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2 Chicago cop-legislators changed law to benefit 2 people: themselves
They were a couple of Chicago cops, each serving in the Illinois Legislature, when they helped change state law to give themselves police pensions at taxpayer expense. The amendment co-sponsored 16...
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Why (almost) no one is charged with gun-trafficking in Illinois
To understand why it’s so hard to stop the flow of guns across state lines to cities like Chicago, you have to start with a simple fact: Firearms are legal. As the Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly,...
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Company to pay $180K for parking cars on city lots near United Center
The operator of a parking lot near the United Center that parked cars on city-owned land for years without paying rent has agreed to pay City Hall $180,000. Peoples Stadium Park LLC, owned by the...
View ArticleRahm to Rauner: Look in the mirror before demanding Berrios resign
Gov. Bruce Rauner should look in the mirror before demanding the resignation of Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios for presiding over a corrupt and failing property tax system, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said...
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Rahm’s trust a bust? Fails to raise a dime but has cost taxpayers $5M
Since the J. Geils Band left the stage on Dec. 19, 1981, Chicago’s fabled Uptown Theatre has remained dark, waiting for someone with deep pockets to pay for a massive renovation. Jerry Mickelson, the...
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Medical examiner rebuffs FBI findings in mysterious Chicago cop death
FBI agents met with the Cook County medical examiner’s staff earlier this month to present evidence that Chicago police Sgt. Donald Markham was killed at his home in 2015 and didn’t commit suicide, as...
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Melrose Park police brass faced with disciplining cop relatives
Melrose Park Police Director Sam C. Pitassi and Deputy Police Chief Michael Castellan have much in common beyond having worked for the west suburban police department for decades. They’re both loyal...
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Nuclear regulator downplays safety warnings
The federal agency responsible for safety at the nation’s 61 nuclear power plants routinely downplays warnings from plant workers and its own experts about problems, including some with potential for...
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THE WATCHDOGS: More Chicago shooting victims being shot multiple times
When 22-year-old Kendrick Thornton of Bellwood was shot to death last year in Garfield Park, his body was found riddled with bullets — he’d been shot 38 times. Donta J. Lee. | Facebook The same month,...
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FBI report: Mysterious Chicago cop death ‘is best certified as a homicide’
A pathologist enlisted by the FBI to reexamine the mysterious death of Chicago police Sgt. Donald Markham from a gunshot wound to the head states his case very clearly in a report released Thursday:...
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State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s deals benefit benefactor Ald. Edward M. Burke
As the owner of a law firm that seeks to reduce property taxes for big business clients including companies that work for City Hall, it’s important for Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke to have a good...
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More minority cops in Chicago? Not many. Yet.
The number of minority applicants to be Chicago cops is on the rise thanks to a push to make the Chicago Police Department more reflective of the city — but so far white recruits are still being hired...
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Man gets less than a year in prison for 2014 shooting involving now-dead cop
Fernando “Fern” Lopez was caught on film firing a gun into the air outside a River West nightclub in 2014. He was arrested that same night, after he was shot by an off-duty Cook County correctional...
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‘Independent’ city watchdog Khan’s secret backer? Right-wing policy group
When former Chicago City Council Inspector General Faisal Khan launched his not-for-profit anti-corruption group close to two years ago, he insisted it was independent and nonpartisan. At the time,...
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Campaign aides weighed in before Alvarez revealed charges against Jason Van Dyke
Former Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez has repeatedly denied that her decision to charge Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke with murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan...
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4 Cook County Board members missed 25% or more meetings in past 5 years: survey
Cook County Board members have missed hundreds of meetings in the past five years, an investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times and ABC7 Chicago’s I-Team has found — with four county commissioners absent...
View ArticleNo charges from state’s attorney in mysterious Chicago cop death
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office has closed its investigation without charging anyone in the mysterious off-duty death of Chicago Police Sgt. Donald Markham, a law enforcement source told the...
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Despite law, medical examiner investigators go to fewer than 1 in 5 death scenes
The Cook County medical examiner’s office routinely fails to send investigators to the scene of suspicious deaths, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found, despite being required by law to do so....
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Small-government think tank yields big bucks for nonprofit’s leaders
Well before John Tillman began running the Illinois Policy Institute a decade ago, the nonprofit think tank was calling for major reforms to state government, especially its finances. But few in...
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Running for judge, Dorothy Brown’s inspector general accepts donation from boss
Ever since revelations surfaced of federal authorities investigating possible job-selling and other corruption in her office, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown has been politically...
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