiant Democratic candidates shrug off party snub in Supreme Court, county races

By Alex Nitkin  - August 20, 2019

During the mid-century heyday of the Cook County Democratic Party, candidates considered a party endorsement the start of a countdown clock to their inauguration. Those days are gone. Contenders who were left off the party ticket in three high-profile races

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Tom Cullerton pleads not guilty to ghost payrolling charges from Teamsters

By Hannah Meisel  - August 19, 2019

Wearing a dark suit and somber expression, State Sen. Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) entered a plea of not guilty at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago, two weeks after a stunning 41-count indictment alleged the senator had been a ghost

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Ghosts of Trump, Rauner present as Illinois GOP vows to rebuild from ground up

By Hannah Meisel  - August 16, 2019

One day after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) visited Springfield to rev up the Democratic base at the Governor’s Day brunch held by the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association, the Democrat’s face loomed over the crowd assembled for Republican

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Illinois Democrats play greatest hits for supporters, but tip toe around controversies

By Hannah Meisel  - August 15, 2019

While U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) was billed as keynote speaker for Wednesday morning’s annual Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association brunch in Springfield, it was Gov. JB Pritzker who got the crowd of Democratic party faithful revved up as

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Mendoza signs executive order on prevailing wage ahead of $45B in infrastructure spending

By Hannah Meisel  - August 14, 2019

Citing the state’s plans to spend a $45 billion on infrastructure in the next six years, Comptroller Susana Mendoza on Tuesday signed an executive order vowing her office will will refuse to pay construction vendors who aren’t paying workers the

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