People in Illinois lost more than $7.7 billion gambling last year. As lawmakers increasingly bet on gambling to pay the state’s bills, they have only spare change to treat compulsive gamblers
Statewide Investigations
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Illinois toddlers are legally entitled to Early Intervention therapies. Here’s what to know
Parents who experience issues with Early Intervention can request mediation and due process hearings or file complaints with the state.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Early Intervention therapies help kids — but Illinois pays providers less than other states, stalling access
Hundreds of therapists are leaving the program each year, causing some families to miss out on services they’re legally entitled to.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
E. coli found in drinking water of Southern Illinois city that floods with sewage
Cahokia Heights residents have found E. coli in their drinking water through community-organized testing of samples from kitchen taps. The results raise new questions about infrastructure in a community plagued […]
Posted inFollow-Up
Feds accuse former Carlyle police chief of wire fraud, theft
Article Summary This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. A Metro East police chief spent more than $100,000 of public money intended to combat drug […]
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Too mentally ill for trial, she spent months in an Illinois jail as the state looked for a hospital bed. She died waiting.
Many defendants declared unfit for trial have often waited three months or longer to be transferred to a hospital – regularly exceeding the state’s deadline, an Illinois Answers Project investigation found. The condition of those waiting deteriorates as each day passes, families and lawyers said.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
How Illinois is now prioritizing outpatient fitness restoration
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law this summer that public defenders say will better clarify when someone found unfit for trial should undergo outpatient fitness restoration. The law, which goes […]
Posted inStatewide Investigations
‘They are literally targeting people.’ ICE comes to southern Illinois
CARLYLE, Ill. — When Jose Jeronimo Guardian showed up at a Spanish language traffic court this week, he didn’t expect to be detained and face expulsion from a country he’d […]
Posted inInvestigations
Billions in Profits, Millions in Unpaid Claims: Medicaid Insurers Leave Illinois Providers Struggling, Patients Losing Care
Small clinics and hospitals are drowning in denied and delayed claims from Illinois Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs). To cope, some providers have stopped accepting Medicaid altogether. Meanwhile, MCOs are seeing increasing profits, but aren’t meeting patient care metrics.
Posted inInvestigations
A New Wastewater Plant in Carterville Could Stop Sewage Overflows — Why Hasn’t Construction Started Yet?
Carterville reported 40 sanitary sewer overflows in the past decade. City officials have known for years that a new wastewater treatment plant would resolve the issue. They promised it would be operational by last year. But construction hasn’t started yet. Meanwhile, residents deal with flooding and backed up basements.
