Investigations – Page 31

Dr. Ayoub Sayeg arrives at a court hearing at the Daley Center in the Loop on Aug. 19, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

Illinois plastic surgeon with 8 patient deaths faces another license suspension

By Christy Gutowski

October 6, 2026 at 11:14 a.m.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs temporarily suspended Dr. Ayoub Sayeg’s medical license,...

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...

LaSalle County Deputy Sheriff William Dummett, sitting, and Sheriff Ray Eutsey, right, look at a film taken by the Rev. Aubrey W. Heflin, left, as he describes the film March 29, 1960. Heflin had been sightseeing at the park on the day the three women were killed.

The infamous 1960 Starved Rock killer is free after nearly 60 years in prison

By Christy Gutowski

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

When Chester Weger went to prison for the infamous 1960 Starved Rock State Park murders,...

Speaker Michael Madigan talks to the media after a House Democratic caucus meeting at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on Nov. 12, 2019.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, several allies named in federal grand jury subpoenas seeking records from 2 southwest suburbs

By Ray Long

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, his former chief of staff, his handpicked alderman and a...

Illinois State Board of Education board Chair Darren Reisberg addresses issues concerning seclusion rooms during an ISBE meeting in November 2019 at the Thompson Center in Chicago. Superintendent Carmen Ayala is at right.

Permanent rules approved limiting how students in Illinois are secluded and restrained

By Jennifer Smith Richards

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. The Illinois State...

A graphic shows where the proposed mixed-use development of Lincoln Yards will be established on Chicago's North Side.

Aldermen relied on a study to approve $1.3 billion for Sterling Bay’s Lincoln Yards. Turns out that Sterling Bay hired the consultant who wrote it.

By Hal Dardick

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

Key to the massive $1.3 billion taxpayer subsidy for Sterling Bay's Lincoln Yards megadevelopment was...

Darla Knipe, who pulled her son Isaiah out of his Danville school last year, said she is disappointed in the way the state investigated the district, the Vermilion Association for Special Education.

Seclusion-room violations found in six Illinois school districts, but parents say investigations didn’t go far enough

By Jennifer Smith Richards

June 14, 2024 at 6:40 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. In the first...

Man convicted of infamous 1960 Starved Rock killing is just days away from getting out of prison

By Christy Gutowski

June 14, 2024 at 6:40 p.m.

The Starved Rock killer is expected to get out of prison next week after the...

People accused of felony crimes — shown facing away from the camera — meet with public defenders at the Cook County Jail before their initial appearances in bond court in December.

Bail reform analysis by Cook County chief judge based on flawed data, undercounts new murder charges

By David Jackson

June 14, 2024 at 6:40 p.m.

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans for months has defended the bail reform he ordered...

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans appears at a news conference in Chicago in 2017. He recently announced he was reversing a policy against providing full access to digital criminal court records.

Cook County chief judge withheld key court data; under Tribune pressure, he’s reversed that policy

By David Jackson

June 14, 2024 at 6:40 p.m.

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans for nearly two decades has had a policy of...

Rick Heidner delivers a prepared speech in front of the Illinois Racing Board during a hearing in Villa Park on Oct. 15, 2019.

Video gambling operator Rick Heidner sues state Gaming Board over alleged data breach

By Dan Hinkel

June 14, 2024 at 6:40 p.m.

Embattled video gambling operator Rick Heidner is suing the Illinois Gaming Board, alleging an agency...

Protesters raise their hands while marching Sept. 1, 2014, in support of Roshad McIntosh in Lawndale. McIntosh was killed by Chicago police in the neighborhood the previous week.

Chicago cop should be fired after video shows he lied about fatal shooting of 19-year-old, investigators say

By Dan Hinkel

June 14, 2024 at 6:40 p.m.

Chicago police disciplinary officials are calling for an officer to be fired, saying surveillance footage...