Stories by Taryn Phaneuf on Cook County Record

While some ideas are moving ahead and others are on the backburner, the concept of reducing the number of the county's elected offices remains a hot topic in Cook County, as supporters believe the reforms could both save money and make the local government more effective by installing the best people for the job, rather than the most popular.

Members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team are mounting a campaign on the field and under the law to secure pay equivalent to their male counterparts. And since the men's and women's players work for the same parent organization, the women may have a case, a local economics professor and former litigator said - and may make it harder for other female athletes to follow.

Home builders breathed a sigh of relief when a recent Illinois Supreme Court decision upheld the status quo for home builders' liability when a defect is found years down the line.

With overwhelming bipartisan support, the Defend Trade Secrets Act is now law, giving manufacturers and others the ability to bring a civil case in federal court against those they accuse of improperly sharing their trade secrets, potentially giving them more leverage than is allowed under existing Illinois state law.

As attention increasingly builds on lead content in municipal drinking water in Chicago and elsewhere, an Illinois city has become the first community to receive aid from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency specifically targeted at alleviating problems with waterborne lead.

ROLLING MEADOWS — Prospective jurors reporting for service at three Cook County courthouses join others with new access to Wi-Fi in assembly rooms.

CHICAGO — Consumers in Illinois have six months to claim their part of a $104 million settlement reached by the state Attorney General’s Office with manufacturers of products that have liquid crystal display (LCD) screens following claims that the companies illegally fixed the prices of screens used in electronic devices, including TVs and computers.

SPRINGFIELD — Volunteer attorneys covering a broad range of practice areas will be available to take questions from anyone with legal questions during a free event on Saturday.

Employers need to become more conscious of whether their employees are working through break periods, as allowing them to do so could carry legal consequences, according to a labor law attorney, citing a recent decision by a federal judge to let stand a former IDOC employee's lawsuit asserting he racked up enough hours working through his lunch period to qualify for FMLA leave.