We’re baa-aack after a summer vacation, and there’s lots to talk about!

This is the Sunday afternoon session of our monthly discussion of the topics raised by recent Chicago area investigative reporting. Usually we do a rolling month, but this time we’ll be covering a summer of investigative reporting. What we spend the most time on depends on where the interest of the group lies. We meet on Zoom at URL https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88112982706?pwd=SlRldUpsQzBibHBEdUN3ZzhxcUlPQT09.

Chicago Region Accountability Watch

Deep research report on investigative reporting and watchdog findings, June 28 – September 25, 2026 (generated by Anthropic Opus 5.5)

Prepared September 26, 2026 (revised), for a facilitated discussion series. Scope: Chicago, Cook County, and national issues with outsized Chicago impact. Every source cited was published within the window.

How to read this report. Each investigation is summarized in plain paraphrase, with key figures separated out for slide use and a one-line statement of the systemic failure it documents. Where officials disputed a finding, their response is included. Each section ends with Chicago-style bibliography entries; a consolidated bibliography and a numbered list of links in narrative order follow at the end. Publication names are set in roman type rather than italics, per house style.

Executive summary

Across about forty publications in this thirteen-week window, the dominant story is not a single scandal but a recurring structural pattern: rules and oversight bodies exist on paper, while the mechanisms that would enforce them are missing, unfunded, unused, or fenced off by jurisdiction. Five cross-cutting findings stand out.

1. Protective laws without enforcement. Illinois’ TRUST Act, Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance, and the mayor’s “ICE on Notice” order all restrict cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, yet reporting found local agencies in over a third of Illinois counties feeding information to federal agents, federal agents staging on a Chicago police lot, and the mayor’s order still lacking formal implementing guidance months after its deadline. The state attorney general describes his TRUST Act role as compliance-oriented rather than investigative.
2. An accountability gap between levels of government. When federal agents are accused of misconduct, city police say referral is the prosecutor’s call, the state’s attorney says she needs a completed law-enforcement investigation, and the FBI discloses nothing. None of the reporting in this window describes a county charge against a federal agent for on-duty conduct during Operation Midway Blitz (the state’s attorney’s office disputes that it has refused to act).
3. Government that cannot see itself. Chicago’s Inspector General found the city cannot measure whether it pays vendors on time, cannot determine the status of 15 percent of sampled impounded vehicles, and let a $57 million fund sit dormant for six years without required reports. Statewide, 63 jail deaths were missing from state records. A city inspector closed an odor complaint at a funeral home where 56 decomposing bodies were later found. Bad data and shallow inspections are themselves governance failures because they disable oversight.
4. Legacy costs driving the budget. Chicago’s projected 2027 gap is $882.4 million. The largest new cost driver is an estimated $400 million for legal settlements, largely for police misconduct from decades past, alongside rising pension and debt payments, a shrinking TIF surplus that Chicago Public Schools is counting on, and an $89 million ticket-debt sale that collapsed when no bank would carry it.
5. Institutions under pressure from the top. In federal institutions that operate in Chicago, reporting documented immigration judges fired and replaced by hires largely without immigration-law backgrounds (with asylum approvals falling to 3.3 percent), and a public dispute between a career federal prosecutor and the U.S. Attorney over who directed a collapsed felony case against protesters.

At a glance

1. Federal–state–local conflict: immigration enforcement

This is the densest topic in the window. The reporting shows three layers of friction: federal agencies acting inside Chicago, local and state bodies with protective laws that are unevenly enforced, and federal adjudicators and prosecutors whose independence is itself in question.

1.1 Local agencies helped route immigrants to deportation despite the TRUST Act

Injustice Watch (with The Intercept), August 25, 2026; updated September 16. Companion story on county prosecutors published the same day.

Drawing on 394 records requests, more than 30 hours of body-camera footage, and more than 100 court filings, Injustice Watch found that in the first 15 months of the second Trump administration, officials from at least 75 Illinois agencies passed information to federal immigration agents, sometimes in apparent violation of state law. The collaboration took three forms. Direct: officers emailing ICE agents the addresses and employers of people stopped for speeding; a Hoffman Estates detective asking a dual-badged task-force officer to check the immigration status of a robbery victim; a county prosecutor arranging an ICE detainer so a defendant would not be released. Indirect: jails releasing people to ICE at the direction of the U.S. Marshals Service. Automatic: fingerprints taken at any booking flow through state police to the FBI and DHS, surfacing old immigration records even in departments, such as Aurora’s, that refuse ICE requests. A companion story focuses on county state’s attorneys who served as informants to ICE.

At least 150 people swept into the immigration system through local-federal collaboration.

At least one police department, sheriff, or state’s attorney collaborated in over one-third of Illinois counties.

Roughly 85 email exchanges between local officials and ICE agents appear in the records reviewed.

At least four counties honored ICE detainers directly since January 2025, which the TRUST Act forbids.

