In the Chicago Reader's profile of Joe Laiacona, running for the State House in the 40th District against Blago's sister-in-law Deb Mell, Hunter Clauss mentioned Laiacona's petition challenge to Mell's candidacy, centered on a conflict of Mell's address. But thanks to a ruling earlier this week, the Reader follows-up, it looks like Mell is in the clear. more ›

We told you yesterday about the petition challenges filed for the 2010 February primaries. The deadline for the ballots to be printed is December 14 so the Cook County Clerk’s office has a lot of work to do. As for how the process actually works, Chicago Current's Alex Parker gives us a quick overview of how it all goes down. more ›