* Prices at the pump up 4 cents, highest since Oct. 2008

The nationwide average hit $2.799 per gallon, a penny higher than Wednesday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.

* Daley: ‘Thank God’ Boender got convicted

* Daley won’t discuss specifics of 2008 FBI interview

Mayor Richard Daley on Saturday refused to discuss specifics of his 2008 interview with FBI agents investigating a West Side land deal, saying he was simply cooperating in a federal attempt to root out corruption.

The mayor said developer Calvin Boender’s conviction last week following a probe into the Galewood Yards development is an isolated incident, not an indication of a broader problem of pay-to-play relationships between real estate developers and Chicago elected officials.

* Suspected ‘front company’ has good city hall lobbyist

It’s one of City Hall’s busiest woman- and minority-owned contractors. And, for the last two years, Azteca Supply Co. has been the target of a federal investigation that led to charges last month that the company is a sham “front” that fraudulently was awarded millions of dollars in government contracts.

This is the story of a Hispanic woman who found she could make millions by selling goods to government agencies eager to do business with women and minorities — and did so with the help of some of Chicago’s most well-connected Hispanic leaders, including a former chief of staff to Mayor Daley.

* Former news reporter gets home detention for union theft

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former Post-Tribune reporter to six months of home detention and three years’ probation for stealing $18,100 from a newsroom employee union.

* Advocates: State needs more sunshine

* Putting our resources to work for you

* Compliance with Freedom of Information Act under way

* Marin: Words alone can’t stop gun violence

* SIUC and city need students to do census

* Daley wants Chicago college students who study out of town counted as city residents on Census

* Daley urges South Side residents to return census

* Nearly 60,000 CTA transit cards set to expire in April

* Cook Co. gets $16M to battle obesity

* Editor’s view: Citizens can insist on accountability

It’s not just state aid cuts that has districts worried. Property values are dropping, and the state used stimulus funds to pay for some school funding, which won’t be available in the next fiscal year.

* Will Grayslake charter school be the same with union teachers?

Prairie Crossing’s teachers became eligible for union representation through a law Gov. Pat Quinn signed last July, which also allows the number of charter schools to grow from 60 to 120 statewide. Charter school instructors had not been allowed to organize under state labor laws.

* Word on the Street: Councilman knows stress of startup loans

* DACC rate hikes may keep coming

Jacobs said in 1994, Illinois provided about 40 percent of DACC’s operating budget. By next year she expects that percentage to be cut in half, while local property taxes continue to fund approximately one-third of the budget.

* ICC officials say recession likely cause of app increase

* Some Illinois program regulations make trying to go green a lot harder

* [Champaign] County Board Redistricting

* Most law enforcement agencies giving drivers time to adust to new texting, cell phone laws, but time is running out