Responses: Riverton’s police chief said the officer acted on a valid state warrant and would have found it regardless; Hoffman Estates’ chief said her department did not violate the law; the FBI said agents work within law and policy; the Marshals Service said it expects jails to follow state law. Attorney General Kwame Raoul described a compliance-oriented approach built on training and guidance, and declined to say how often his office has taken enforcement action.

Systemic failure: a strong statute with no active enforcer, a database architecture that bypasses local refusals, and federal custody arrangements that route around state law.

1.2 Chicago Immigration Court: asylum approvals collapse amid judge purge

Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ (Lauren FitzPatrick, Adriana Cardona-Maguigad, Keenan Chen), September 25, 2026

A data analysis of federal immigration court records found Chicago’s asylum approval rate has fallen to 3.3 percent so far in 2026, from 14.6 percent last year; nationally it fell to 2.1 percent from 8.8 percent. At least six judges on a bench of about 20 have been fired without explanation, and seven of the ten new judges assigned to Chicago appear to have had no prior immigration-law practice. New hires have granted 25 of 1,638 asylum cases through August. One new judge ruled more than 500 cases “abandoned,” a status that can set someone on the path to deportation for missing a hearing or a fingerprinting requirement. Former judges described case quotas set by email without explanation and hearing dates accelerated for specific nationalities. The court’s gender composition flipped: 14 of 22 judges were women in January 2025; 14 of 20 are now men.

Response: The Justice Department declined to discuss personnel and said it is reducing the backlog while hearing cases fairly and uniformly under the law.

Systemic failure: an adjudicative body housed inside a prosecuting department, with no structural insulation from enforcement priorities.

1.3 The mayor’s “ICE on Notice” order: little implementation to show

WBEZ (Mariah Woelfel), July 15, 2026

Nearly six months after Mayor Johnson ordered CPD to investigate alleged abuses by federal agents and refer felonies for prosecution, the mayor’s office acknowledged that formal guidance, including complaint tracking and public data required by the order itself, was still under development, and that it had reviewed no potential criminal referrals. The mayor had said in March that no new police policy was needed. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office told aldermen it cannot investigate crimes itself and must receive a completed law-enforcement investigation before charging. Advocates cited an Albany Park crash involving an ICE vehicle that police logged as a traffic incident.

Systemic failure: a policy announced without an implementation plan, and a referral chain in which each actor defines the next step as someone else’s.

1.4 Federal agents staged on a Chicago police lot

Chicago Sun-Times (Cindy Hernandez, Violet Miller), September 12, 2026

Video reviewed by the Sun-Times showed federal immigration agents transferring detainees between vehicles in a parking lot run by CPD’s Albany Park (17th) District, despite a 2025 executive order barring use of city property for immigration staging. A district representative on the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability said the district commander had not responded to her inquiries. CPD said it upholds the Welcoming City ordinance but did not address the lot; the mayor’s office said senior officials met with commanders and reiterated that officers must direct federal personnel to leave city property.

Systemic failure: no documented protocol for what officers do when the rule is broken in front of them, and a civilian oversight body unable to get answers.

1.5 “Broadview Six”: dispute over who directed a collapsed federal prosecution

Chicago Sun-Times (Jon Seidel), September 25, 2026

The Sun-Times obtained the retirement letter of Sheri Mecklenburg, the career federal prosecutor at the center of the collapsed conspiracy case against six Operation Midway Blitz protesters, including a congressional candidate and an Oak Park trustee. She wrote that she was leaving under protest, that U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros personally directed a felony prosecution over her view that misdemeanors fit better, and that she was scapegoated. The Justice Department called that claim false, saying her own written recommendation listed the felony as the strongest charge. Her attorneys acknowledged misconduct before the grand jury (speaking with grand jurors outside the room and vouching). All charges have been dropped; a federal judge is weighing consequences, including a defense request for a special counsel.

Systemic failure: charging decisions in politically charged protest cases without transparent accountability for who decided what; grand-jury safeguards breached.

1.6 Accountability for federal use of force: still no answers

Block Club Chicago, September 10; Chicago Sun-Times, September 8; CNN and ABC7, September 22–24; ProPublica, September 2, 2026 (national comparison)

A year after an ICE agent fatally shot Silverio Villegas González in Franklin Park, federal officials have released no information about the FBI’s investigation (Block Club). Illinois State Police opened its own investigation only in May, nearly eight months after the shooting (Sun-Times). Eight Chicago-area members of Congress asked the DHS Inspector General to investigate a pattern of excessive force, naming 21 agents and citing findings of the state’s Illinois Accountability Commission (Sun-Times). On September 20 in Evanston, ICE agents detained and injured a man who turned out to be a U.S. citizen; DHS said he resembled their target and resisted, and he was released once his citizenship was confirmed (CNN, ABC7).

National comparison (Minneapolis, not Chicago): ProPublica obtained an email in which the federal prosecutor handling an ICE agent’s shooting of a Venezuelan man during Minnesota’s Operation Metro Surge said Justice Department leadership in Washington blocked civil rights charges over his strongest objections, leaving only a false-statements charge. A DOJ official said civil rights charges require consultation with its Civil Rights Division. The case shows what the Chicago-area federal investigations may face.

