BP has a history of environmental violations at its refinery on Lake Michigan but wasn’t penalized by regulators. A recent oil spill raises new questions about oversight – and drinking water safety.
Brett Chase
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
Brown’s Inside Pitch
Raising new ethical questions, the BGA and FOX 32 find Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown solicited underlings for a private side business. And we discover another curiosity involving her family and Gov. Quinn’s scandal-plagued grant program.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
The North Pour
Winnetka is grappling with an environmental controversy – how to alleviate bad flooding without over-polluting Lake Michigan and our drinking water.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
BGA Exclusive: Inside Preckwinkle’s Campaign Coffers
Cook County unions, vendors are among the board president’s biggest financial backers. That’s raising conflict of interest questions but she says it’s not an issue.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, Newsroom
Did Global Financial Scandal Hit Home?
State, county and local public finance experts are exploring the impact of the British-based LIBOR scandal on government bonds, pensions and investments.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, Newsroom
Sticker Shock: Lofty Fees, Low Returns
The mammoth state teachers’ pension fund spent $1.3 billion for 10-years worth of financial expertise. Critics argue that’s way too high; Teachers Retirement System says it’s a cost of doing business.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, Newsroom
Sticker Shock Part II: Paying Big for Community College Retirees
Thousands of ex-employees are reaping bounteous pensions that often greatly exceed what they have actually paid into the system. What’s more, the cost to taxpayers will spiral out of control unless major public pension reforms are made in Illinois.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, Newsroom
Sticker Shock: Our State Pols’ Platinum Pensions
As part of our Rescuing Illinois Project, we investigative the millions of dollars in pension benefits guaranteed to former statewide office holders.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, Newsroom
Explainer: What is GARS?
It’s the General Assembly Retirement System and it’s virtually broke—a sorry situation shared by other major state-backed employee pension plans, which must increasingly rely on taxpayer-supported financing and accounting gimmicks to shore them up.