A recently released report outlines an array of questionable actions by the now-former village manager of Westchester leading up to his resignation and a now-concluded criminal probe — including signing off on contract awards to a friend’s company and potentially hiding information from the suburb’s elected village board.

But perhaps the most curious detail in the document about ex-Village Manager Paul Nosek involved “stress balls” he purchased with taxpayer money that may have crossed the line into illegal politicking — some of them were emblazoned with the name of Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch.

“We have no evidence and do not suggest that Speaker Welch,” a Hillside Democrat, was “aware that the Village had purchased [stress balls] imprinted with Speaker Welch’s name,” st

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