A Chicago landmark since 2001, the Medinah Temple was most recently home to a Bloomingdale’s furniture store and is now set to become a temporary casino. (WTTW News)
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It is not clear exactly when Bally’s will be able to open a temporary casino in the century-old Shriner’s temple at 600 N. Wabash Ave., with its distinctive domed ceilings and stained-glass windows. A Chicago landmark since 2001, the temple was most recently home to a Bloomingdale’s furniture store.

Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey sits for an interview in his office at the Illinois Capitol Complex in Springfield in June 2023. (Nika Schoonover / Capitol News Illinois)

Michael McCuskey is charged with investigating complaints of corruption or other misconduct from members of the General Assembly or the people that work for them. The post was created in 2003, and all three people who have held it in the past have criticized the lack of power given to the office.

Chicago City Hall. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Arthur Brown spent 29 years in prison after being convicted of killing two people by setting fire to a South Side store in 1988. He was released in 2017 after a judge overturned his conviction, prompting Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to drop the charges against him.

Metal scrap. (Public Domain Pictures / Pixabay)
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The failure likely sent hundreds of thousands of tons of concrete, wood, brick, metal and glass into landfills that could have been reused or recycled, according to the audit by the city’s watchdog.

(WTTW News)

The Chicago Board of Ethics determined all of the violations of the city’s Ethics Ordinance were minor in nature, which will mean the candidates will be admonished in condfidential letters from the board — but not fined.

Former President Donald Trump arrives at his Trump National Doral resort Monday, June 12, 2023, in Doral, Fla., as a supporter looks on. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)
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Donald Trump is expected to become Tuesday the first former president to face a judge on federal charges as the city of Miami prepared for possible protests by crowds that officials said could number in the tens of thousands.

Body camera footage shows what lead up to the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Sharell Brown by Chicago police officers. (Civilian Office of Police Accountability)

Sharell Brown, 26, was shot and killed during a confrontation with police officers who stopped him in Lawndale. Brown was shot four times in the head and twice in his right arm, according to the investigation of the shooting by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, known as COPA.

(WTTW News)

Illinois has more units of local government than any other state. That fact has some critics asking the question: how much is too much?

Former Gov. Bruce Rauner, now a Florida resident, unveils his official portrait before it is hung on the wall of the Illinois State Capitol on June 12, 2023. (Jerry Nowicki / Capitol News Illinois)

The Winnetka Republican-turned-Florida resident on Monday unveiled the portrait painted by Chicago Artist Richard Halstead and privately funded by Rauner. He downplayed the artwork as “not that big a deal” and declined to stray far from a message of “thanks” to the people of Illinois.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias holds his daughter while brandishing a bill signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on June 12, 2023, that aims to discourage book bans at Illinois libraries. Bill sponsor Sen. Laura Murphy, D-Des Plaines, is pictured at left and Pritzker is pictured at right. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)

The new law declares it to be the policy of Illinois to “encourage and protect the freedom of libraries and library systems to acquire materials without external limitation and to be protected against attempts to ban, remove, or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials.”

Moms for Liberty members, from left, Cheryl Bryant, Mishelle Minella, Kelly Shilson and Jessica Tillmann pose for a portrait at Reiter Park on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, in Longwood, Fla. (Chasity Maynard / Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)

Moms for Liberty didn’t exist during the last presidential campaign, but the Florida-based nonprofit that champions “parental rights” in education has rapidly become a major player for 2024, boosted in part by GOP operatives, politicians and donors.

Illinios ranks first in the nation in the number of individual units of local government. WTTW News Explains what is going on with all of those property tax line items.

The Chicago Commission on Landmarks meets on Thursday, June 8, 2023, in a nearly empty Council Chambers at Chicago City Hall. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)

No rules require city officials to stream meetings online or allow members of the public to weigh in virtually, either by Zoom or by phone – putting at risk Chicagoans’ ability to keep tabs on their government with a simple click of a button.

Illinois State Capitol building. (WTTW News)

The state of Illinois’ reparations commission, known as the African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission, is hard at work on a daunting mission.

The Dirksen Courthouse is pictured in Chicago. (Capitol News Illinois)
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Link, a Vernon Hills Democrat, has spent years denying news media reports that he was the legislator-turned-cooperating witness described in charging documents made public after the arrest of ex-state Rep. Luis Arroyo in October of 2019.

Donald Trump makes history as he becomes the first former U.S. president to face federal charges. That story and the other biggest news items of the week.