The city is also ramping up legal battles against two other landowners who have millions in unpaid fines.
Casey Toner
Casey Toner, a Chicago native, has been an Illinois Answers reporter since 2016, taking the lead on numerous projects about criminal justice and politics. His series on police shootings in suburban Cook County resulted in a state law requiring procedural investigations of all police shootings in Illinois. Before he joined Illinois Answers, he wrote for the Daily Southtown and was a statewide reporter for Alabama Media Group, a consortium of Alabama newspapers. Outside of work, he enjoys watching soccer and writing music.
Posted inFollow-Up
‘Empire of Neglected And Hazardous Vacant Lots’ Declares Bankruptcy, But City of Chicago Cries Fraud
City attorneys point to transfer of troubled properties to South Dakota shell companies and siphoning money from bank accounts in a court filing.
Posted inFollow-Up
Contractor Implicated in Chicago Area Bribery Case Surfaces in Federal Investigation of Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard
Records show village paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to company whose officials were charged with bribing a county employee with jewelry, sports tickets, home improvement materials
Posted inCriminal Justice & Public Safety
The Police Department for Fired Cops
An analysis of state data shows that 17% of all police officers hired by the Robbins Police Department since 2000 came on board directly after they were fired from previous law enforcement jobs, the most of any department in Illinois. Those hires include two cops who lied about what they saw the night Laquan McDonald was murdered.
Posted inFollow-Up
City of Chicago Amps Up Its Legal Battle Against ‘City’s Worst Landowner’
The city is suing Northbrook resident Suzie B. Wilson and her company for more than $10 million, alleging they failed for years to clean up a hazardous West Englewood dump. Wilson was featured in a Illinois Answers Project/Block Club investigation last year.
Posted inInvestigations
311 Complaints and Fines Fail to Solve Usual City Winter Woe —Too Many Snow-Packed Sidewalks
As it considers pilot program to clear sidewalks, Chicago can look to Toronto, Syracuse where the cities do the plowing.
Posted inFollow-Up
Dolton Mayor Backpedals From Cancer Charity Bearing Her Name Amid Increased Scrutiny
Mayor Tiffany Henyard appeared on the Roland Martin webcast to disavow the foundation while new court records allege her boyfriend gets paid to serve on the board.
Posted inFollow-Up
State Bars Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard’s Nonprofit From Fundraising
The Illinois Answers Project previously reported that Henyard voted to steer thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to her foundation for a trip to Springfield
Posted inFollow-Up
City Targets Real Estate Empire, Owing Millions in Rat-Related Tickets, as ‘Extreme Scofflaws’
Chicago attorneys want to merge several thousand court judgments, totaling more than $9.3 million, so they can be ‘pursued together in the most efficient manner possible’
Posted inInvestigations
Illinois Taxpayers Shell Out Hundreds of Millions as Prison Reform Lawsuits Grind On
The settlement agreements have prompted major changes for incarcerated people who are deaf, mentally ill or under the care of the state prison’s beleaguered healthcare system, but advocates argue more needs to be done.
