From Our President

The death of government muckraker Bill Recktenwald is a loss. And we have plenty of reasons to mourn the state of newsrooms. But there is hope on the horizon for locally created news.

And just such a bill—including true measures of reform and finally shutting down carbon-polluting coal-fired power plants—is now within the governor’s grasp.

If Chicago’s whole-of-government approach to vaccinations was no simple feat, then imagine what it may take to address the economic, educational, health and social factors that contribute to the current surge in violent crime.

Earlier this year, the Tribune teamed with the Better Government Association to report that 61 people had died over a six-year period in buildings with fire safety dangers that were known to the city. So far, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has taken no action in response to the report.

The attorney general’s candor about the recent cyberattack on his operation is laudable. But it doesn’t begin to answer all the questions that still hang over the incident.

One person in Illinois has the power to bring much-needed strength to the legislative inspector general’s office: Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Yet Pritzker has refused to exercise that power.

Lightfoot and her police chief have yet to deliver a strategy that works. When that strategy materializes, the state’s attorney’s office and the courts will do their parts.

Much of what we know as aldermanic privilege relies on the traditions of Chicago government, not powers granted in city ordinances. That makes it difficult to stamp it out for good.

Whether it starts a civic conversation or a bar stool bicker, a well-turned column is good for the reader, and for society as a whole.