The power company paid $361,000 in 2017 and 2018 to a clout-heavy ex-lobbyist whose home was raided by the feds in May.
Follow-Up
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 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 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 inFollow-Up, Investigation, PolitiFact
Fact-Check: No, 30% of the Nation’s Poor Don’t Reside in California
Speaking about Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to tax income at graduated rates in Illinois, Republican state Rep. Mark Batinick criticized another state with a similar tax system, claiming California is home to a third of those living in poverty nationwide. That’s way off.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
Search Warrant Shows Feds Focused on Lyons Mayor, Developer Who Built His House
Sweeping document — released after the village was sued — sought records highlighted in previous BGA investigation, nearby quarry and even the mayor’s home security system.
Posted inFollow-Up, Legal
BGA Sues Town of Lyons for Records in Federal Probe
The Better Government Association joins WBEZ in suing the southwest suburb for records it received as part of growing federal investigation.