Ali Ata had just been subpoenaed in the intensifying corruption probe of the Gov. Rod Blagojevich administration in 2005 when he got a call from a young, well-connected attorney who said he had a message from on high.

The caller was Brian Hynes, a close friend of businessman and political fixer Antoin “Tony” Rezko. With a federal noose tightening around Rezko’s neck, Hynes asked Ata, the head of the Illinois Finance Authority, to meet him at a restaurant in Greektown.

The 2020 U.S. census is a little more than a year away but that hasn’t stopped Jay Young from worrying about what it will mean for Illinois.

Young, of the watchdog group Common Cause Illinois, has spent so much time thinking about the decennial count of the state’s population that he recently had a dream that he showed up to a census-related meeting unprepared.

As soon as I heard Illinois lawmakers were considering taxing plastic and paper shopping bags, I purchased a half dozen canvas bags to take with me on future shopping trips.

I don’t like paying taxes. And bringing my own reusable bags struck me as a good tax-avoidance strategy.

Officials from several public-employee groups told state lawmakers Thursday that pension-reform measures enacted in 2010 are patently unfair and possibly illegal.

And in the case of public-school teachers, the relatively new pension structure might soon fall out of compliance with federal regulations, something that could cost taxpayers billions of dollars in the future.

The House Public Utilities Committee on March 12 approved a bill extending Commonwealth Edison’s authority to set its rates via an annual formula. Apparently, given the 18-0 vote, no one on that panel thought this was a matter deserving much scrutiny.

The McHenry City Council on Monday will consider tax incentives for two companies and new raffle regulations ahead of the Queen of Hearts renewal at the McHenry Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4600.

The game drew widespread attention last year as the jackpot for the last round rose to more than $7 million.