The Watchdogs
Investigations of government, politicians, education, business and issues affecting taxpayers and consumers.
The Bears put the figure at $4.7 billion. But a state official says the tally to taxpayers goes even higher when you include the cost of refinancing existing debt.
Wind and solar are supposed to replace coal plants that are closing, but that didn’t happen in 2023. Another fossil fuel, natural gas, filled the void.
Fidel Marquez did not succeed in purchasing the firearm, and no criminal charges appear to have been filed against him. Prosecutors confirmed earlier this week that he is expected to testify at the trial of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan.
One reason for the long-delayed payments for traffic control outside big events is the city takes so long to send a bill, according to Live Nation and others.
Marlene Hopkins was the city official in charge of reviewing plans for the 2020 Crawford coal plant implosion that ended up blanketing the Southwest Side community in dust.
Lab tests of hemp products sold in Chicago showed wildly varying levels of THC and unexpected cannabinoids in edibles and flowers. Lawmakers are calling for the items to be regulated.
One critic says suing a gun maker over its design is like suing an automaker for cars that go too fast and crash.
The shooting last month outside the VLive nightclub is being investigated as a hate crime. The gunman allegedly said, “Bad gay,” before firing.
Madigan is accused of leading a criminal enterprise for nearly a decade designed to enhance his political power and generate income for his allies and associates. The Southwest Side Democrat left office in 2021 and was indicted in March 2022.
Using data from the Federal Election Commission, the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ analyzed the money from Illinois pumped — directly and indirectly — into the 2024 race for the White House.
Appeals Justice Jesse Reyes called on his Democratic primary opponent to say if she recused herself when the court failed to suspend Burke’s law license.
Legislation is being proposed in Springfield that would require the total price of goods and services, especially extra fees, to be disclosed before customers try to pay.
It’s more heavily Black, with no Asian Americans among his top political appointees. Overall, the city payroll is far different from the significantly white employee base that Mayor Richard M. Daley had when he left office in 2011, a Sun-Times analysis finds.
The feds agreed that the Vernon Hills Democrat deserved probation despite his tax crimes, asking U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland for the light sentence in a memo last week.
Timothy Mapes was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for lying to a grand jury. Now we know who wrote letters to the judge on his behalf.
The Servites has had numerous priests and brothers accused of sexual abuse and faces an onslaught of new lawsuits. Unlike many dioceses and orders, the group has no public list of members deemed to have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. And other church lists are incomplete.
Prosecutors have accused defense attorneys for the four people convicted of conspiring to bribe Michael Madigan of “claiming victory prematurely.” But one defense attorney predicted that “the convictions are not going to stand.”
Timothy Mapes was convicted of lying to a federal grand jury as part of an effort to thwart the feds’ probe into former House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Joseph Burgos was caught at Chicago’s downtown Greyhound bus station with a backpack full of opioid pills, authorities say.
A 10-page memo Tuesday offered few new details about Link’s cooperation or crime, but it showed the value of Link’s undercover work to the feds.
Adan Casarrubias Salgado led the Guerreros Unidos cartel, which has been blamed for the presumed massacre of 43 college students in Mexico in 2014.
After a four-year standoff, the governor’s deal with the U.S. EPA commits Illinois to weighing the likely environmental impact before allowing more polluting industry to move to low-income neighborhoods already burdened by environmental and social stresses.
Marlene Hopkins oversaw the 2020 Crawford plant demolition that coated the community in dust.
As the White Sox and Bulls owner seeks $1 billion in state funding for a new South Loop ballpark, he’s spending big to gobble up lots around the Bulls’ home, records show.
Link testified that he’d withdrawn money from his campaign account and “used some for gambling.” He also told jurors that “I was helping a friend who was in dire need.”
Mario DePasquale pleaded guilty late last summer to the extortion conspiracy involving former McCook Mayor Jeff Tobolski. On Wednesday, he insisted his crimes were completely out of character.
Hundreds of drivers in Illinois and throughout the country describe incidents in which their back windows “shattered” or “exploded” as they were on the road or after they were parked.
In her lawsuit in 2020, Officer Cynthia Donald accused Johnson of forcing her to have sex and continuing to harass her after she was demoted.
2.5 years in prison for Tim Mapes, ex-aide to Michael Madigan. 'Your loyalty was gravely misguided.'
Federal prosecutors asked the judge to give Mapes as many as five years in prison, arguing that his lies “were calculated to thwart the government’s sprawling investigation of a series of unlawful schemes calculated to corrupt the government of this state at the highest levels.”
The disclosure came Friday after Annazette Collins signaled she would testify during her ongoing trial on charges she dodged nearly $100,000 in taxes. She later changed her mind and decided not to take the stand.
Helm, a former city of Chicago deputy aviation commissioner, told a judge he lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, and has been “unemployed” for three years.