Stories by Amanda Vinicky

Two years after Cook County implemented and hastily repealed a notorious tax on sugary drinks, Board President Toni Preckwinkle proposed a $6.18 billion budget that’s balanced.

Activists on Monday evening closed down the streets in front of Chicago City Hall and the James R. Thompson Center as they called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to declare a “climate emergency.”

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, spent Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., as the impeachment inquiry of President Trump began in earnest. By Thursday evening, Schiff is set to be in the Chicago area.

A state watchdog’s highly anticipated report on sexual harassment is finally public. Our politics team dives into that story and more in our weekly roundtable.

Everything is set in motion for a Chicago teachers strike, but teachers aren’t the only ones considering a walkout. The city of Chicago could be facing multiple government employee strikes – all at once.

A company under fire for using a carcinogenic gas to sterilize medical equipment announced Monday it is permanently closing its sole Illinois facility on account of an “unstable legislative and regulatory landscape.”

Federal agents zero in on another powerful Chicago politician. Our politics team dives into that story and more in our weekly roundtable.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has honed in on another powerful elected official from Chicago, but it isn’t saying why.

Protesters marched from Grant Park to Federal Plaza on Friday to demand action on climate change. The youth-led event was one of several in Chicago, and one of many dozens throughout the world. 

He’s one of about a dozen Illinois residents who regularly makes Forbes’ list of the richest people in America. We sit down with Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto.

Are there early signs of a revolt that could make life harder for Chicago’s mayor? Our politics team takes on that story and more in our weekly roundtable.

By a vote of 143-102, Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ peers on Thursday voted for him to keep the job he’s held since 2001 for another three years.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city plans to act with a sense of urgency on it’s just-announced Vision Zero safety plan, a $6 million effort to eliminate the number of traffic-induced serious injuries and deaths.

Ald. Ed Burke faces federal corruption charges, but his wife is in line for a promotion. Our politics team takes on that story and more in our weekly roundtable.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot says Chicago needs to close an $838 million budget gap. A block of progressive groups and some aldermen are looking to corporations to close it.

Marca Bristo died from cancer Sunday morning, according to Chicago’s Access Living, the organization she founded in 1980. She was 66 years old.

Former President Barack Obama’s planned presidential center is still years from opening, but a new report suggests it may already be having an effect on the surrounding neighborhoods.

Chicago students returned to their classrooms this week, but there are early signs they could be back on break come early October. Our politics team takes on that story and more in our weekly roundtable.

Wealthy businessman and Chicago pastor Willie Wilson announced Tuesday he’ll run as an independent against U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. “As an independent Democrat I want to go into the belly of the beast in Washington, D.C.,” Wilson said.

Cook County Circuit Court Clerk candidate Michael Cabonargi, Illinois Supreme Court candidate P. Scott Neville and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx will have the coveted endorsement of the Cook County Democratic Party in next year’s elections.

Leading Cook County Democrats on Friday will choose which candidates they’ll give a boost to in next year’s election. The focus Thursday: a rare election for a spot on the Illinois Supreme Court.

Democrats take the stage for Governor’s Day at the state fair in Springfield. Our politics team tackles the 2020 election and more in our weekly roundtable.

President Donald Trump tells reporters he is “thinking very seriously” about commuting the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a 2010 contestant on “The Apprentice” who is now halfway through his 14-year prison sentence.

An indicted state senator keeping a leadership post, and city officials react to deadly shootings. Our politics team weighs in on those stories and more in our weekly roundtable.

Marijuana will be legal in Illinois in five months, but a growing number of communities across the state are considering saying “no” to cannabis sales within their borders, including suburban Naperville.

Dozens were killed and wounded in mass shootings over the weekend. And in Chicago, it was the most violent weekend of the year, leaving seven dead from shootings. How local leaders are responding.