In January, with her 24 years on the Chicago City Council drawing to the end, Ald. Marge Laurino (39th) gave herself a reward: a $27,789.78 payout from her campaign fund.

Two months later, newly retired Sen. James Clayborne Jr., a Belleville Democrat, similarly marked the occasion by paying himself $42,204.65 out of his campaign fund.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she will seek public input on possible locations for a Chicago casino in a survey her office plans to release Friday.

“This is going to be a robust survey that is really the first step in thinking about where a casino should be in Chicago,” Lightfoot said during an appearance Thursday on “Chicago Tonight.” “That’s part of what the feasibility study is going to study: where is the best location.”

Rosemont and the Stephens family who have run the northwest suburb since its founding are again under scrutiny, with the FBI questioning current and former village employees, sources have told the Chicago Sun-Times.

They said they’ve been asked about a security contract handed to a clout-heavy Chicago company and also about allegations of corruption in Rosemont’s public safety department.

Cook County Health officials have asked Deloitte to audit its finances after a blistering report from Inspector General Patrick Blanchard found growing liabilities and a practice of changing revenue and expense figures between operating units to meet financial goals. Health officials disagreed with the findings and said Blanchard’s report had “adversely impacted” the health system’s standing.

“We continue to disagree both with the premise and the conclusion,” of Blanchard’s report, CCHHS CEO Dr. Jay Shannon told commissioners at a hearing Thursday. “The finances of Cook County Health are stable. In fact, last year, our net position improved to a positive $25M. This could not happen if we had $701M in unpaid bills.”

Jessup Manufacturing Co. has come a long way from its start in a garage along the Fox River in 1956.

The McHenry-based manufacturer now has two facilities in Illinois and distributes worldwide. Current CEO and President Rob Jessup is planning for more growth with a multimillion dollar expansion project that will expand the Jessup footprint in McHenry by about 40,000 square-feet.

An ex-Rosemont cop facing armed robbery charges has withdrawn his application for a disability pension.

The five-member Rosemont public safety officers pension fund board on Thursday granted the request of former Sgt. Edward Karas, as well as agreed to refund pretax contributions of $100,631.14 he made to the fund over the course of 13 years with the village public safety department.

The Winnebago County Board approved a $1.7 million budget amendment Thursday, effectively settling a lawsuit filed in March by Sheriff Gary Caruana, who claimed the board failed to give his department enough money in this year’s budget.

The 16-2 decision represented an about-face from five board members who supported the $1.7 million expenditure for the sheriff’s department on Thursday, even though they voted against the county’s 2019 fiscal budget in September. Those five are: Majority Leader David Boomer, R-4; Angie Goral, D-13; Jim Webster, R-2; Keith McDonald, R-6; and Dave Fiduccia, R-11.