Investigations – Page 8

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...

A police camera attached to a black light pole, at left, watches over the intersection of Chicago and Central Park avenues, one of the oldest camera locations in the city. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Chicago police bet big on pricey surveillance cameras. Two decades later, the devices do little to solve most crimes.

By Madison Hopkins

September 29, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

While installing thousands of police cameras has undoubtedly helped catch criminals and solve cases, Chicago’s...

Former Ald. Wallace Davis Jr., standing this year outside his shuttered East Garfield Park restaurant, said of Chicago aldermen: "They get into a position where they feel, ‘Hey, I can do what I want. I don’t have to give an account." (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Chicago never ready for reform: Code of silence, aldermanic prerogative fuel dozens of corruption convictions

By Gregory Royal Pratt

September 8, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

In the half-century since Mayor Richard J. Daley presided over Chicago’s notorious Democratic machine at...

A police officer walks outside the Garrison School in Jacksonville after responding to an incident at the school in November 2022. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)

School district that had disabled students arrested agrees to reform disciplinary practices

By Jennifer Smith Richards

September 6, 2024 at 12:34 p.m.

An Illinois school district that frequently called police on its disabled students has agreed to...

Dominique Ward sits outside courtrooms in the Daley Center on July 3, 2024, in Chicago. In the past, Ward has come to court to try and stop the electronic harassment by her children's father, Micah Berkley. Berkley was recently arrested on fraud charges in Florida. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

He boasted on social media about paying strangers to take pictures of his children and ex-partner. Now he’s under arrest.

By Stacy St. Clair

September 4, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

A former Chicago resident who publicly boasted about paying social media followers to take pictures...

Loose rules on campaign cash have allowed legislative leaders in Springfield to consolidate their power and protect incumbents by directing the flow of money to preferred candidates. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Politics for sale: Big money floods Illinois campaigns with few rules and little enforcement

By Ray Long

September 1, 2024 at 5:06 a.m.

In Illinois, big money is inundating politics at a pace that virtually puts government offices...

Left to right are Eugene Pike, the new president of the Lincoln Park board; Sen. Elect Frank L. Smith; Chicago Mayor William "Big Bill" Thompson; and Illinois Gov. Len Small.

The Dishonor Roll: Politicians who helped build Illinois’ culture of corruption

By Kori Rumore

September 3, 2024 at 8:44 a.m.

As part of its “Culture of Corruption” series, the Tribune has compiled a list of...

Denise Gilmore sits on the front porch of her Humboldt Park home with granddaughters, Mylah Collins, 4, left, and Capri Douglas, 2, on June 7, 2024. (Vincent Alban/baiduhai)

Luxury home or vacant lot? Cook County assessor misclassifies hundreds of properties, missing $444M in one year alone

By Alex Nitkin

August 16, 2024 at 4:42 p.m.

An investigation by the Illinois Answers Project and the baiduhai found Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s...

The Cook County Assessor's Office released its reassessment notices for residential properties in Evanston Township in April. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

How we reported on Cook County assessment errors

By Alex Nitkin

August 4, 2024 at 3:11 p.m.

Reporters from Illinois Answers Project and the baiduhai collected and analyzed thousands of points...

Dominique Ward and her children have been tracked and had their pictures taken by her ex-boyfriend's social media followers, July 3, 2024. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

‘I want her to worry about who’s waiting on the corner’: How one man uses Facebook to frighten his children’s mother and why police do nothing

By Stacy St. Clair

July 7, 2024 at 8:37 a.m.

An analysis of data from nearly two dozen Illinois police departments found police rarely arrest...

David Sperlein, shown with his wife, Jeannine, at their home in Manchester, Maryland, was in need of a lung transplant during a period when a flaw in the distribution process put patients with type O blood at a disadvantage. He received a donor lung in January. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun)

Error in new lung transplant algorithm harmed sick and dying patients

By Gregory Royal Pratt

July 2, 2024 at 5:02 p.m.

A flawed new algorithm for distributing lungs to transplant patients wound up putting people with...