Now that Blago is in the big house, we’re learning all kinds of things from those close to his administration. Sadly we're not surprised by tollway Inspector General James Wagner's report that said more than $33 million in tollway funding was diverted to the state’s general revenue fund at Blago's direction. more ›

With the state facing a ginormous deficit, we're now turning to our neighbors to the east to help out. Sort of. The state is now targeting drivers from Indiana who owe Illinois $1.6 million $7 million in skipped tolls. As many as 116,000 drivers from Indiana could be contacted in the search. more ›

A new report claims that charging motorists to use faster-moving lanes will help control tollway and expressway congestion, especially during rush hours. The findings come from a federally funded study on congestion pricing by the Metropolitan Planning Council and the Illinois Tollway. more ›

In the midst of all their political polling, a question from the Trib/WGN team found a subject most Democrats and Republicans agree on: no privatization of the state's tollway system. 72 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of Republicans polled said no to leasing the system with the primary fear on both sides being that tolls would increase as a result. more ›

• A barricade situation on the city's West Side was peacefully resolved this afternoon.
• An off-duty Chicago Police officer was killed in an early morning car crash on the Kennedy Expressway.
• Kirk Dillard got an endorsement in his race for governor from former governor Jim Edgar.

Los Angeles-based Wilton Partners may have to default on a $83.2 million loan it took out five years ago to finance the overhaul of seven Illinois tollroad oases. Wilton Partners owes iStar FM Loans LLC nearly $95 million in principal and interest payments, according to a foreclosure suit filed in April. Wilton also owes the state over $1 million in back rent and other payments. The slow economy has left the developer holding the bag on space that it can't lease out in the tollway oases. The kicker? The firm made huge campaign contributions to former governor Rod Blagojevich. Wilton Partners and its owner, Jay Wilton, gave Blagojevich $85,000 to his campaign in 2003 and '04. That included hosting a fundraiser at the Beverly Hills Hilton in 2004. Wilton has also been connected to Tony Rezko. The firm cut rents in half for Subway and Panda Express restaurants that were owned by the convicted businessman. more ›

The Illinois Tollway Authority announced last week that it is issuing a $500 million bond to pay for on-going rehab work, a $6.3 billion program now in its fifth year. The bond issue is one of the first Build America Bonds in Illinois, the result of a provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which includes a federal tax-credit to states and municipalities to issue taxable bonds. The deal, which is still being finalized, will issue $400 million in taxable Series A Build America Bonds, and $100 million of Series B tax-exempt bonds. Both bonds mature in 2034. more ›

• The family of Aquan Lewis is asking for a second autopsy to be performed, disputing what they call a "startling" and quick decision by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office that ruled Aquan's death a suicide.
• Police continue to investigate the rape of a woman that occurred early Monday morning in the Bucktown neighborhood - 2300 block of W. Moffat - just south of the Western (Milwaukee) Blue Line stop.
• Today in Executive Resignations: Dawn Catuara, acting executive director of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, has abruptly resigned. Cyrus Freidheim, president and CEO of Sun-Times Media Group, has also announced his resignation.

It didn't take long for it to happen: less than 24 hours after Rod Blagojevich was removed from office and Pat Quinn was sworn in as governor, workers are already erasing signs of Blagojevich's reign. Literally. In 2004, $480,000 was spent to put up 32 signs across the states tollways, each sign saying, "Open Road Tolling--Rod R. Blagojevich Governor." Now those signs are being replaced, though the cost of taking them down is much, much lower: $15,000. Most of the signs will be replaced at night so as not to interfere too much with traffic. more ›

Jeffrey Dailey, the new executive director of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, has stepped down from his post after a month on the job, possibly stemming from the arrest of Governor Rod Blagojevich. Per the Trib:

In the complaint filed by U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald last week, Blagojevich is alleged to have pressured an unidentified highway contractor to raise $500,000 for his campaign fund before he announced a $1.8 billion tollway construction program. more ›