The Illinois Senate Appropriations Committee questioned representatives from the Illinois Department of Employment Services over fraudulent benefits during the pandemic.

According to a state audit from 2021, IDES lost nearly $2 billion in funds due to fraudulent claims. However, as of recently, IDES still is unsure of the entire scope of all the fraud. There are also questions about overpayments. 

In four weeks of testimony, jurors in the “ComEd Four” bribery trial have heard from a top staffer to ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan, current and former legislators from Madigan’s Democratic caucus, and a ComEd executive at the center of an alleged plot to bribe the once-mighty speaker and help advance the utility’s agenda in Springfield.

The jury has also listened to the words of Madigan and his associates from their own mouths, through dozens of wiretapped calls and secretly recorded meetings in which they spoke about an alleged scheme to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars from ComEd to Madigan’s cronies for little or no work.

The malaise goes beyond La Salle Street.

Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson had another high-profile meeting on Friday, getting some face time with Gov. JB Pritzker just one day after a sit down with Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

CBS 2’s Suzanne Le Mignot was at the governor’s office in the West Loop where Friday’s meeting took place.

Looks like Las Vegas isn’t the only “Sin City” in the United States.

According to a recent study from WalletHub, a personal finance website, two Illinois cities were ranked among the “most sinful cities in the U.S.”

Millions of dollars are coming to many Central Illinois towns, aiming to boost tourism and ignite economic engines.

There are dozens of open storefronts throughout Downtown Champaign, and with half a million dollars coming the city’s way from the state, one city official hopes to start filling them.

The overall financial health of Illinois school districts has been improving in recent years, according to a recent state report, but a bill moving through the General Assembly seeks to rein in the amount of money some districts are saving.

Senate Bill 1994, which passed unanimously out of the Senate last week and now awaits action in the House, would put a cap on how much money school districts could hold in reserves. Districts that exceed it would be required to file a report with the state.

Professors at three public universities in Illinois are either on strike or on the verge of striking this week following years of declining state investment in higher education.