Cook County Government

For the first time since it was launched 48 years ago, the Puerto Rican Day Parade was held Saturday away from Chicago’s downtown, though the stream of dignitaries, beauty queens and motorcycle riders passing along the new route on the city’...

When the new mayor of Hazel Crest took office this spring, he discovered that the village manager and two top employees had received double-digit pay hikes that he thought violated town rules. But instead of trying to get the attention of federal or...

The Forest Preserve District of Cook County plans to celebrate its centennial for the next three years, bringing new and renovated campgrounds and interactive online maps and apps to county residents. The projects, which also include a new logo, updated...

Almost 14 years after his twin brother was kidnapped, held for ransom and eventually killed, Darwin Green could only shake his head Sunday at the news that authorities had charged four men in the murder. "I had this feeling over the last 13 years that...

Gov. Quinn last week picked a longtime politico to sit on the CTA's board--and he doesn't live anywhere near a CTA stop. Quinn nominated Frank Zuccarelli, a 20-year supervisor of Thornton Township in south Cook County, to replace John Bouman, who is...

Regulators have ruled that a lawyer who is also a former McHenry County Board member committed misconduct in connection with accusations he had sex with a legal client and accepted more than $100,000 in loans from her. Robert Bless, who also worked as a...

State lawmakers had barely peeled out of Springfield following a session where key issues stalled when a slew of politicians who want to be Illinois governor saw the green flag waving to launch the 2014 race. A pair of Republicans, Treasurer Dan...

Genetic privacy The Tribune's June 5 editorial in response to a Supreme Court ruling on DNA collection before conviction, "Solving crimes with DNA," badly misrepresents the nature of DNA collection and the intimate information that is collected through a...

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will launch her re-election bid Tuesday, saying she wants another four years to try to reform the way the county locks up adult and juvenile criminal defendants and to get more people out to the forest...

Magicians call it misdirection. When the audience is distracted looking one way, the "magic" happens. Sometimes, politics is no different. The focus on pensions, gun permits, gambling and same-sex marriage during the just-finished General Assembly...

A controversial, 40-foot, blue, windmill-style sculpture in Lincoln Park will have its day in court. The city filed a complaint in Cook County circuit court May 31, alleging the giant blue sculpture at Armitage Avenue and Burling Street never had proper...

A parolee who has been arrested more than 70 times was behind bars again after he stole a box of Starburst candy from a Wrigleyville CTA station, police said. Amarri C. Bowens, 22, of the 100 block of North Campbell Avenue, racked up his 77th arrest...