Why have multiple reform efforts failed to clean up the state Capitol? One answer is that the General Assembly never fixed the laws that apply to itself.
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Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
Neighborhoods Face Extinction As Floods Increase
Illinois towns paying the price for repeated cleanups consider buying out residents and converting homesteads to wetlands and parks.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, PolitiFact
Fact-Check: Has Illinois Been Losing Population for Nearly a Century?
Speaking about the importance of attracting young people to attend Illinois universities, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state has lost population in all but one of the last 95 years.
Posted inPress Release
Recap | 2019 BGA Annual Luncheon
Nearly 600 BGA supporters gathered to celebrate the achievements of the past year of good government work at our Annual Luncheon.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
Federal Probe in Lyons Includes Businesses Intertwined with Mayor
The list of businesses whose records were seized last month include video gambling machine operator Rick Heidner with a potentially lucrative deal from Lyons to fix up a vacant strip mall.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
Pressure on Property Taxes Mounts for Towns Across Illinois Amid Pension Burden
Police and fire pension costs in towns and larger cities outside Chicago have grown at a greater rate than property taxes. That is forcing some city leaders to make tough decisions on services and staff.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, PolitiFact
Fact-Check: Trump ‘Dead Wrong’ About the Change in Murders in Chicago
Trump claimed Chicago has lagged the nation in reducing murders over the last two years. The opposite is true: Chicago’s progress has contributed to and even outpaced the national decline.
Posted inAction, Analysis, Policy
BGA and Illinois Press Association Defend NPR Illinois Reporters’ First Amendment Rights
In a letter to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, the BGA’s David Greising and the IPA’s Sam R. Fisher say the university’s Title IX policy is at odds with journalists’ right to protect confidential sources.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, PolitiFact
Fact-Check: Durbin Mostly on Track with Claim on Illinois Deportations
Illinois’ senior senator said fewer than 20% of individuals deported from Illinois were charged with a serious crime. Federal data supports that, but it comes with a few caveats.
Posted inPress Release
BGA Stories on O’Hare and Chicago’s Recycling Program Win National Awards
The two EPPY Awards, handed out by the journalism magazine Editor & Publisher, were for Best Investigative/Enterprise Feature and Best Innovation Project.