Elizabeth Dominick was director of the suburb's Health Department. We type "was" because Elizabeth Dominick tendered her resignation from the department yesterday, saying her salary was too low and her boss, Cicero Town President Larry Dominick — her husband — wouldn't giver her a raise. more ›

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has made clear that the county government needs to make tough cuts to balance a $470 million budget deficit. County Assessor Joe Berrios has complied by laying off 53 workers from his department. But readers familiar with Berrios' records should not be surprised that his sister, son and daughter were not among those laid off. And Berrios found room in his department budget to hire a woman who's long been rumored to have more than a professional relationship with him, as well as her son. more ›

Just a few weeks after the news that Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios hired his son and sister, county Inspector General Patrick Blanchard and ethics board chief MaryNic Foster have issued a two-page "advisory" cautioning against hiring family members. While the report was not aimed directly at Berrios, the timing of the advisory, along with the fact that Berrios was among the recipients of the memo has forced Berrios's office to defend the hiring. more ›

Remember in the weeks leading up to last month's election and many thought Forrest Claypool had Joe Berrios on the ropes in the race for County Assessor? How Berrios responded with campaign ads telling voters to "support the Democrat" and painting Claypool as a bogeyman? more ›

City Colleges of Chicago received approval today to use $1.8 million in tax increment financing to take over the financially beleaguered Harold Washington Cultural Center in Bronzeville. The center, built on the site of the former Regal Theater, has long been plagued with cost overruns and accusations of patronage, nepotism, mismanagement and possible violations of federal tax law. more ›

The Todd Stroger-Cook County Board patronage scandal has been rocking for more than a week, long enough that his political ally, and our beloved mayor, Richard J. Daley, has finally issued a comment. more ›

The swirl of controversy around Senator Burris gets worse and worse each day. Today's development? The Sun-Times is reporting this morning that Roland W. Burris II, son of Senator Roland Burris, landed a job with the Blagojevich administration last fall, all in spite of some financial troubles for Roland II. Just weeks before, the IRS hit Roland II with a tax lien of over $34,000 and shortly thereafter a mortgage company foreclosed on his South Side home. While officials say there was nothing illegal about Roland II's hiring, it does raise more questions about the relationship between Blago and Sen. Burris prior to the appointment. more ›

Chicago has a long and rich history of nepotism and this latest example shows that it's still business as usual. James J. Banks, the nephew of 36th Ward Ald. William Banks, is known as an attorney who represents developers before the City Council Zoning Committee, which is chaired by his uncle the alderman. But James is also the chairman of the Belmont Bank & Trust, which appears to be a private piggy bank for some developers and the Banks family. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, local Democratic Party leaders in the 14th State Senate District met at the 34th Ward Regular Democratic Organization office, on 111th Street. They formally picked Emil Jones, III to replace his father on the ballot, who announced this week that he will retire. State Rep. Monique Davis, who has had a tenuous relationship with the Senate President, backed community activist Dozier Thomas over Jones the Third. While the elder Jones defended his choice, Mayor Daley told Chicago Public Radio that he would stay out of the fray. "That would be up to people in the Senate, that would be up to them to make the judgment what is good for the democratic party. They've had a lot of challenges over the years. I think they have to all come together in regards to a lot of issues," the mayor said. Threemil will face Ray Wardington Wardingley, who's hobby is running for office. more ›

Emil Jones, defending his decision to bequeath his office to his son, Emil Jones, III, told the media yesterday that keeping it in the family is a political tradition. "'I recall John F. Kennedy, president of the United States, when he became president, he recommended his brother. Right? And his brother was elected,' Jones said, in an apparent reference to Sen. Ted Kennedy, who followed his brother as a senator from Massachusetts." Then he confused which Daley came first. more ›