Stories by Amanda Vinicky

He is currently ranked No. 251 on Forbes’ list of the wealthiest Americans. Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker will fulfill his campaign pledge to put his assets in what the campaign describes as a blind trust. How it will work.

Mounting pension debt, a budget deficit and a backlog of unpaid bills – all effects of Illinois’ budget impasse – will continue to plague not just the state but its incoming governor and newly sworn-in class of legislators.

Outgoing Gov. Bruce Rauner reflects on the past four years, and gives recommendations to his successor.

A footnote in the 37-page criminal complaint against Ald. Ed Burke is causing a headache for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle as she seeks to become Chicago’s next mayor.

The Chicago Police Department has taken steps to combat low morale and suicide among its officers, but some are calling for more to be done.

Catch up on what you may have missed over the holidays – and get a look at what’s to come in 2019 – with our political correspondents in this weekly roundtable.

The majority of candidates running for mayor of Chicago have not yet released their tax returns – and some may not at all. “This is no time for a mayor to be veiled in secrecy,” said candidate Paul Vallas.

A major detente in the race for Chicago mayor. We take a deep dive into the 2019 election and other top political headlines in our weekly roundtable.

Tax returns can show a candidate’s wealth, charitable giving and whether their financial interests could present a conflict of interest. At least five of the major candidates for Chicago mayor have not yet made their returns public.

In a little more than a month, Illinois will have a new governor. J.B. Pritzker’s plans for his administration – including infrastructure funding – are beginning to take shape.

Harsh political rhetoric is common these days, but did a state legislator take it too far?

Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker wants Illinois to become a national model for education. “There’s no future for the state if we let education drop off the priority list,” he said Tuesday. But he is unable to say where the money will come from to fulfill that pledge.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson on Tuesday brushed aside critics who said students in 20 CPS schools were “robbed … of warmth and educational stability” due to a lack of heat Monday.

Candidates aiming to be Chicago’s next mayor had until 5 p.m. Monday to turn in the paperwork that will get them on the ballot – paperwork that includes the signatures of at least 12,500 registered Chicago voters.

A Chicago police officer, two female medical professionals and the suspected gunman are dead following a shooting rampage Monday afternoon at Mercy Hospital on the city’s Near South Side.

Gov. Bruce Rauner – once known for exerting an iron grip over Republican legislators that had them follow him in lockstep – got a taste Wednesday of his lame-duck status.

Legislative activity has resumed at the Illinois Capitol on Wednesday afternoon, following a threat of a bomb in the upper chambers of the statehouse.

A week after Illinois Democrats’ decisive general election victories, Illinois lawmakers returned to the capitol Tuesday for the start of the annual fall veto session.

‘Tis the season for shopping, but U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush is calling on constituents to avoid buying gifts, and anything else, following Target’s decision to close a pair of stores on Chicago’s predominately black South Side.

Pritzker announced his transition team will include a 17-member “budget and innovation” committee to help address Illinois’ projected budget shortfall. 

Fresh off a double-digit victory, Democrat J.B. Pritzker appeared to back away from a previously-endorsed plan that would inch the state toward his long-term vision for linking tax rates to residents’ means.

Ten years to the day that President Barack Obama held a Grant Park celebration upon his election as the 44th president of the United States, he was back in Chicago to gin up support for local Democrats.

Fresh on the heels of winning City Council approval for his planned presidential center in Jackson Park, former President Barack Obama is heading back to Chicago for a get-out-the-vote rally Sunday.

Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday thanked Chicago aldermen for their approval of a 99-year land agreement to allow his presidential center to make its home in Jackson Park. But other hurdles remain.

Those who know Gov. Bruce Rauner best describe him as stubborn – and smart. An intimate look at what shaped Rauner, and what that’s meant for Illinois as he tries for a second term.

Chicago streets filled with cars and passengers – but no drivers – may sound like something out of the cartoon “The Jetsons,” but some suggest the technology actually has roots in Illinois’ not-so-distant past.