We look back at the biggest stories of the year. Michael Madigan’s landmark corruption trial. The city gets a budget — eventually. And the CPS CEO gets a pink slip.

Illinois has nearly 300 new laws taking effect on Jan. 1, 2025, covering everything from specialty plates for motorcycles to the creation of a task force on water quality.

From uncovering the holiday’s 2,000-year-old origins to frying up golden potato pancakes, Geoffrey Baer does a deep dive into what makes Hanukkah, well, Hanukkah. 

The threats to the CEO’s job drew pushback from elected officials at every level from Chicago City Council to the U.S. Congress, pushback from incoming board members and scores of principals, and legal action by Martinez’s lawyer.

The Chicago Board of Education unanimously voted to fire CEO Pedro Martinez — we have reaction. Is it time for Illinois to wave a new flag? And celebrating Hanukkah. 

Is this the end of the line for Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez? And Mayor Brandon Johnson finally gets his budget passed.

The companies behind apps for temp workers have drawn millions in funding, hundreds of thousands of workers, and legal action over their labor practices — including here in Illinois.

The mayor finally seals a budget deal — our Spotlight Politics team breaks it down. And asking the governor for grace after decades in prison.

The massive silos — popular with urban explorers and famously featured in “Transformers: Age of Extinction” — date back more than a century but haven’t been used as grain elevators since the 1970s.

Executive clemency is designed to extend mercy and restore opportunity for people who were convicted of crimes and have demonstrated successful rehabilitation. But in Illinois, advocates say that grace has been slow to come for people with criminal records, some of whom are still in prison.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is charged alongside his longtime right-hand man Michael McClain, is alleged to have orchestrated multiple corruption schemes, wielding his political power to reward loyal allies and enrich himself.

We’re live from City Hall with the latest on the budget battle. Efforts to regulate the state’s hemp industry. And a look at Chicago food insecurity.

Illinois lawmakers passed legislation in 2018 to allow the commercial production of hemp, the same year Congress legalized hemp nationwide through the 2018 Farm Bill.