City attorneys point to transfer of troubled properties to South Dakota shell companies and siphoning money from bank accounts in a court filing.
Investigations
Posted inInvestigations
Top CPS Official Promoted Invention to Reduce Lead in School Drinking Water — Even as His Name Was on The Patent
CPS official Robert Christlieb publicly credits a school building engineer with inventing the device tried out in several CPS schools but does not mention he’s a co-inventor.
Posted inFollow-Up
After Turbulent Tenure, CHA CEO Tracey Scott Out: ‘Residents Were Suffering In The End’
Scott’s exit after four and a half years is a sign Mayor Brandon Johnson is finally overhauling the CHA, housing advocates say.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
He Attempted Suicide. Peoria Jail Restrained Him in a Chair for Five Days.
Peoria County Jail, in recent years, has restrained its charges for longer durations than other jails in the state and far past industry recommendations.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
A New City Tree Trim Strategy Produces Big Results. Not Everyone Is On Board.
City workers are pruning trees more than twice as quickly after an overhaul that gives alderpeople less power to control services.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
A Mentally Ill Man was Restrained in a Chair for 68 hours at Franklin County Jail, Violating Policies, Report says
One man was restrained for 68 hours, another for 27 hours. Both were mentally ill. The jail’s own policies say restraint should never last more than 10 hours.
An Illinois disability rights watchdog group says the jail violated both its own policies and state standards.
Posted inCriminal Justice & Public Safety
Many cameras. Little focus. Blurry results.
Chicago police bet big on pricey surveillance cameras. Two decades later, the devices do little to solve most crimes.
Posted inInvestigations
Luxury Home or Vacant Lot? Cook County Assessor Misclassifies Hundreds of Properties, Missing $444M in One Year Alone
An investigation by Illinois Answers Project and the Chicago Tribune found Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office missed critical data from at least 620 properties in 2023, with big implications for those taxpayers.
Posted inInvestigations
How We Reported on Cook County Assessment Errors
Reporters from Illinois Answers Project and the Chicago Tribune collected and analyzed thousands of points of data to track down where the Cook County assessor misclassified hundreds of properties.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Most Illinois jails restrain people in chairs. This county ‘violently shocked’ them, too.
A few years ago, Coles County Jail promised to stop using electrified “stun cuffs” to shock people restrained in chairs. How much has changed?
