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‘Ask not…’ and receive not, in DuPage County
Hard to say what the best political speech or sound bite has been over the years. Some members of “The Greatest Generation” might remember the proud defiance of Great Britain Prime Minister Winston...
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Miami Spice
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office has opened an investigation to determine whether Calumet City Ald. Thaddeus Jones misused taxpayer and campaign funds during last year’s trip to a Miami film...
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Dog Gone: Oak Brook Leader Returning Donation From Hot Dog Honcho
Earlier this year, Oak Brook Village President John Craig insisted “there is not a cent of money in my campaign fund from a bar or a restaurant, nor will there ever be.” That remark came during the...
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Cash from a Crook: Niles Mayor Takes Campaign Money from Imprisoned Predecessor
Like a child with tapeworms, politicians in Illinois are insatiable—although it’s campaign cash they crave. That being said, many political figures have the willpower to restrict their fundraising...
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After Gas Heater Arrest, County Worker on Hot Seat
Cook County government employees are feeling the heat these days as newly seated Board President Toni Preckwinkle imposes layoffs and makes significant budget cuts. But one politically active county...
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CBS 2 Reports On Ex-Dixon Comptroller’s Mini-Mansion
U.S. authorities say Rita Crundwell allegedly funneled money from city coffers into building and furnishing a mini-mansion near Sarasota, Fla. before being arrested and indicted for allegedly stealing...
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Short-Term Appointment is Deciding Vote on Taxes, Death Penalty
As published on The Welles Park Bulldog News, by Patrick Boylan Kathleen C Moore, a retired school teacher from Lincoln Park, was appointed by 11th legislative district Democratic committeemen to fill...
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Metra ‘Observers’ Monitoring Ticket Collection on Crowded Trains
It’s a common scene on Metra after events such as Lollapalooza and the Navy Pier fireworks: hoards of passengers pile into train cars, conductors can’t easily navigate through the crowded aisles to...
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Dispatch from DuPage: What about Bob?
>> BIG BUCKS SAY BYE-BYE DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom wasn’t terribly happy fielding our questions the other day following a County Board meeting. To paraphrase his initial...
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Call for Entries: 2011 BGA Investigative Journalism Awards
With the support of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the BGA Investigative Journalism Awards recognize the best in government-related investigative reporting from across the Midwest region. The...
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$20K Worth of Copper Cable Stolen from ‘Secure’ City Warehouse
The warehouse at 940 W. Exchange should be one of the most secure municipal buildings in Chicago. Not only is it home base for city crews that install and maintain security systems at local government...
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The Chicago Park District Desperately Needs Some Internal Landscaping
> The Chicago Park District isn’t all fun and games—unless you’re a bureaucrat there, and then it’s an endless game of duck-and-dodge. Which is why the agency is in desperate need of some internal...
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Oak Brook’s Continuing Drama Needs New Plotline
The television soap opera “As the World Turns” took place in the semi-fictional town of Oakdale, Illinois. In the real-life Illinois town of Oak Brook, it’s getting about as surreal as anything on...
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Elderly Couple Endures A Knock-Down Fight With Chicago Bureaucracy
For Tom and Veronica Bullock, this year’s blizzard brought more than an avalanche of snow. The retired South Side Chicago couple was also hit by an arctic blast of bureaucratic bungling and red tape....
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Higher Ed. Hire Raised Ire in Previous College Job
George W. Reid—the man recently hired to run the day-to-day operations of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, at a taxpayer-funded salary of $190,000—has an impressive resume that includes a...
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Before the Fall, Cellini Firm Feasted on Fees
It would appear that William Cellini’s reign as a state powerbroker is over, especially since he’s probably headed for jail. That’s in sharp contrast to a few years before his conviction last November...
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Storm Still Swirls Around Oak Brook Village President John Craig
The Village of Oak Brook has cleared away enough snow from the recent blizzard to get back to business as usual. But Oak Brook’s village president still is trying to get out from under another...
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Next in Line: Illinois Targets Tollway Abuse
The Illinois Tollway Authority is following the lead of some other big states. In finding a new way to crack down on drivers who repeatedly fail to pay their tolls, the Tollway Authority recently...
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Dumped-On Englewood Watchdog Blasts City, Bags Clean-up
Englewood resident and watchdog Theresa Jones got new neighbors a few weeks ago: bags and bags of garbage. Like any rotten neighbor, the trash attracted squatters—rats big and mischievous enough to...
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Chicago Tribune, EveryBlock Follow Up on BGA Investigation of Deteriorating...
Today the Chicago Tribune picked up on a BGA and Chicago News Cooperative investigation from late 2010 about the deteriorating Brown Line renovation project. The Brown Line recently underwent a $530...
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