Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) has issued a challenge to Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown in his bid to unseat Brown -- turn down any campaign contributions from employees and vendors that do business with the county. Brown, not surprisingly, refused. more ›

State Supreme Court justice Lloyd Karmeier is at the center of a class action lawsuit filed against State Farm alleging the insurance giant his the amount of campaign contributions they made to his 2004 election. more ›

County Assessor Joe Berrios is facing more criticism, but not over nepotism this time. El Jefe del Partido Demócrata del Condado de Cook refuses to return thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from tax attorneys, citing that state law trumps a county rule that limits campaign contributions. more ›

Frank Schmidt, one-time owner of a Joliet landfill that was at the center of an epic feud between Chicago Ald. Dick Mell and former Governor Rod Blagjoevich, has been charged with federal tax evasion. According to federal authorities, Schmidt has been charged with five counts of tax evasion for failing to pay $2 million in tax on $11 million of income. Schmidt is expected to plead guilty. more ›

Just as former alderman Arenda Troutman was sentenced to four years in prison for bribery/fraud charges this week, it looks like U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is focusing his attention on another City Council member: Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th). The Sun-Times is on the case: more ›

More than a third of that -- about $1.3 million -- went to Blagojevich, whose administration gave 11 of the companies $656 million in contracts since 2004. more ›