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Another top Forrest Claypool aide is out over CPS’ residency rule
Another top aide to Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool is out over failing to move to the city, as required under CPS’ residency rule. Even before Matt Walter leaves his $140,000-a-year post,...
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Melrose Park mayor OK with deputy police chief’s moonlighting
Melrose Park Mayor Ron Serpico is standing behind his deputy police chief amid new questions about the high-ranking cop’s moonlighting. Several years ago, Serpico and the Melrose Park Village Board...
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Cubs title a big factor in record $194M police and fire OT bill
As the Cubs made history last fall, the city of Chicago paid overtime — lots of it. The city spent more than $18.8 million on overtime for public safety, traffic management and street cleanup during...
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WATCHDOGS: More fed gun cases, but Chicago trails other cities
In his final days as U.S. attorney, Zachary Fardon declared that, as Chicago has faced a surge in violence not seen in two decades, his office had made gun crimes a top target. “Last year, this U.S....
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THE WATCHDOGS: 18 Chicago city workers topped $100K in OT in 2016
Eighteen city employees made more than $100,000 in overtime in 2016 — most of them more than doubling their salaries, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show. Another 476 city workers were paid...
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THE WATCHDOGS: Chicagoans take triple hit on old Wrigley factory
The abandoned factory that the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. left behind in Bridgeport has been like a wad of gum stuck to the shoes of Chicagoans. First, Wrigley shut down the factory, sending 600 jobs to the...
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Mihalopoulos: After Midway deal, restaurateurs gave big to Rahm
Follow @dmihalopoulos After getting clearance for takeoff from City Hall a month ago, a clout-heavy group of business interests stands to profit richly from providing expanded restaurants and stores at...
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WATCHDOGS: CTA bus crashes’ 2-year toll—5 dead, 1,000 hurt, $16M
Five people killed. More than 1,000 injured. A cost to Chicago taxpayers of about $16 million. That’s some of the toll exacted by crashes involving CTA buses the past two years, according to interviews...
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Vallas, Rauner’s pick for CSU, vouched for figure in CPS scandal
When former Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas was recruited to revive the schools in hurricane-battered New Orleans, he asked for help from back home, newly obtained records show. In a series of...
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Parks police force hired cop who quit CPD after 2 fatal shootings
Gildardo Sierra resigned from the Chicago Police Department in 2015 after his involvement in two fatal shootings led to a federal investigation and lawsuits that cost the city $7.5 million. Six months...
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THE WATCHDOGS: Chicago clout, diamonds and an African dictator
Shortly after taking office, President Barack Obama made it clear to Zimbabwe that he would keep America’s economic sanctions against the nation’s leaders in place until they reformed their...
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A top Claypool aide, who faced firing, can stay 3 more months
A top aide to Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool who previously said he would resign effective March 31 rather than face firing for providing a sham South Side address and failing to move to...
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WATCHDOGS: How millionaire’s gang fantasy ‘blew up the West Side’
On his social media sites, Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez called himself Batman and Bruce Wane — misspelling the name of the comic hero’s alter ego, millionaire Bruce Wayne. But unlike Bruce Wayne, Jimenez...
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WATCHDOGS: Even being seen with gang member sends 1,000s to jail
When the police pulled over the white Buick Regal he was riding in, Roderick Franklin told them he “was just getting a ride to have Easter breakfast.” The officers didn’t dispute that. They arrested...
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WATCHDOGS: Struggling NEIU paid big for years for grad speakers
The $30,000 fee Northeastern Illinois University was going to pay former White House adviser Valerie Jarrett was just the latest in a series of big fees the financially troubled state school has paid...
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Judge: Koschman cop punishment up to arbitrator, not police board
Thanks to an apparent loophole in the contract Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s staff signed with the police sergeants union, a sergeant facing a year’s suspension over the handling of the David Koschman case can...
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WATCHDOGS: Files give a rare peek inside mayor’s security detail
When one of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley’s daughters lost her ID in Mexico, a member of Daley’s Chicago Police Department security detail was sent to get a copy of her passport from a City Hall safe so...
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Brian Urlacher, Matt Forte, other Bears seek workers’ comp
Over the past 20 years, the Chicago Bears have spent nearly $12.5 million to settle workers’ compensation claims filed by 141 players. And now they’re pushing to change Illinois law in hopes they’d...
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THE WATCHDOGS: Why Cook County judge quit after just 142 days
At the orientation for what he thought would be his dream job, Richard Cooke says he and other rookie Cook County judges were told they should appreciate their ascension into “career paradise” — and...
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THE WATCHDOGS: Gun-shop burglaries helping fuel Chicago violence
To ring in the new year, Kevin Winford and Denis Joiner fired their stolen guns into the air. It was their bad luck that Chicago cops patrolling the South Side caught them in the act. Their foolish...
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