When Illinois jurors convicted Patrick Pursley of murder, they relied on an expert’s assurance that the scratches and dents on bullets and shell casings from the crime scene proved they could only have come from Pursley’s gun.

More than two decades later, technological advances have eroded confidence in ballistic experts, and the analyst who testified against Pursley is no longer so sure of his findings.

The scars of the violence that erupted in a Milwaukee neighborhood after a police officer killed a 23-year-old black man remain visible nearly a year later, reminders of how little things have changed.

A few blocks from where Sylville Smith was fatally shot Aug. 13, the gas station that protesters torched is still closed, surrounded by chain-link fence to protect the damaged gas pumps that are the only things left. The BMO Harris bank branch that went up in flames hasn’t reopened either, nor has the O’Reilly Auto Parts store that was also burned.

For Jeremy Arn, being a prosecutor in Milwaukee's most dangerous neighborhoods means spending more time on the streets than in court.

His officemates are police officers in District 5, the city's busiest, and his focus is not just locking people up, but preventing crime and giving people second chances.

With a brash, unapologetic personality reminiscent of President Donald Trump, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is positioning himself as an in-your-face conservative firebrand who has some Republicans swooning over his prospects for higher office.

The tough-talking, cowboy-hat wearing lawman is also one of the most polarizing figures in Wisconsin politics, frequently dishing out eyebrow-raising comments that make even his one-time supporters blanch.

When a loved one dies, laws cover how their houses, cars, and other property are passed on to relatives. But the rules are murkier — and currently far more restrictive — when it comes to pictures on Facebook, emails to friends or relatives and even financial records stored in online cloud accounts.

For the first time in recent history, Illinois Republicans are vastly outspending Democrats in fall legislative races with the help of a wealthy governor determined to curtail a traditionally blue political landscape that has thwarted his agenda for two years. The more than $13 million the GOP's main campaign committee has disbursed to House and Senate candidates so far — nearly all of it coming from Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner — dwarfs what either party has been able to spend sometimes in entire election cycles.

Brian Nelson's years in solitary confinement left him terrified of other people, and he says he can still taste the concrete dust from his cell, even though he's been free since 2010.

The 51-year-old is afraid to ride the bus, he takes five psychotropic drugs and sees a psychiatrist every week. Even when he's at a park surrounded by grass, he says everything starts turning gray and he remembers how tiny air pockets in the walls kicked up dust whenever he would clean his cell.

Illinois has redefined what it means to have a late budget.

Other states have gone several months without a spending plan before, and Illinois has had prior delays that caused great anxiety. But going an entire fiscal year without a full budget? It's the only time in post-World War II history it's happened in the country.

Thanks to the cash-strapped state's decision to stop mailing renewal reminders, Illinois motorists have paid nearly $5 million this year for failing to renew vehicle license plates on time, more than double the amount collected in the same three-month span last year.