The Office of Executive Inspector General’s said Friday a contract for data services was too narrowly drawn to favor awarding it to a retired state worker.

However, the office also said it could not pinpoint blame for the way the contract terms were developed because multiple people were involved in the process.

A bipartisan group of Illinois lawmakers has gotten behind a proposal to repeal the state’s new car trade-in tax and replace it with a different fee structure.

As of Jan. 1, Illinois’ sales tax applies to any trade-in vehicle worth more than $10,000. That means trading in a $30,000 car for one worth $60,000 will cost the customer an extra $1,200 in additional sales taxes. It’s estimated to bring the state $60 million annually, affecting what state officials insisted was a small portion of Illinois residents.

Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher resigned from his post on the Illinois Civil Service Commission on Friday, a day after federal prosecutors named him as one of 10 defendants indicted in connection with an illegal sports betting ring.

Jordan Abudayyeh, press secretary to Gov. JB Pritzker, confirmed the resignation Sunday.

An appointed state lawmaker running in next month’s primary could have her qualifications challenged, starting with a hearing this week.

State Rep. Eva Dina Delgado, D-Chicago, was appointed by Democratic party officials in her district after Luis Arroyo resigned from the seat in November. He was arrested on charges of bribing an unnamed state senator. He also gave his local party votes to someone else who then cast the winning votes for Delgado to fill the vacancy.

When a 2018 Department of Labor rule threatened to allow employers, managers or supervisors to collect and keep a portion of employees’ tips, members of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United found their organization advocating harder than ever.

“We wanted to make sure the tips were kept in the hands of workers,” Ali Baker of ROC United in Illinois said.

Ryan Risinger might have the shortest commute of any park district director in the suburbs.

That’s if you call the roughly 200-foot walk from his house on Bernard Drive to the back door of the Buffalo Grove Park District’s Alcott Center a commute.

An Illinois contractor faces federal charges in Indiana for allegedly defrauding a blight removal program of nearly $100,000 in phony invoices.

Mahmoud “Mike” Alshuaibi was indicted by a grand jury on six felony counts of wire fraud, theft and making false statements, according to The (Northwest Indiana) Times.

A 63-year-old west suburban man says he was lucky he never got arrested when he’d drive to Chicago to get high.

James — who agreed to speak on only on the condition his real name not be used — says he drove to the city for decades to feed his heroin addiction.