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CHICAGO — She has a driver who makes $94,000 a year and a cleaning lady making $57,000 a year. Is Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas wasting tax dollars? In a joint investigation with the Better Government Association, CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman has been following these employees and found that …

By FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter Jan 14, 2011 Chicago city employees who are convicted of corruption would no longer be able to keep collecting their paychecks while awaiting sentencing, under a crackdown proposed Thursday that calls for firing upon conviction. Three days after the Chicago Sun-Times’ “The Watchdogs” column …

January 12, 2011 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — The income tax increase in Illinois is retroactive to January 1. But taxpayers won’t see a change in their paychecks until the end of the month. The new state income tax increases taxes from 3 to 5 percent. For those with an annual income …

Burge was convicted in June of two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury for lying in a 2003 civil lawsuit when he denied he knew of or took part in torture under his command at the Calumet Area headquarters on the city’s South Side. via Jon …

Even before Governor Quinn signs into law the Illinois legislature’s tax bill, the debate continues: is this the best course of action to close a budget gap? Many say that instead of trying to generate more revenue from already frustrated taxpayers, the state must make a concerted effort to instill …

No other state has successfully raised income taxes to balance its 2011 budget. The Illinois tax increase would push the personal income tax rate from 3 percent to 5 percent. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn speaks with reporters in his office at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Wednesday, Jan. …

Facing one of the biggest budget shortfalls of any state, Illinois took the risky step of jacking up income and corporate taxes even as its economy struggles to shake off the recession. WITH NO CUTS IN GOVERNMENT SPENDING In a deal hammered out by the state’s Democratic leadership, the lame-duck …

I can’t say much more about the Illinois income tax increase that hasn’t already been said. The 67 percent increase on income and the hike in the corporate rate from 4.8 percent to 7 percent not only make Illinois taxpayers angry, but they are a killer for Illinois, which lost …

I first heard about the show just hours beforehand via a text from a pretty good looking bro, who asked me for details about the “NMH thing”. I had no idea what this dude was talking about, so I went out with a different, equally good looking bro and got …

by Lisa Black – Jan. 11, 2011 06:38 PM Chicago Tribune CHICAGO – Michelle Lee was catching up with friends at a nightspot near her parents’ home when a bouncer pulled her aside. “Can I ask you a personal question?” Lee recalled him asking. “Are you pregnant?” She responded yes …

Here’s more bad news for your wallet: Chicago has the nation’s highest gas prices. The twice-monthly Lundberg Survey says the highest gas price in the country was recorded in Chicago at $3.35 a gallon. The low, $2.73, was in Salt Lake City, Utah. via Chicago’s No. 1 — in high …

For denizens of the Big Apple, San Francisco and the other windy city, Chicago, the coolest technology announcement so far this week did not come out of CES, but instead from a small Rhode Island company called Towerstream. Up until now Towerstream has focused on providing broadband to corporations via …

10 communities get 6 generators each State stocks up on generators in case of emergency From powering up street festivals to pumping sewage during electrical outages, power generators have been put to work in numerous ways in Chicago’s suburbs. Now several communities in the Chicago area and downstate are receiving …

Thousands of gizzard shad are going belly up along Chicago’s lakefront in a large die-off that’s left many of the fish frozen in the ice along the city’s harbors. Lake Michigan Program biologist Dan Makauskas tells the Chicago Sun-Times that gizzard shad aren’t a very tough variety of fish. They’re …

High number of fruitless searches of Hispanics’ vehicles cited as evidence of bias January 06, 2011 | By Dan Hinkel and Joe Mahr, Tribune reporters, Keri Wiginton, Chicago Tribune Drug-sniffing dogs can give police probable cause to root through cars by the roadside, but state data show the dogs have …