Records show village paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to company whose officials were charged with bribing a county employee with jewelry, sports tickets, home improvement materials
Government Finance & Accountability
‘No Schoolers’: How Illinois’ Hands-Off Approach to Homeschooling Leaves Children at Risk
At 9 years old, L.J. started missing school. His parents said they would homeschool him. It took two years — during which he was beaten and denied food — for anyone to notice he wasn’t learning.
Johnson Administration Faces Credibility Crunch Over a Key Plank of $1.25B Bond Plan
Officials say they’ll let enough special taxing districts expire to generate the money needed to pay back the debt. Some analysts are skeptical.
‘Green Alleys’ Help Prevent Flooding, But Vulnerable Neighborhoods Must Wait in Line
‘It’s a little bit of a shot-in-the-dark implementation strategy,’ a key City Council member said.
The Inside Story on a Billion-Dollar Chemical Company’s Fight to Keep its Secrets From the Public
After the Cicero Independiente and MuckRock published investigative articles about air pollution and the chemicals company Koppers, it hired a public-relations firm to organize a secret, behind-the-scenes campaign to influence local officials.
311 Complaints and Fines Fail to Solve Usual City Winter Woe —Too Many Snow-Packed Sidewalks
As it considers pilot program to clear sidewalks, Chicago can look to Toronto, Syracuse where the cities do the plowing.
Landlord Pushes Tenants Out Despite Getting State Money
Tenants at an Englewood apartment building are left out in the cold after their landlord pockets rental assistance with little oversight from the state.
How the Koppers Plant Became, and Remains, Cicero’s Toxic Neighbor
The Koppers plant in Cicero has been found in violation of both state and federal environmental laws dating back 50 years — from the late 1970s until this past summer. A new Illinois EPA list of violations raises new questions about how much cancer-causing chemicals the plant is emitting.
City Targets Real Estate Empire, Owing Millions in Rat-Related Tickets, as ‘Extreme Scofflaws’
Chicago attorneys want to merge several thousand court judgments, totaling more than $9.3 million, so they can be ‘pursued together in the most efficient manner possible’
Illinois Taxpayers Shell Out Hundreds of Millions as Prison Reform Lawsuits Grind On
The settlement agreements have prompted major changes for incarcerated people who are deaf, mentally ill or under the care of the state prison’s beleaguered healthcare system, but advocates argue more needs to be done.