Systemic failure: no body with both jurisdiction over federal agents and the will or tools to investigate them.

Discussion questions

• If a state law like the TRUST Act cannot bind federal agencies or shared databases, what enforcement mechanism would make it meaningful, and who should hold it?
• Is a mayor’s executive order the right tool for this conflict, or does it create expectations the city cannot meet?
• Should immigration courts be moved out of the Justice Department? What would independence require?

Sources for this section

Bogado, Aura. “Illinois Promised to Protect Immigrants. Local Officials Helped Deport Them Anyway.” Injustice Watch, August 25, 2026. Updated September 16, 2026. https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/ice-informants/2026/illinois-trust-act-violations-immigrants-deported/.

Bogado, Aura. “The County Prosecutors Who Became ICE Informants.” Injustice Watch, August 25, 2026. https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/ice-informants/2026/illinois-prosecutors-helping-ice/.

FitzPatrick, Lauren, Adriana Cardona-Maguigad, and Keenan Chen. “It’s Now Nearly Impossible to Get Asylum in Chicago Immigration Court.” Chicago Sun-Times, September 25, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/09/25/now-nearly-impossible-asylum-chicago-immigration-court.

Woelfel, Mariah. “Mayor Johnson’s Plan to Crack Down on ICE Agents under City Council Scrutiny.” WBEZ Chicago, July 15, 2026. https://www.wbez.org/politics/2026/07/15/brandon-johnson-city-council-ice-immigration-midway-blitz.

Hernandez, Cindy, and Violet Miller. “Northwest Side Residents Blast Use of Chicago Police Lot for ICE Operations.” Chicago Sun-Times, September 12, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/09/12/northwest-side-residents-demand-answers-amid-reports-of-ice-agents-staging-at-cpds-17th-district.

Seidel, Jon. “‘Broadview Six’ Prosecutor Slams Boutros in Resignation Letter, Saying He Pushed Doomed Felony Charges.” Chicago Sun-Times, September 25, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/09/25/broadview-six-boutros-mecklenburg.

“A Year After ICE Killed a Father Outside Chicago, FBI Won’t Release Any Info About Investigation.” Block Club Chicago, September 10, 2026. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/09/10/a-year-after-ice-killed-a-father-outside-chicago-fbi-wont-release-any-info-about-investigation/.

“Illinois Democrats Ask DHS Inspector General to Investigate Federal Agents for Excessive Force.” Chicago Sun-Times, September 8, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/09/08/illinois-democrats-congress-homeland-security-inspector-general-call-investigation-federal-agents-excessive-force.

“What We Know after Officials Say ICE Detained a US Citizen and Left Him Injured in Chicago Suburb.” CNN, September 24, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/24/us/ice-us-citizen-detained-evanston.

“Evanston Man Hurt, Wrongly Identified by Federal Agents near Howard Street, Dodge Avenue; Police Investigating.” ABC7 Chicago, September 22, 2026. https://abc7chicago.com/post/evanston-il-ice-incident-man-hurt-wrongly-identified-federal-agents-howard-street-dodge-avenue-police-investigating/19855018/.

Rose, Megan, and Andy Mannix. “Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge over Federal Prosecutor’s ‘Strongest Possible’ Objections.” ProPublica, September 2, 2026. https://www.propublica.org/article/doj-blocks-charges-ice-agent-minneapolis-julio-cesar-sosa-celis.

2. Police oversight and public safety

2.1 CPD never enrolled a flagged officer in its early-warning program

Chicago Sun-Times and Illinois Answers Project, July 17, 2026

Records show Officer Carlos Baker was referred to CPD’s Personnel Concerns Program, which can impose strict supervision or lead to termination, weeks before he fatally shot his partner, Officer Krystal Rivera, in June 2025. He was never enrolled because a supervisor did not respond to an internal email about the referral. His earlier disciplinary cases were not held against him when he reapplied to a tactical team, where he was nominated by his district commander. The article also notes that CPD told state regulators Rivera was shot by a barricaded suspect, even though investigators had reviewed body-camera video showing Baker fired. COPA’s investigation remains open.

Systemic failure: an early-intervention system that depends on a single supervisor answering an email, with no automatic escalation.

2.2 Leadership transition at CPD

WTTW News, July 1; CBS Chicago, July 2 and July 14, 2026

Superintendent Larry Snelling retired July 15 after three years in the post and 34 with the department, citing record reductions in shootings and homicides during his tenure (2025 saw the city’s fewest homicides in 60 years, per WTTW). Fred Waller returned as interim superintendent while the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability conducts the search for a permanent chief.

Context for discussion: the superintendent search is the first major test of the civilian commission’s selection role, and it overlaps with the ICE-order implementation gap, the 17th District staging complaints, and the Baker case.

