Latest News from Chicago City Wire

Arts council accused of giving out grants without approval

By Ruth de Jauregui | Aug 9, 2017

The Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA) has mastered a new craft: How to hand out grant money without even meeting, the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW) contend.

Chicago homicide numbers on historic pace

By Ruth de Jauregui | Aug 4, 2017

With four months left in 2017, Chicago is on pace to have one of its worst homicide rates on record, according to the HeyJackass! website.

Pritzker's reticence to rip Madigan seen as proof he's speaker's choice

By Ruth de Jauregui | Aug 2, 2017

Businessman J.B. Pritzker is clearly House Speaker Mike Madigan's (D-Chicago) choice for gubernatorial candidate, Illinois Republican Party spokesman Steven Yaffe said in a recent press release.

Ex-alderman Singer fined in Emanuel lobbying case

By Ruth de Jauregui | Jul 28, 2017

Attorney and former 43rd Ward Alderman William Singer has been fined $25,000 by the Chicago Board of Ethics for lobbying Chicago Mayor Raul Emanuel without registering as a lobbyist.

GOP slams Cullerton for 'affront to democracy' over school funding

By Ruth de Jauregui | Jul 28, 2017

Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) might as well send Gov. Bruce Rauner a ransom note over the state's public school funding bill, the Illinois Republican Party said in a press release recently.

Chicago Public Schools admits preferential treatment, GOP contends

By Ruth de Jauregui | Jul 24, 2017

Senate Bill 1 isn't a reform bill meant to change the way schools are funded: It's a bailout of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and even the school system admits it, the Illinois Republican Party contended recently.

Chicago Water District's email controversy appears to worsen

By Ruth de Jauregui | Jul 19, 2017

Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson's ongoing investigation into allegedly racist emails sent by Water District supervisors has revealed additional inappropriate messages, the Chicago Tribune reported recently.

Illinois Opportunity Project leader joins Rauner campaign push

By Ruth de Jauregui | Jul 17, 2017

Gov. Bruce Rauner's campaign committee has hired Matt Besler, president of the Illinois Opportunity Project, as its chief adviser, the non-profit advocacy announced on Monday.

Workers' comp fraud can't be left on back burner, law firm argues

By Ruth de Jauregui | Jul 2, 2017

The budget battle in the Illinois Statehouse has allowed workers' compensation fraud to continue largely unchecked, the law firm Keefe, Campbell, Biery & Associates (KCBA) contends.

Rauner enacts measure to help ease overcrowding in county jails

By Ruth de Jauregui | Jun 11, 2017

Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill into law on Friday that is intended to ease jail overcrowding by reforming the bail process, his office announced on Saturday.

Budget breakdown lands Illinois one step from junk bond rating

By Ruth de Jauregui | Jun 3, 2017

Illinois did something this week that no state has ever done: lowered its credit rating to near-junk bond status, according to a non-profit citizens advocacy group.

Former Obama adviser hit with $90,000 fine in Emanuel email lobbying case

By Ruth de Jauregui | May 28, 2017

The Chicago Board of Ethics has fined former Barack Obama adviser David Plouffe $90,000 for illegally lobbying Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on behalf of the transportation company Uber.

Emanuel email ethics probe count reaches 14

By Ruth de Jauregui | Apr 28, 2017

The Chicago Board of Ethics has sent letters of suspected lobbying violations to 14 individuals and their companies in cases tied to the release of thousands of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's personal emails, according to the Better Government Association (BGA).

GOP leader files ethics complaint over Chicago schools letter

By Ruth de Jauregui | Apr 22, 2017

Illinois Republican Party Chair Chris Cleveland, who is also a Chicago Public Schools (CPS) parent, filed an ethics complaint against CPS CEO Forrest Claypool following a letter sent home with all 381,000 CPS students in February.

Chicago sued over lead testing records

By Ruth de Jauregui | Apr 18, 2017

A government oversight group has sued Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration for allegedly failing to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request regarding lead testing in the city's public schools.

Park district police described as $5 million redundancy

By Ruth de Jauregui | Apr 16, 2017

It costs Illinois municipalities $5 million to maintain park district police forces that cover areas already under the watchful eye of the regular police department, the Better Government Association reported recently.

Audit finds faults throughout Chicago's affordable housing program

By Ruth de Jauregui | Apr 9, 2017

Chicago has failed to develop a strategy regarding affordable housing development, required no land for such housing in ideal areas in the last decade, and can't explain what happened to $4.5 million earmarked for construction of affordable housing units, an audit revealed recently.

Watchdogs: Chicago should shine light on trust failure

By Ruth de Jauregui | Mar 19, 2017

The City of Chicago is preparing to replace high-pressure sodium lights with energy-efficient LEDs in 270,000 streetlights, but the investigative non-profit known as the Better Government Association (BGA) says residents have been kept in the dark about where the money to do the work is coming from.

Public offered an education in school funding

By Ruth de Jauregui | Mar 17, 2017

An investigative non-profit group hoping to teach the public the basics of Illinois school funding is offering a free forum at Chicago's Roosevelt University on March 30.

CPS special ed changes don't add up, group says

By Ruth de Jauregui | Mar 7, 2017

Recent changes in the way the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is providing special education services and Individualized Education Programs (IEP) has ignited rage among parents, a questionable explanation from the CPS and a mathematical analysis by a watchdog group, the Better Government Association (BGA) reported recently.

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