Illinois’ political scandal just grows and grows, and where it will stop, nobody knows.

The latest victim in the burgeoning political scandal that reaches from Chicago to Springfield is a surprise.

Usually, it’s the politicos who come crashing down to earth. But corporate executives?

That’s a new one — even for Illinois.

House Speaker Mike Madigan dipped into his campaign funds for more than $418,597 in legal fees over the past three months, bringing the total he has spent on lawyers since last year to more than $1.5 million.

The Southwest Side Democrat’s legal headaches heated up in February 2018 amid allegations made by political consultant Alaina Hampton that one of Madigan’s longtime political aides sent her barrages of unwanted texts.

With encouragement from two aldermen, the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission decided late Wednesday to recommend that the city add two business zoning categories to the areas in which marijuana dispensaries could open after Jan. 1.

The commission voted 8-1, with Silas Johnson the only dissenter, to add the B-1 and B-2 zoning categories as suggestions for the Springfield City Council to consider when it meets Nov. 19.

Four remaining developers are jockeying for position as Waukegan city officials prepare to lay their chips behind preferred proposals for the north suburb’s long-sought Lake County casino.

With aldermen in Waukegan poised to vote Thursday on advancing at least one of those bids to the Illinois Gaming Board for final consideration, an independent consultant’s ranking of the competing plans has two major casino developers up in arms ahead of the crucial city council decision.

A downstate grand jury has issued at least two more subpoenas to government agencies in the criminal investigation into the state’s mishandling of deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks at an Illinois veterans’ home, WBEZ has learned.

The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which oversees the Quincy home, and the Adams County Health Department both received criminal subpoenas from the grand jury in August, signaling the probe which began a year ago is not only active, but also may be intensifying.

State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, refuted claims from Nunda Township that a new referendum calling for an earlier township consolidation date could not be submitted in the event an existing referendum asking to abolish the township in 2037 is approved by voters.

McSweeney introduced legislation, which was signed into law in August, providing options to consolidate all 17 of McHenry County’s townships via referendum. These referendums can be authorized either by the approval of a township resolution or by a petition from a certain number of township residents.

Customers who opt to use online grocery services that allow for curbside pick up or drop off will get a free pass on Woodstock’s newly enacted paper and plastic bag tax through 2022.

The Woodstock City Council this week amended its single-use bag tax ordinance after discussion with a Walmart representative about how the store would incorporate reusable bags into its drop-off and pickup services.

Teachers in Addison Elementary District 4 filed a 10-day intent to strike notice Wednesday that could lead to the cancellation of classes for more than 4,000 students as early as Oct. 24, union officials said.

But the co-president of the Addison Teachers’ Association, Allison Andrikokus, stressed the union’s main goal is to get back to the bargaining table with the school board.

Residents will have to wait at least another week for the Winnebago CountyBoard to overhaul a program that for two decades has kept hundreds of tax-delinquent properties trapped in a cycle of blight.

For years, the county has attempted to put tax-delinquent parcels back in the hands of responsible owners through an elaborate system of foreclosures, tax sales and surplus property auctions. The county’s program ensures that local governments recoup at least some of the back taxes they’re owed. However, there are perverse incentives baked into the program that keep hundreds of these orphan properties in a state of perpetual blight.

It’s official: Tim Cantwell is stepping down after 17 years at the helm at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, and a nationwide search will be conducted to find his replacement.

Cantwell announced his intention to retire Wednesday through the airport’s marketing and public relations firm.