2.3 Fire Department hiring and promotion: where diversity drops out

Chicago Office of Inspector General, September 9, 2026

Tracing applicants across the entire Firefighter/EMT pipeline, OIG found the applicant pool grew more diverse from 2006 to 2022 and exam performance was consistent across groups, but women and some racial and ethnic groups were disqualified at higher rates during pre-Academy processing. Hiring preferences (such as for CPS graduates and veterans) reshaped who advanced, and the Department of Human Resources had never examined their effect on CFD’s representation goals. Across promotional ranks, more than 95 percent of candidates are male, and outcomes remain overwhelmingly white and male.

Systemic failure: data siloed across three city entities, so no one owned the full picture until an outside auditor assembled it.

Discussion questions

• What should an early-warning system look like so that it cannot fail silently?
• What should the civilian commission prioritize in choosing the next superintendent?
• Are hiring preferences that favor local graduates and veterans worth their effect on representation? Who should decide?

Sources for this section

“Chicago Police Failed to Place Troubled Cop under Strict Supervision before He Fatally Shot Partner.” Chicago Sun-Times, July 17, 2026. Reported with the Illinois Answers Project. https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/07/17/carlos-baker-krystal-rivera-chicago-police-department.

“CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling to Retire This Month.” WTTW News, July 1, 2026. https://news.wttw.com/2026/07/01/cpd-superintendent-larry-snelling-retire-month.

“Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling Retiring in July, He Announces.” CBS Chicago, July 2, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-police-supt-larry-snelling-retirement/.

“Retiring Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling to Serve His Last Day on Wednesday.” CBS Chicago, July 14, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-police-supt-larry-snelling-retiring/.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “OIG Evaluates Demographic Outcomes of Firefighter/EMT Hiring and Promotion Processes.” Press release, September 9, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/09/09/oig-evaluates-demographic-outcomes-of-firefighter-emt-hiring-and-promotion-processes-finds-shifts-in-representation-across-long-hiring-process-promotions-remain-heavily-male-and-white/.

3. Courts, prosecutors, and jails

3.1 “Shadow Prosecutors”: Illinois’ Special Prosecution Unit

Injustice Watch (David Jackson), August 11 and September 16, 2026; co-published by Capitol News Illinois, WTTW, and the Chicago Sun-Times

When a county state’s attorney is conflicted out of a case, typically because a defendant is politically or personally connected, most such cases go to a unit of roughly two dozen attorneys housed in the Office of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP). The unit took more than 1,000 cases in 2024. Injustice Watch found it has withheld exculpatory evidence (in the prosecution of Curtis Lovelace, later acquitted after 21 months in jail), given favorable treatment to political insiders, and operated amid conflicts of interest, including a PAC sharing its address and leadership that donated to a lawmaker whose son’s case the unit later handled. ILSAAP has had two directors in 35 years, is exempt from the state FOIA, falls under no inspector general, and answers to neither the governor nor the attorney general. A September follow-up, co-published by the Sun-Times, profiled a lawyer and a legal researcher who, after being charged by the unit, documented its misconduct themselves.

More than 1,000 cases taken by the unit in 2024.

ILSAAP annual budget: about $36 million.

Illinois is an outlier among states in having special prosecutors try local corruption cases without meaningful oversight from any elected official.

Systemic failure: the body designed to handle conflicts of interest is itself shielded from every standard transparency tool.

3.2 Inside Illinois county jails

Illinois Answers Project (Grace Hauck, Andrew Adams, Meredith Newman, Janelle O’Dea), September 15 and 22, 2026

A multi-part series built a database from thousands of “extraordinary or unusual incident” reports that jails file but the state does not track. Findings: most Illinois jails fail minimum state standards on sanitation, supervision, and staffing, and although chronic failures can be referred to the attorney general, the Department of Corrections has not made such a referral in over a decade. The analysis identified 63 in-custody deaths missing from the state’s own fatality data; the state is now auditing its records. Winnebago County, the state’s second-largest jail, fires pepperball guns far more than any other jail (11 of 90 jails reported using them), often at people with mental illness. A companion story found that state standards meant to prevent jail suicides do not always work, after dozens of suicides in recent years. On September 22, the Cook County Board deferred a resolution calling for an independent review of Cook County Jail, where at least 85 people died between 2019 and 2025, more than a third of all jail-related deaths statewide. One part of the series reported improvement: restraint-chair use fell at the heaviest-using jails after the outlet’s earlier investigation.

Systemic failure: a regulator that inspects but never escalates, and state mortality data that cannot be trusted.

3.3 Forensic failures: discredited lab manager called back to testify

Injustice Watch (Maya Dukmasova), September 21, 2026

Winnebago County prosecutors were told in 2024 that the University of Illinois Chicago forensic toxicology lab, now shuttered, had produced unreliable results. They nonetheless called its former manager, Jennifer Bash, to testify earlier this year in two fatal driving-while-high cases. After Injustice Watch asked about it, State’s Attorney J. Hanley dropped DUI charges in one case and announced a review of convictions back to January 2018 that rested solely on the lab’s urine testing for THC. His office is continuing to pursue the other case based on the lab’s blood testing, despite known flaws.

