After months of speculation, Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford officially threw his name in the ring as the GOP gubernatorial candidate. View a timeline of Rutherford's political career.

Former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley is officially exploring a run for Illinois governor in 2014. Daley announced Tuesday in a web video that he has formed an exploratory committee for the race. Watch the video and read reaction from other potential gubernatorial candidates.

Hoping to make some progress on pension reform before next week's special session, Governor Quinn calls a meeting with the General Assembly's legislative leaders. Paris Schutz has the latest from their meeting. 

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss the week's top headlines.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists examine the shaping race for the Republican gubernatorial primary in this web extra conversation.

The National Security Agency is collecting phone records of Verizon wireless customers. We dig through the legal implications of doing this, and if this truly is an effective way to counter terrorism.

Venture capitalist Bruce Rauner says he'll fix a broken Springfield in an ad announcing his run for governor. Rauner joins us to discuss his bid.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez has paid more than $500,000 in taxpayer money to a Chicago lobbyist, according to USA Today. Paul Singer, the author of the article, joins us.

Springfield’s inability to reform the state’s pension system has all sorts of consequences: for unions, for the markets, and for taxpayers across the state. We discuss the future with some of the key players.

Illinois legislators from both sides of the aisle, and both houses, weigh in on what was and was not accomplished during the spring legislative session.

The Illinois House approves a concealed carry compromise deal by 89-28. The bill was approved earlier in the day by the Senate, and now goes to Gov. Pat Quinn's desk. See how House members voted in our interactive graphic.

The Illinois Senate passes a concealed carry bill by 45-12-1. See how Senate members voted in our interactive graphic.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists discuss the week's top headlines.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists delve further into the sociology of hockey and its dearth of African American players in this web extra conversation.

House Speaker Michael Madigan's pension reform bill failed in the Illinois Senate 16-42. See how Senate members voted in our interactive graphic.

With only one day left to the legislative session, lawmakers in Springfield are still deciding what to do on critical issues – like pensions, gay marriage, gambling and concealed carry. Carol Marin reports from the capitol on this last-minute frenzy.