Chicago

By Ryan Haggerty Disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge’s pension is once again in jeopardy, just days after the city’s police pension board allowed him to continue to collect the $3,039 a month in spite of his criminal conviction. The board’s controversial decision led Attorney General Lisa Madigan to …

CHICAGO CBS — A waste of taxpayers’ money. That’s how former employees are describing jobs and office activities in the Cook Country Treasurer’s Office. Investigator Pam Zekman and the Better Government Association continue their investigation into how Treasurer Maria Pappas spends your tax dollars. Pappas once ran her office from …

Illinois Supreme Court rejects challenge to his residency January 28, 2011 By Jeff Coen, Bob Secter and David Kidwell, Tribune reporters The ballot roller coaster for Rahm Emanuel finally stopped Thursday with the former White House chief of staff very much in the race for mayor and the Illinois Supreme …

Kurt Nimmo Infowars.com January 25, 2011 In Illinois, you need the permission of the state to record on the street. It is illegal make audio recordings of cops going about their duty arresting unlicensed street artists and other ne’er-do-wells. It is illegal to practice the First Amendment in Chicago. It …

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter Jan 24, 2011 12:09PM Rahm Emanuel was thrown off the ballot for mayor of Chicago today by an appellate court panel, a stunning blow to the fund-raising leader in the race. An appellate panel ruled 2-1 that Emanuel did not meet the residency standard …

Step aside, Gotham City. Chicago is the new center of the comic universe, a place where introspective everymen have replaced caped crusaders in tights. The Museum of Contemporary Art this month celebrated the city’s place as a hotbed of young cartoonist talent through “New Chicago Comics,” a look at the …

Radley Balko | January 23, 2011 The New York Times reports on the Illinois eavesdropping law, which allows for a felony charge and up to 15 years of prison for people who record police officers on the job. In addition to artist Christopher Drew—whom I’ve written about before and who …

By Mary Ellen Podmolik Posted yesterday at 8:36 a.m. Bank repossessions of foreclosed homes in the Chicago region soared almost 20 percent, to more than 45,000 properties in 2010, despite various government and lender programs designed to keep people in their properties and a slowdown in fourth-quarter activity due to …

CHICAGO — She has a driver who makes $94,000 a year and a cleaning lady making $57,000 a year. Is Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas wasting tax dollars? In a joint investigation with the Better Government Association, CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman has been following these employees and found that …

By FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter Jan 14, 2011 Chicago city employees who are convicted of corruption would no longer be able to keep collecting their paychecks while awaiting sentencing, under a crackdown proposed Thursday that calls for firing upon conviction. Three days after the Chicago Sun-Times’ “The Watchdogs” column …

Burge was convicted in June of two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury for lying in a 2003 civil lawsuit when he denied he knew of or took part in torture under his command at the Calumet Area headquarters on the city’s South Side. via Jon …

Even before Governor Quinn signs into law the Illinois legislature’s tax bill, the debate continues: is this the best course of action to close a budget gap? Many say that instead of trying to generate more revenue from already frustrated taxpayers, the state must make a concerted effort to instill …

Facing one of the biggest budget shortfalls of any state, Illinois took the risky step of jacking up income and corporate taxes even as its economy struggles to shake off the recession. WITH NO CUTS IN GOVERNMENT SPENDING In a deal hammered out by the state’s Democratic leadership, the lame-duck …

Here’s more bad news for your wallet: Chicago has the nation’s highest gas prices. The twice-monthly Lundberg Survey says the highest gas price in the country was recorded in Chicago at $3.35 a gallon. The low, $2.73, was in Salt Lake City, Utah. via Chicago’s No. 1 — in high …

For denizens of the Big Apple, San Francisco and the other windy city, Chicago, the coolest technology announcement so far this week did not come out of CES, but instead from a small Rhode Island company called Towerstream. Up until now Towerstream has focused on providing broadband to corporations via …