Systemic failure: Illinois has no forensic oversight body with power to investigate or shut down labs, so the response depends on each prosecutor’s discretion.

Discussion questions

• Who should oversee the overseers? Should ILSAAP be subject to FOIA and an inspector general?
• Why might a county board hesitate to commission an independent review of its own jail, and what would change its calculus?
• When prosecutors learn that forensic evidence was unreliable, what should they be required to do, and who should enforce it?

Sources for this section

Jackson, David. “‘The Wrong Side of Justice.’” Injustice Watch, August 11, 2026. Republished by Capitol News Illinois. https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/the-wrong-side-of-justice/.

Jackson, David. “Special Prosecutors Have Strong Political Ties and Practically No Public Oversight.” Injustice Watch, August 11, 2026. https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/shadow-prosecutors/2026/political-ties-little-oversight/.

Jackson, David. “The Whistleblowers vs. the Shadow Prosecutors.” Injustice Watch, September 16, 2026. https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/shadow-prosecutors/2026/whistleblowers-vs-illinois-special-prosecutors/.

“After Being Charged by Illinois’ Special Prosecutors, a Lawyer and Legal Researcher Unearthed Misconduct.” Chicago Sun-Times, September 21, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/09/21/special-prosecution-unit-brian-towne-david-rands-julie-ajster-bradley-vanhoose-illinois.

Hauck, Grace, Andrew Adams, and Meredith Newman. “Escapes. Fires. Rebellions. Trove of Records Reveals Chaos inside Illinois County Jails.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. http://projects.illinoisanswers.org/inside-illinois-jail-unusual-events/.

Hauck, Grace, and Andrew Adams. “Unsanitary, Unsupervised, Understaffed: Most Illinois Jails Aren’t Meeting Minimum State Standards.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/15/unsanitary-unsupervised-understaffed-most-illinois-jails-arent-meeting-minimum-state-standards/.

Hauck, Grace, and Andrew Adams. “Dozens of Deaths in Illinois Jails Missing from State Records.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/15/illinois-jail-deaths-missing-unreported/.

Hauck, Grace. “Winnebago County Guards Fire Pepperballs More than Any Other Illinois Jail — Often at People with Mental Illnesses.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/15/illinois-county-jails-fire-pepperball-guns-mental-illness/.

O’Dea, Janelle. “State Standards Designed to Prevent Jail Suicides Don’t Always Work.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/15/state-standards-designed-to-prevent-jail-suicides-dont-always-work/.

Hauck, Grace, and Andrew Adams. “Two Years After Illinois Answers Exposed Restraint-Chair Abuse, Jails Are Doing Better.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/15/illinois-jails-restraint-chair-use-declines/.

Hauck, Grace, and Andrew Adams. “Cook County Board Defers Resolution Calling for Independent Review of State’s Largest Jail.” Illinois Answers Project, September 22, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/22/cook-county-board-defers-resolution-calling-for-independent-review-of-states-largest-jail/.

Dukmasova, Maya. “Discredited UIC Lab Manager Jennifer Bash Is Back on the Witness Stand.” Injustice Watch, September 21, 2026. https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/forensic-failures/2026/discredited-uic-forensic-scientist-called-to-testify/.

4. Municipal finance, taxation, and city operations

4.1 The 2027 budget gap and what is driving it

WBEZ (Mariah Woelfel), September 3, 2026

Chicago faces an $882.4 million gap for 2027, smaller than feared but among the largest in city history, following last year’s $1.2 billion gap on a roughly $17 billion budget. Drivers include $70 million more in debt service, $90 million more in pension obligations, union cost-of-living raises, $32 million more in fuel and energy tied to the U.S. war with Iran, and the loss of one-time revenues from the Council’s 2026 alternative budget. The city now projects about $400 million in 2027 for legal settlements and judgments, mostly police misconduct from decades past, which the acting budget director called the largest driver of increased costs; the city has historically underbudgeted these and paid two to three times the estimate. The TIF surplus is shrinking to roughly $330–340 million, while CPS is counting on at least $285 million from it. Forecast gaps grow to $943 million in 2028 and $1.02 billion in 2029.

Political context: the mayor is pursuing progressive revenues and has not ruled out a property tax increase, which the Council unanimously rejected last cycle. A new CFO, formerly Fitch’s lead analyst on Chicago and Illinois, takes over this cycle.

Systemic failure: past police misconduct converts into a recurring operating expense that competes with current services.

4.2 The $1 billion ticket-debt sale: from budget line to dead end

City Bureau, July 6 and later (tracking project); Bloomberg, July 16; WBBM / Chicago Tribune, August 7; WBEZ, September 3, 2026

Over the mayor’s objections, a Council coalition wrote into the 2026 budget a plan to sell at least $1 billion in unpaid parking, speeding, and red-light camera debt for no less than $89.6 million, about 9 cents on the dollar. The city chose Bank of America as facilitator on June 5. City Bureau reported that, absent new policy, the city’s debt relief programs for low-income residents would not apply to sold debt, because it is no longer owed to the city, and launched a project to inform residents of their rights against aggressive collectors. By mid-July, Bank of America had withdrawn; only two banks had answered the city’s solicitation, and the other, Stifel, concluded the risks outweighed the benefits. The 2027 forecast drops the $89 million entirely.

