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McHenry County: A Political Podunk No More?
We used to see McHenry County as a sleepy Illinois outpost; a simple, aw-shucks cousin to the fast-talking, wink-and-a-nod, wheeling-and-dealing city of Chicago. But consider just the past few months:...
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Dispatch from Division: Reform Fight Takes a Party Break
By Andy Shaw, BGA President & CEO I didn’t see the shakedown coming as I approached Butch McGuire’s on Division Street for the first party of the holiday season on the Tuesday night before...
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Blago 2.0: To Watch, or Not to Watch?
By Andy Shaw, BGA President & CEO One of our BGA interns, Emily Jurlina, ran the Boston Marathon on Monday. Folks in the office tracked her progress online, and at about the halfway point, her...
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2011 Chicago mayoral petitions, already under scrutiny, now available for...
So a minister, a developer and a registered sex offender walk into a polling place… Sounds like the start of a joke, but this being Chicago, and election season, it’s not far off from the truth.If...
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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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‘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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Stepping down, then stepping up in Stickney
Cody Mares quit his position as trustee with the Village of Stickney earlier this week just before a board meeting. He then was appointed head of public works at the meeting. This isn’t sitting well...
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Musings on Maria: a Post-Investigation Perspective
By Andy Shaw, BGA President & CEO Our BGA/CBS 2 investigation of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ questionable expenditures, budget chicanery and lack of transparency sparked a ton of reaction,...
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Ex-Niles Mayor Finds Salvation
After serving less than a year on a federal corruption conviction, ex-Niles Mayor Nicholas Blase has been released from the prison camp in Duluth. Blase, 82, was transferred from the Minnesota tundra...
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Chairman of South Suburban College Board Takes Campaign Cash From Union,...
The union representing teachers and staff at South Suburban College has donated more than $60,000 to the elected official who serves as chairman of the South Holland school and helps set their...
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As Relationship Simmers Between Chicago Fire Commissioner and IG, Management...
In the opening scenes of the 1991 Ron Howard film “Backdraft,” two young brothers are horsing around in the Chicago firehouse where their father works when an emergency call comes in. As firefighters...
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Trying Times At Daley Center
Daley Plaza / Photo by © Jeremy Atherton, 2006 (CC BY-SA 2.5) Find a specific court case and make photocopies of the entire file, my editor requested last week. It was a seemingly simple assignment,...
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2012: TOP TEN INVESTIGATIONS
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TOP TEN INVESTIGATIONS OF 2012 The post 2012: TOP TEN INVESTIGATIONS appeared first on Better Government Association.
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Old-School Politics In New-Age Community?
Oak Park has a reputation as a progressive place, where education and the arts matter, where voters care about social issues and aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. They’d be “lakefront...
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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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Shady Associations: Mayor Daley Held to Lower Standard
To read the main story, and to see the 600-page FBI file, click here. Under a long-standing consent decree between the federal government and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, union members...
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