Investigation City Agencies Fail To Intervene Before Three Older Women Die in Uncooled Apartment Building Jun 30, 2022 6:00 AM Tenants of the Rogers Park complex see the limitations of the city’s 311 complaint hotline as City Council adopts new rules requiring air conditioning units in senior buildings.
Investigation Former State Health Director Ezike Under Scrutiny by the State’s Top Ethics Investigator Public health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike connected with ordinary people nearly every day during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now she is CEO of a top state medical contractor. Did Dr. Ezike’s quick switch violate the state Ethics Act? Jun 10, 2022 6:00 AM
Investigation Foster Children Held in Jails, Shelters — Workers Threatened, Attacked: A State Agency in Crisis One juvenile court judge asked: “What does a judge do when the department basically abuses a child?” Besieged Illinois child welfare director Marc Smith speaks out in a rare and passionate defense of his tenure, saying “every effort is being made” to protect children and workers. May 26, 2022 6:00 AM
Investigation Illinois Pension Funds Are Slow To Pull Out of Russian Assets Despite a public outcry following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, legislation designed to force divestment languished unpassed in the Spring session of the Illinois General Assembly. Lawmakers say they intend to take the issue up again in the Fall. May 5, 2022 6:00 AM
PolitiFact Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Claims Chicago’s ’Tougher’ Gun Laws Fail To Prevent Gun Violence Chicago is frequently targeted as a city with ineffective, strict gun laws. While the city has a history of implementing tougher laws in comparison to other cities, a Supreme Court decision drastically loosened some restrictions. Jun 3, 2022 6:00 AM
PolitiFact Orland Park Mayor Says Crime at Lowest in Nearly Three Decades In his bid for Congress, Mayor Keith Pekau is touting the downward turn in reported crimes during his tenure. While the reported statistics bear him out, there was a spike in violent crime his first year in office. May 1, 2022 12:00 PM
Database Illinois Public Salaries Database Review, explore and compare compensation for public employees throughout Illinois. Updated: Nov 18, 2021 @ 8:30 AM
Database Illinois Public Pensions Database Follow the money paid to retired public-sector employees throughout Illinois. Updated: May 4, 2022 @ 12:00 PM
The Circuit: Over 18 years, 61% of all criminal charges were filed against Black people, even though only about 23% of the county’s population is Black. In our latest update to our collaborative investigation, the BGA, Injustice Watch and DataMade break down more than 3 million criminal charges by race, ethnicity and gender. Aug 13, 2021 10:05 AM
Follow-Up Complaints Mount on Park District Cameras A Better Government Association investigation into the unfair placement of Park District security cameras has sparked renewed criticism from park neighborhoods and city council members about the quality and ineffectiveness of the expensive program Jun 21, 2022 6:00 AM
Follow-Up Pritzker Orders Funds Released to Madigan-Sponsored Projects Citing a BGA investigation, nine lawmakers requested a funding freeze in the wake of former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s 22-count federal indictment on charges he traded his office to enrich himself and his friends. Mar 28, 2022 6:00 AM
Follow-Up Pritzker Freezes Funds to Madigan-Sponsored Projects Citing a BGA investigation, nine lawmakers requested the freeze in the wake of former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s 22-count federal indictment on charges he traded his office to enrich himself and his friends. Updated: Mar 10, 2022 @ 11:37 AM
Explainer COVID-19 Again Hits Illinois Prisons, Exacerbating Long-Standing Failures in Medical and Mental Health Care Despite dramatically reduced prison populations, officials continue to face problems containing the virus because of lagging vaccine rates of prison staff. Jan 27, 2022 5:45 AM
Explainer Fewer People in Cook County Are Being Charged With Crimes. Why Are Black People Making Up a Larger Share of Defendants? An Injustice Watch/BGA investigation broke down the data on specific charges and asked experts to explain why racial disparities are increasing in Cook County criminal court. Dec 1, 2021 11:02 AM
Explainer Biden’s Infrastructure Push Challenges Illinois’ Car-Centric Approach The president’s plan to cut pollution, promote public transit and address racial inequities would mark a sharp change for a transportation system built for the Eisenhower Era. Updated: Jun 24, 2021 @ 3:23 PM
Press Release Initial $10 Million in Grants to New Investigative and Solutions Journalism Initiative Nov 22, 2021 12:00 AM
From Our President David Greising: Democratic Spending on GOP Primaries Has Come to Illinois June 23, 2022
From Our President Greising: Lightfoot’s Fiery Rhetoric Isn’t a Strategy for Dealing With Chicago’s Surge in Crime June 10, 2022
What the Gov Pattern of Late-Night Finishes for the Illinois General Assembly Raises Transparency Concerns April 27, 2022
What the Gov Community Ask: I have severe glaucoma. I had Illinois Medicaid and recently qualified for Medicare, as well. Why was it so difficult to find treatment from an ophthalmologist? March 29, 2022
What the Gov Community Ask: How much does Illinois earn in lottery tickets per year, and where do those proceeds go? March 10, 2022
Featured Analysis The inspector general's position has been vacant for over four months. BGA took a look at the laws that allow for delay and highlighted areas for improvement. Feb 25, 2022 3:28 PM
Analysis Inspectors General: Chicago Among Nation’s Strongest But Lacks Power to Publish Reports June 14, 2022
Press Release BGA Shares National Reporting Award with Sun-Times for Project on Drug-Possession Cases June 24, 2022
Press Release Winners Announced for the 2022 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards For Investigative Reporting June 23, 2022