Systemic failure: a revenue assumption put into a balanced budget without evidence a market existed, and a policy design that would have stripped relief protections from low-income debtors.

4.3 TIF: four decades, billions diverted, poor neighborhoods left behind

Chicago Sun-Times / New York Times Local Investigations Fellowship (Nell Salzman), August 26, 2026, reporting on a UIC Great Cities Institute study

Researchers tracked $9.4 billion in TIF allocations across 1,427 projects since 1984. Of about $2.6 billion for private projects, 64 percent (roughly $1.6 billion) went to five neighborhoods in and around downtown; five South and West Side communities received a combined $55 million. The study estimates that more than 98 percent of property-value growth inside TIF districts would have happened anyway, and that a homeowner with a $300,000 home paid $878 in 2023 (and $6,616 over 2014–2023) to backfill revenue diverted to TIF. One example: 98.2 percent of the 2025 property tax paid by Google’s Midwest headquarters went into a TIF account, leaving CPS a share roughly equal to one teacher’s salary.

Counterpoints: an outside urban-planning scholar said the comparison of nearby and farther parcels is not apples-to-apples and the 98 percent figure is likely inflated. The mayor’s office called TIF powerful but flawed and pointed to its $1.25 billion housing and economic development bond as an alternative. The researchers recommend reform, not abolition: independent oversight and phasing out downtown districts that have met their goals.

Systemic failure: a development tool that captures general land-value appreciation for targeted spending, with little independent accountability for results.

4.4 Inspector General audits of city financial management

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General, July 15 – August 26, 2026

Second-quarter report (July 15)

The first quarterly report under new Inspector General David Glockner highlights audits of the city’s management of more than $8 billion owed to it, the City Council’s Office of Financial Analysis, and metered water billing. It also reports nine misconduct cases tied to pandemic relief fraud totaling more than $275,000, 243 active misconduct investigations, and reviews of CPD homicide investigations, officer decertification, and COPA’s backlog reduction. Note that the underlying debt audit was first released in April; the quarterly report summarizes it.

Vendor payments (August 11)

The Department of Finance cannot reliably determine whether the city meets its 30-day vendor payment goal because its tracking system has blank and out-of-order date fields and inconsistent entries across departments. DOF has not fully acted as the central payment authority or completed procedures required by a 2023 executive order. Slow payment has been flagged in three disparity studies since 2009 and a 2021 working group.

Community Catalyst Fund (August 13)

A fund created in 2016 to pool public and private capital for underserved areas has made no new investments since 2020, attracted no private investors in ten years, and did not file required reports. Its $57 million in assets sat effectively dormant. In response, the Fund agreed to file reports retroactively, and the City Treasurer will seek to dissolve it.

Auto pounds (August 26)

The city impounds well over a thousand vehicles a week. In a random sample, OIG could not determine whether 15 percent of vehicles had been redeemed, disposed of, or were still held. The Department of Streets and Sanitation relies mainly on paper, does not monitor damage claims against its contractor (United Road Towing), and gives customers unclear retrieval instructions.

New arrivals spending (July 22): a clean finding

Reviewing $639.7 million in city and grant spending on more than 46,000 migrants and asylum seekers from 2022 to 2024, OIG found the city’s reporting accurate, with only about $51,000 in omitted transactions, and found that 99.6 percent of a sampled $20.4 million in invoices followed procurement rules. The city never used emergency procurement authority. This is a useful counterweight in discussion: the oversight system can confirm good stewardship as well as expose failures.

Systemic failure (across the negative audits): the city lacks reliable operational data, which prevents managers, the Council, and the public from knowing whether programs work.

4.5 Code enforcement and housing oversight

Illinois Answers Project and Capitol News Illinois (Casey Toner, Maggie Dougherty), August 27; Illinois Answers Project (Binghui Huang, Yonggang Xiao), September 2, 2026

South Chicago Chapel

Nearly a year before Chicago police found 56 decomposing bodies at the South Chicago Chapel funeral home in August, the 10th Ward alderperson’s office complained to the city twice in one week about odors, noting in the second complaint that the owner had a history of mishandling human remains. The city inspector who responded spent about 20 minutes on site, accepted an explanation that the smell came from a burning garbage can, and wrote a 67-word report with no indication he tried to go inside. The city never referred the matter to the state regulator that oversees funeral homes. The alderperson had earlier told the Sun-Times his office received only complaints about alleged gang funerals; the records contradict that.

Chinatown landlord collapse

Nearly 70 properties went into receivership after investor Jiazhao “Frank” Chen defaulted on at least $119 million in real estate loans, leaving dozens of Chinatown residents and businesses facing roaches, flooding, and uncertainty. The reporting points to a proposed landlord registry as a way for the city to track irresponsible owners.

Systemic failure: complaint-driven inspection that closes cases on the first plausible explanation, and no registry to connect warning signs across properties or agencies.

