Investigation City Agencies Fail To Intervene Before Three Older Women Die in Uncooled Apartment Building 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. Jun 30, 2022 6:00 AM
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
Investigation Security Cameras Scarce in Parks with Most Reported Crimes Only 16 of the 600 parks in city neighborhoods have security cameras, but many of them are in white, wealthy neighborhoods without much of a crime problem. Many parks in higher-crime areas, including more neighborhoods of color, have no cameras at all despite requests from residents. Apr 21, 2022 6:00 AM
Investigation Ald. Walter Burnett Softened Stance on Affordable Housing After Cash Flowed Developer Onni Group wanted out of its obligation to include affordable units in its luxury Old Town highrises. Onni paid a Burnett friend more than $417,000 to lobby City Hall, helped sponsor a Burnett fundraiser and pledged $25,000 to a charity run by Burnett’s wife. Some tenants said the alderman abandoned them. Apr 12, 2022 6:00 AM
Investigation Former Police Superintendent Accused of Lying in Murder Case A man exonerated after 33 years in prison for double murder says records prove then-Lt. Philip Cline lied to jurors during his trial about taking his confession in 1987. He is suing the city. Mar 16, 2022 6:44 AM
Investigation Former Veterans' Affairs Chief Wrote Checks Totaling $50,000 to Her Mom From Her Political Fund Following BGA inquiries, Linda Chapa LaVia said the money was to repay a 20-year-old loan. She returned the money to her political account after officials at the state board of elections raised questions about why the loan was never disclosed. Mar 2, 2022 6:00 AM
Investigation Pritzker Trust Bought Stock in a Top Illinois Contractor After He Was Elected Governor Purchase of stock highlights weakness of Pritzker’s blind-trust arrangement in preventing conflicts of interest for billionaire governor’s holdings. Feb 25, 2022 6:00 AM
Investigation Concerns — and Campaign Plans — Mount As Chicago Remap Battle Drags On Chicago’s once-per-decade fight to redraw its ward boundaries has lasted months and there’s still no agreement, sparking preliminary referendum plans and fears about a costly court battle. Updated: Feb 3, 2022 @ 1:45 AM
Investigation Oregon Is First State to Ticket Narcotics Users, but New Reform Has Yet To Live Up To Promise In Illinois, possession of even trace amounts of heroin residue is a felony. But in Oregon, it’s not a crime at all any more. Instead, people caught with drugs get a ticket. Oregon’s new drug reform is keeping users out of jail — but the goal of getting them help for their addictions has been elusive. Dec 3, 2021 5:30 AM
Investigation A Veteran Cook County Judge Has Been Repeatedly Blocked from Hearing Sex Offense Cases. Here’s Why. An unprecedented investigation of court data finds systematic effort to keep Judge James Linn from deciding sex charges after a controversial ruling he made years ago. Oct 22, 2020 12:01 PM
Investigation City Says About $600 Million More Is Needed to Finish Cabrini-Green’s Transformation With a public price tag already exceeding $300 million, the 23-year-long effort to rejuvenate the area around the former public housing project is set to take at least 12 more years and could approach a total of nearly $1 billion. Jun 15, 2021 12:00 PM