Officials in suburban counties are considering waiving late fees on property tax payments to help give homeowners some financial relief.
Madison Hopkins
Madison Hopkins rejoined the newsroom in April 2023. Before returning, she was the health accountability reporter for The Kansas City Beacon, where she collaborated with ProPublica's Local Reporting Network to investigate Missouri's oversight of sheltered workshops for adults with disabilities.
Originally from Southern California, Madison moved to Chicago to earn her master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She initially joined the Better Government Association in 2016, where she investigated Chicago's recycling program failures, the absence of regulatory enforcement at Illinois nuclear power plants and bureaucratic failures in Chicago's building code enforcement system that contributed to dozens of fatal fires.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Chicago Aldermen Call for Hearings Into Failing City Recycling Programs
Citing an investigation by the BGA that revealed systemic failures in Chicago’s Blue Cart recycling program, aldermen demand public examination aimed at improving the city’s worst-in-the-nation programs.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
How Many Of Chicago’s 77,000 Big Buildings Recycle? Nobody Knows.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to take recycling to Chicago’s high-rises and commercial buildings has fallen short because of lax enforcement and a series of bureaucratic snafus.
Posted inEquity & Economic Opportunity
Las Contradicciones De Emanuel Frente a La Industria Contaminante
Un análisis hecho por BGA/Medill revela que las acciones de vigilancia para el cumplimiento de la ley ambiental disminuyeron bajo los dos mandatos del alcalde. El número de inspectores se recortó cuando el alcalde redujo costos.
Posted inEquity & Economic Opportunity
Emanuel Soft on Chicago Polluters Despite Tough Talk
A BGA/Medill analysis shows environmental enforcement declined under the two-term mayor. City inspection staff was slashed as mayor cut costs.
Posted inEquity & Economic Opportunity
Candidates In 46th Ward Make Gentrification Key Issue In Challenging Uptown’s Alderman
Five residents taking on Ald. James Cappleman focus on affordable housing, high-rises, community engagement and education.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Emanuel Administration Promises Reforms to City’s Recycling Program
After the BGA reveals how tons of recycling is diverted to landfills by a private company that stands to profit, a top city official tells aldermen he is moving to fix the problem.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Mayoral Hopefuls Respond to BGA Recycling Investigation
With Mayor Rahm Emanuel not running for a third term, read what some of those seeking to replace him think should happen to the city’s much-maligned residential recycling program.
Posted inResults & Reforms
BGA Wins Transparency Ruling in Navy Pier Privatization Case
The decision could make it hard for private entities that have assumed government duties to block public access to their records.
Posted inInvestigations
Power Struggle
In an industry that by its very nature is one slip-up away from catastrophe, the BGA finds a blurred line between the regulator and the regulated.