Discussion questions

• Should police misconduct settlements be budgeted as a predictable cost, and what would it take to shrink them over time?
• If most TIF-district value growth would have occurred anyway, who should capture it: the TIF fund, the overlapping taxing bodies, or taxpayers through lower rates?
• What should the city have required before counting ticket-debt sale revenue in a balanced budget?
• What is the simplest reform that would give the public reliable data on city operations and inspections?

Sources for this section

Woelfel, Mariah. “Mayor Johnson Projects $882M Deficit, Vows to Not Balance Budget ‘on Backs of Working People.’” WBEZ Chicago, September 3, 2026. https://www.wbez.org/city-hall/2026/09/03/mayor-brandon-johnson-2027-budget-forecast-chicago-city-hall-deficit.

“Bank of America Is Helping Chicago Sell Your Vehicle Debt.” City Bureau, July 6, 2026. https://www.citybureau.org/newswire/2026/7/6/chicago-vehicle-debt-sale-bank-of-america.

“We’re Tracking Chicago’s Debt Sale — And What It Means For You.” City Bureau, July 2026. Accessed September 26, 2026. https://www.citybureau.org/notebook/tracking-chicagos-debt-sale.

“Bank of America Withdraws from Chicago’s Overdue Parking Debt Sale Plan.” Bloomberg, July 16, 2026. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-16/bank-of-america-exits-chicago-plan-to-sell-overdue-parking-debt.

“Chicago’s Debt Sale Plan Struggles to Attract Banks.” WBBM Newsradio, August 7, 2026. Reporting by the Chicago Tribune. https://www.audacy.com/wbbm780/news/local/chicagos-debt-sale-plan-struggles.

Salzman, Nell. “Chicago Program That Set Aside Billions for Development Has Left Poor Areas Behind, UIC Study Finds.” Chicago Sun-Times, August 26, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/08/26/tif-tax-increment-financing-property-taxes-chicago-uic-great-cities-institute.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “Chicago Office of Inspector General Releases Quarterly Report Featuring Three Major Audits of Core City Operations.” Press release, July 15, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/07/15/chicago-office-of-inspector-general-releases-quarterly-report-featuring-three-major-audits-of-core-city-operations/.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “OIG Audit Finds City Cannot Determine Whether It Meets Its 30-Day Vendor Payment Goal.” Press release, August 11, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/08/11/oig-audit-finds-city-cannot-determine-whether-it-meets-its-30-day-vendor-payment-goal/.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “OIG Advisory Recommends Reconsideration of the City’s Inactive $57 Million Catalyst Fund.” Press release, August 13, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/08/13/oig-recommends-reconsideration-inactive-57-million-catalyst-fund/.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “OIG Audit of Department of Streets and Sanitation’s Administration of Auto Pounds Finds Incomplete Data, Risks of Vehicle Damage, and Confusing Vehicle Retrieval Processes.” Press release, August 26, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/08/26/oig-audit-of-dss-auto-pounds-finds-incomplete-data/.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “OIG Assessment of City’s New Arrivals Mission Finds Accuracy and Transparency in City’s Reported Support for over 46,000 New Arrivals.” Press release, July 22, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/07/22/oig-assessment-of-citys-new-arrivals-mission/.

Toner, Casey, and Maggie Dougherty. “Chicago Officials Raised Concerns about South Chicago Chapel a Year before Discovery of 56 Decomposing Bodies, Records Show.” Capitol News Illinois, August 27, 2026. Published with the Illinois Answers Project. https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/chicago-officials-raised-concerns-about-south-chicago-chapel-nearly-a-year-before-discovery-of-56-decomposing-bodies-records-show/.

Huang, Binghui, and Yonggang Xiao. “Roaches, Flooding, Unpaid Loans: Dozens of Chinatown Residents, Businesses Face Uncertainty as Landlord’s Empire Crumbles.” Illinois Answers Project, September 2, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/02/chinatown-frank-chen-real-estate-chicago-119-million-debt/.

5. Cross-cutting systemic failures

For the closing session of a discussion series, these five patterns connect the individual investigations.

Oversight without teeth

The attorney general’s compliance-only approach to the TRUST Act; a corrections department that has not referred a failing jail in over a decade; a special prosecution unit exempt from FOIA and inspectors general; no state forensic body able to act on a discredited lab. In each case the authority to act exists somewhere, or should, but no one is using it.

Jurisdictional hand-offs that end nowhere

Complaints about federal agents pass from residents to CPD to the state’s attorney, who requires a completed investigation that CPD may not produce; the FBI investigates itself and discloses nothing. A funeral-home complaint stayed with a city inspector and never reached the state regulator. Each link can defensibly say the next step belongs to someone else.

Data and inspection as preconditions of accountability

Payment dates the city cannot trust, impound records on paper, jail deaths missing from state tables, a police department’s inaccurate report to state regulators, siloed fire-department hiring data, and a 67-word inspection report. Without reliable records, oversight bodies cannot even establish that a problem exists.

