Investigations – Page 10

Gov. JB Pritzker joined Mayor Lori Lightfoot, right, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, second from left, and public health experts in updating residents on March 12, 2020, in the early days of the pandemic. Illinois, Chicago and Cook County received $11 billion through the American Rescue Plan Act amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A Tribune-University of Chicago Mansueto Institute analysis revealed few efforts to identify potential waste and abuse of that money. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Illinois, Chicago, Cook County got $11B in pandemic aid but there were gaps in oversight and transparency

By Dan Petrella

September 13, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The Tribune and the University of Chicago's Mansueto Institute examined how Illinois, Chicago and Cook...

Weiss Memorial Hospital, in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, was closed in August 2025 after federal regulators cut off Medicare funding over safety issues. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Illinois ignores rules and red flags as ‘servant leader’ runs up $100M state tab, then closes 2 hospitals

By Joe Mahr

August 30, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

West Suburban and Weiss Memorial's collapse illustrates what can go wrong in a state that...

An airplane flies near the EdgeConneX data center campus, right, on July 22, 2026, in Elk Grove Village. Two of the company’s data centers near O’Hare International Airport were the subject of property tax appeals battles this year brought by the Cook County assessor. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Data centers near O’Hare win nearly $100M in local tax breaks, leaving suburban homeowners to cover the gap

By Alex Nitkin

August 23, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Northwest suburban data centers had nearly $2 billion knocked off their taxable property values, an...

Jermaine Harris holds his newborn daughter AJ on Dec. 26, 2023. Harris’ father, Lee Harris, died eight months after getting out of prison and just before the birth of his granddaughter. Harris had served 33 years in prison and was ultimately exonerated. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Death cuts off dreams of man recently freed after 3 decades in prison

By Christy Gutowski

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

Lee Harris spent 33 years in prison on a murder conviction before winning back his...

The University of Chicago Charter School Woodlawn campus, at 63rd Street and University Avenue on Jan. 29, 2024. The school is being sued after a video of a teacher mocking a special education student for crying in December 2022 emerged. A classroom aide was also convicted of misdemeanor battery for her role in the incident.

Video shows educators at University of Chicago charter school mock special education student, call him ‘dumb’

By Stacy St. Clair

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

A University of Chicago charter school is being sued after a video emerged showing a...

Former Chicago police Cmdr. Glenn Evans, center, leaves the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Dec. 14, 2015, after a Cook County judge acquitted him on charges he allegedly placed the barrel of his gun into a suspect's mouth.

City’s police accountability agency did not finish investigation against infamous cop, declines to wrap it up now

By Stacy St. Clair

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

A city agency tapped to review police misconduct complaints failed to complete an investigation into...

Donna Wuchter sits with pictures of her slain friend Gena Chiodo this month at her home in Munster, Indiana.

Stalled Justice: Slow Cook County courts see progress in 2023, but some decade-old cases still linger on dockets

By Joe Mahr

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

Shawn Jones has spent 12 years jailed without a trial — a "pure hell" that...

Calumet City 6th Ward Alderman James Patton at a City Council meeting Nov. 9, 2023.

Firm hired to review Calumet City’s bids wins most architecture contracts, investigation shows

By Hank Sanders

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

Farnsworth Group, the engineering and architecture firm appointed by Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones to...

In an image from surveillance video obtained by the Tribune, off-duty Chicago police Officer Craig Lancaster appears to strike 14-year-old student JaQuwaun Williams near his throat outside Gresham School of Excellence on May 18, 2023.

Chicago police officer charged with felony aggravated battery after video shows him hitting 8th grader

By Christy Gutowski

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

A Chicago police officer has been charged with aggravated battery for allegedly striking an eighth...

Ex-Chicago HSI agent gets more than 6 years in prison for widespread corruption

By Jason Meisner

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

In a case closely watched within Chicago's federal law enforcement ranks, a former agent for...

Fontaine Sanders, 19, was fatally shot in April 2017. He was a student at Robert Morris University, working toward his dream of becoming a physical therapist.

The frightened witness and the long-hidden memo: Plea deal in murder case has startling back story

By Christy Gutowski

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

Three eyewitnesses identified Zeron Moody as one of two shooters who opened fire in a...

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans, shown at an award ceremony in February, has led the criminal courts for more than two decades.

Stalled Justice update: Notoriously slow Cook County courts will begin tracking why cases are delayed

By Joe Mahr

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

As the pace of justice in Cook County has grown slower and slower, leaders of...

Debora Land stands outside Jones College Preparatory High School in Chicago on Sept. 1, 2023. When she was a member of the Jones Local School Council, Land reported an allegation of a physical restraint violation involving a special education student.

After CPS violated state law over physical restraint, district says it’s met training mandates. Parents and experts say more needs to be done.

By Sarah Macaraeg

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

Less than an hour after Chicago Public Schools disclosed its multiple violations of state law...