Clik here to view.
Legislative Lovefest Far From Picture Perfect
There are public servants in the trenches who deserve our gratitude and respect. In a somewhat literal sense, think about the American troops who risk their lives on a daily basis. In a figurative...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rumble in the Courts
A veteran Chicago attorney recently filed a defamation lawsuit against Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown that claims she sought to damage the lawyer’s reputation in retaliation for his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BGA Updates Popular Payroll Database With 2011 Salaries
Want to know how much a public employee is paid? Then ask the Better Government Association (BGA). The BGA—a non-partisan, non-profit government watchdog—has updated its popular Payroll Database with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Political Dredging Stirs Muck in Oak Brook
Last year, municipal leaders in Oak Brook hired a law firm to get to the bottom of three things: how the now-former police chief, Tom Sheahan, was hired in 2005 by the village government under a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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....
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Shame of Profiling, and Politics
Couple things caught our eye today that we wanted to pass along. First was an intriguing story by FOX 32’s Dane Placko about alleged racial profiling in Evergreen Park, where a black man was pulled...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ROUNDUP: Give and you shall receive + sleuthing from the inside
>> RIDING THE GRAVY TRAIN Maybe he should be dodging these types of campaign donations. Metra board member Jim Dodge — in his unsuccessful run for Illinois comptroller earlier this year —...
View ArticleClik here to view.
IMRF Vs. TRS: Getting More For Less
Over the past decade, another major public employee pension fund reaped a higher investment return, paid less in financial fees and used fewer advisers than the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Conflicted? Metra Heavy Claims ‘Rules’ Justify Questionable Campaign...
Metra board member Jim Dodge says he followed all the rules in his failed run for Illinois comptroller earlier this year. But maybe the rules need to be changed. We’ve already documented how he...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BGA Investigates, County Official Resigns
The long-time chairman of the Cook County Board of Ethics resigned this week, just a day after the Better Government Association, in concert with WGN-TV and Chicago magazine, released a report raising...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Arrest of Ex-Maywood Cop a Symptom of Larger Problems in Town
In another sign that Maywood’s police department is in need of a dramatic overhaul, a now-former officer has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman he met on duty. The disclosure...
View Article