The owners of two Aurora companies — a furniture store and an office building — are in personal relationships with top city officials, WTTW News has found. An analysis of campaign finance records also uncovered that a majority of recent donations to Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin’s campaign fund are from people doing business with or getting incentives from the city.

One roadblock to the passage of a state budget this week has been a set of programs in which Illinois provides health care coverage to green-card holders and undocumented residents.

Family and friends remember slain Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston. Spotlight Politics weighs in as the mayor’s allies roll out a $12 billion financial proposal. And an emerging artist committed to community.

The plan released Wednesday kicks off a debate between progressive political organizations and the mayor they helped elect on how best to achieve the goals they all share.

Vocalist Shawnee Dez is commemorating the release of her debut album, “Moody Umbra,” with a concert that includes a community jam session featuring a range of local artists.

Officer Aréanah Preston died after she was shot during an attempted robbery May 6. She was memorialized as being the best of what the Chicago Police Department had to offer: a passionate public servant whose bright future was abruptly taken from her.

What did Mayor Brandon Johnson do on his first full day in office? Illinois leads the nation in exonerations. The latest on a bevy of issues in Springfield. And the debate over mental health clinics.

With Mayor Brandon Johnson vowing to reopen the city’s shuttered mental health clinics, some advocates are looking at the administration to reinvigorate and reimagine the city’s approach to providing mental health services.

After seven people were shot and killed during Highland Park’s Independence Day parade last summer, Illinois took a major and controversial step toward limiting which guns can be used and sold in state. The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to weigh the law’s constitutionality.

Right on cue, the much hyped “pneumonia front” hit Chicago shortly after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, sending the official temperature at O’Hare International Airport plummeting from 81 degrees to 66 degrees in short order.

Cook County recorded 124 overturned convictions in 2022, all but two of those were tied to misconduct by two former Chicago police officers, according to the report.

Uber has been pushing back hard against the common carrier proposal: emails and push notifications to customers, a reported six-figure ad buy on popular radio stations, web banners on news sites covering the General Assembly and plenty of lobbying.

Illinois legislators have through Friday to accomplish their most important task: passing a budget.

Chicago’s 57th mayor takes the oath of office. A look at Brandon Johnson’s priorities in Spotlight Politics. And a live report from Springfield as the legislative session nears an end.

Capping an improbable rise and carrying the hopes of a political movement determined to remake Chicago as a more equitable place to live, Brandon Johnson was sworn into office Monday as Chicago’s 57th mayor.