Mayor Brandon Johnson isn’t allowed to take campaign contributions from city contractors under a City Hall ethics rule but has accepted them anyway.

Asked about that, Christian Perry, Johnson’s political director, says taking the money was an “oversight” and that it’s being returned — about $46,500 in all.

It appears that Illinois’ decades-long ban on the construction of new nuclear facilities is going by the wayside.

The Illinois House on Wednesday passed the Senate’s measure that will allow the construction of smaller modular reactors beginning in 2026. An earlier version of the bill was vetoed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker after he said it was too vague and would allow the construction of large nuclear plants.

A report from American College Testing on grade inflation in high schools and college readiness among students across the county suggests that students today are less prepared for higher education than they were several years ago. But data from the University of Chicago about high schoolers who attended Chicago Public Schools says otherwise.

According to ACT, which administers the standardized ACT test for high schoolers, “grade inflation is when the assignment of grades does not align with content mastery.” ACT says a sign of grade inflation is when grades in high school don’t align with improved standardized test scores.

The Chicago City Council passed an ordinance Thursday that will mean more paid time off for Chicago workers.

The expanded paid leave ordinance passed Thursday evening by a vote of 36-12. As CBS 2’s Sabrina Franza reported, the ordinance was the only item on the City Council agenda Thursday afternoon.

Lawmakers left the veto session Thursday in a stalemate over how members of the Chicago Board of Education should be elected next year.

Lawmakers have been focusing on the election of board members for Chicago Public Schools, after months of hearings and behind-the-scenes meetings about district maps that would be used in those elections.

Some retired police officers could see their pensions grow under a measure that cleared the General Assembly that would boost the annual cost-of-living increase added to their checks.

The bill, authored by state Sen. Rob Martwick, D-Chicago, ensures that all retired Chicago police officers get a 3% annual cost-of-living increase, regardless of whether they were born before or after Jan. 1, 1966. The Illinois House voted 94-8 to approve the bill, and the vote in the Illinois Senate was unanimous.

As questions linger over allegations of unethical behavior by Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, the Tribune has uncovered a new complaint from a former employee who said they were forced to attend an event where seniors were tricked into signing political petitions to receive a free ham.

Newly released records also shed more light on previously reported ethics allegations surrounding Conyears-Ervin and her husband, Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th. Emails released by the city show Conyears-Ervin directly asked top BMO Harris Bank officials to issue a loan to her husband’s landlord, who is a longtime close family friend.

A bill preserving the results of successful referendums last year creating community mental health boards in several suburban communities has passed the Illinois House and now awaits Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature.

The legislation, approved last week by the state Senate, validates the creation of 708 mental health boards in Addison, Lisle, Naperville, Schaumburg and Wheeling townships, along with Will County. It also authorizes a new property tax levy to fund the boards, which support local efforts to address mental health, substance abuse and developmental disabilities.