Indicted Ald. Edward Burke (14th) had a series of so-called burner cellphones, at least one of which was bought by an underling who paid cash for the device months before the federal raid on Burke’s ward and City Hall offices, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Federal authorities only learned about that phone recently, sources familiar with the investigation said. Its existence raises the possibility that the alderman may have been alerted to, or was suspicious of, the investigation that led to the criminal case that was filed against him earlier this year.

A tax increase that went into effect at the beginning of the month has a gas station owner near the Wisconsin border contemplating his future, as drivers head north to fill their tanks.

Illinois legislators in June voted to double a state tax on gasoline to 38 cents from 19 cents per gallon. The increase took effect July 1, and gas station owner Pravin Patel immediately noticed a dip in sales.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been traversing the state in recent days to brag about all the construction projects contained in the $45 billion infrastructure spending plan he signed into law.

It’s going to be great, he indicates, and never mind about all the pork projects included in it and all the tax increases passed to pay for it.

Some community colleges and four-year universities in Illinois are exploring the possibility of launching educational programs to train people in the business of growing and marketing marijuana in light of a new state law legalizing adult-use recreational marijuana.

There is, however, one significant hitch in that idea: such programs could run afoul of a federal law that still requires higher education institutions to maintain drug-free policies.

Thousands of unemployed Illinoisans will have their benefits checks delayed this week because of computer problems at the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Department spokesman Sam Salustro said that about 29,000 people were supposed to get a benefit check Wednesday, but that has been delayed because of the computer problem.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot made headlines Tuesday by halting all new water meter installations due to mounting data on high levels of lead in water at some homes that installed them.

The latest figures show 22% of homes had elevated lead in their water after installation.

The McHenry Township Board is scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss the possible abatement of property taxes for a manufacturing company.

McHenry-based Jessup Manufacturing has planned a $6.3 million expansion and is seeking a tax incentive deal with the city of McHenry and other taxing bodies in the area, including the township, McHenry Township Permanent Hard Road Fund and the McHenry Township Road District Fund, according to township documents.

The owners of Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale are requesting up to $2 million from a new tax increment financing district to pay for a project to demolish a former Macy’s and make room for a new Woodman’s Food Market.

Woodman’s is planning to build a stand-alone grocery store on roughly 19 acres near the intersection of Schick Road and Gary Avenue. But before construction can start on the 243,000-square-foot building, a shuttered Macy’s and part of the mall beside it must be torn down.

Negotiations between Winnebago County and a coalition of seven municipalities over how to share the cost of 911 operations are at a standstill, and the county is losing revenue every day a deal remains elusive.

Durand, Roscoe, Pecatonica, South Beloit, Cherry Valley, Rockton and Winnebago together agreed to pay about $300,000 a year toward the $1.8 million needed to operate the county’s 911 center under a tentative deal announced in February. Loves Park and Machesney Park, the only two municipalities that for years have been paying for the county’s 911 services, were to pay about a combined $335,000, about $35,000 more than what they had been paying. The county was to pay the rest.