Stories by Amanda Vinicky

It’s been a solid eight months since government leaders in Chicago and Illinois began asking residents to limit their activities due to the coronavirus. A new round of that took effect in the city on Monday.

Cook County Jail was once the hot spot for the coronavirus, but now the positivity rate is lower there than in Chicago and Cook County. As COVID-19 surges in the community, officials and advocates worry it will reach detainees.

The Illinois legislature is not coming back this year. What does that mean for the Black Lives Matter movement and the state budget?

The makeup of the Illinois Supreme Court is changing, and it comes at a pivotal time. What the evolving bench means for residents.

It hasn’t even been a week since the election, but Illinois politicians are looking ahead to another race: the election of the next speaker of the Illinois House.

Republican Jim Oberweis believes there aren’t enough ballots outstanding that would allow incumbent Democrat Lauren Underwood to overtake his slim lead in Illinois' 14th Congressional district.

In a blow to Gov. J.B. Pritzker and to his hopes of injecting billions of dollars more revenue into the state budget, Illinois voters on Tuesday rejected a constitutional amendment to overhaul how the state taxes income.

There is little that’s normal about the 2020 election, including the fact that this is the first election cycle in which detainees can cast ballots at Cook County Jail. 

Newly confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett recently dodged questions about how she’d weigh cases dealing with abortion. Advocates on both sides view her leanings as a primary reason she was picked for the nation’s high court.

Towns and cities can’t access COVID-19 relief funding allocated to them by the federal government because the state is holding onto it instead, the Illinois Municipal League said Wednesday as it called on Pritzker’s administration to release the money.

How to educate students during a pandemic is far from the only issue elected officials — and Illinois residents — have to grapple with. And it seems unlikely the federal government will agree to another stimulus package before the election.

Critics of Thomas Kilbride are making the most of their once-in-a-decade chance to toss a sitting Illinois Supreme Court justice.

The election is just weeks away and early voting is in full swing. How ready are voters and election authorities?

What you need to know about mail-in voting and voting in person as Nov. 3 — Election Day — approaches.

It’s been more than six months since a state commission was supposed to issue a report on proposed ethics reforms and nearly a year since the bipartisan commission was first formed.

Health care, the environment and the economy were among the issues that got top billing Wednesday when the running mates of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off at their sole debate.

Michael Madigan has had a virtual lock on his position as the leader of the Illinois House, serving as speaker for all but two years since 1983. Could his job now be in jeopardy?

In November, Illinois voters will be making a choice about how the state taxes income. But a last-minute lawsuit claims the ballot itself is flawed and is raising questions about how it may impact retirees.

Organizers in Illinois are making a major, last-minute push for census participation. What you need to know before the count wraps up.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan declined to testify Tuesday at a special hearing convened for the sole purpose of vetting whether he engaged in conduct unbefitting of his elected position, and it remains unclear whether he’ll face a subpoena.

While President Donald Trump continues to battle in court to keep his financial records from becoming public, the New York Times got troves of Trump tax returns from unnamed sources. Tax experts share their insights.

Illinois’ already-delayed marijuana expansion is on pause, but many of the entrepreneurs trying to be part of the industry are hoping that good things will come to those who wait.

Mexican Americans didn't let the pandemic stop their celebrations. Was there a better way?

Six state representatives – three Democrats and three Republicans – got to work Thursday tackling whether Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan engaged in conduct “unbecoming” of a legislator. 

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Illinois is already months behind in awarding licenses to new marijuana dispensaries. But now, legislators want to further delay the process. 

Twenty-one finalists are now vying for the highly coveted licenses that will add 75 new cannabis dispensaries throughout the state, which will hold a lottery sometime this month to make it final.