The long tail of past failure

Settlements for decades-old police misconduct now drive the city budget; pensions and debt service keep rising; TIF districts established in the 1980s and 1990s shaped where public investment went for a generation. Today’s fiscal debates are substantially about paying for yesterday’s governance, and one-time fixes like the debt sale have not filled the gap.

Independence under strain

Immigration judges who serve at the pleasure of a prosecuting department; a career federal prosecutor and her former boss publicly disputing who directed a charging decision; a civilian police commission unable to get answers from a district commander. Where the people who judge or investigate lack protection from those they oversee, outcomes track power rather than evidence.

Suggested slide sequence

1. Title and scope (window, sources, method)
2. Five findings in one slide (executive summary list)
3. At-a-glance table (split across two slides)
4. Immigration: TRUST Act gaps (1.1), with the four key figures
5. Immigration: asylum approval collapse (1.2), before-and-after rates
6. Immigration: city enforcement of its own rules (1.3, 1.4)
7. Immigration: federal accountability gap, with the Minneapolis comparison (1.5, 1.6)
8. Policing: early-warning failure and leadership transition (2.1, 2.2)
9. Public safety workforce: CFD pipeline (2.3)
10. Prosecutors: the Special Prosecution Unit (3.1)
11. Jails: standards, deaths, and the Cook County review vote (3.2)
12. Forensic evidence: the UIC lab and prosecutor discretion (3.3)
13. Budget: the $882.4M gap and its drivers (4.1)
14. The ticket-debt sale that wasn’t (4.2)
15. TIF study, with counterpoints (4.3)
16. OIG audits: failures and one clean bill (4.4)
17. Code enforcement: South Chicago Chapel (4.5)
18. Cross-cutting patterns (section 5)
19. Discussion questions

Method, coverage, and verification notes

Sources swept: City of Chicago Office of Inspector General publications; Injustice Watch; Illinois Answers Project (Better Government Association); City Bureau; ProPublica’s Illinois and Midwest pages; Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ (including The Watchdogs); WTTW; Block Club Chicago; Capitol News Illinois; Bloomberg; CBS Chicago, ABC7, and CNN for incident reporting. This revision added items identified by cross-checking against a second research report, after independent verification, and removed all sources published before June 28, 2026.

Coverage gaps:

• ProPublica: no Chicago-region investigation dated within the window surfaced. The one ProPublica item included (1.6) is a Minneapolis case used as a labeled comparison.
• Chicago Tribune: not systematically reviewed; its paywall limited access. It is cited once, through a WBBM summary.
• Cook County Office of the Independent Inspector General and CPS Inspector General: not retrieved.
• The Chicago OIG rat-abatement audit (July 28) was reviewed only at headline level and is not summarized.

Verification flags for the deck:

• Sections 1.2, 3.1, and 4.3 rest on single-outlet data analyses. Figures are as reported; the TIF study’s 98 percent estimate is contested by an independent expert quoted in the same article.
• Section 1.5 involves directly conflicting accounts (the former prosecutor versus the Justice Department). Present both.
• Section 1.1’s companion story on county prosecutors was located but not read in full; its summary here is headline-level.
• Section 2.1: the July 17 article’s byline was not captured; the series is by Peter Nickeas, Casey Toner, and colleagues. Confirm before citing with authors.
• Section 4.2: the City Bureau tracking page’s exact publication date was not confirmed (it references July 7 events); the cited City Bureau newswire story is dated July 6.
• Several Illinois Answers articles require free registration; figures here come from published summaries and should be checked against full text before a slide quotes them.
• Claims from the second research report that could not be verified were not used, including a named Madison County jail death, the jail series’ page and report counts, and a figure of “nearly two dozen” wrongful DUI convictions tied to the UIC lab.

Links in narrative order

Numbered in the order each source appears in the report, grouped by section, for opening browser windows during discussion.

Section 1: Immigration enforcement

1. Injustice Watch: TRUST Act violations (1.1)
2. Injustice Watch: county prosecutors as ICE informants (1.1)
3. Sun-Times/WBEZ: asylum in Chicago immigration court (1.2)
4. WBEZ: ICE on Notice under Council scrutiny (1.3)
5. Sun-Times: ICE staging at 17th District lot (1.4)
6. Sun-Times: Broadview Six prosecutor’s letter (1.5)
7. Block Club: FBI silent on Villegas González shooting (1.6)
8. Sun-Times: Congress members ask DHS IG to investigate (1.6)
9. CNN: U.S. citizen detained and injured in Evanston (1.6)
10. ABC7: Evanston incident (1.6)
11. ProPublica: DOJ blocked charges, Minneapolis comparison (1.6)

Section 2: Police oversight and public safety

12. Sun-Times/Illinois Answers: Baker never enrolled in early-warning program (2.1)
13. WTTW: Snelling to retire (2.2)
14. CBS Chicago: Snelling retirement, Waller interim (2.2)
15. CBS Chicago: Snelling’s last day (2.2)
16. Chicago OIG: CFD hiring and promotion (2.3)

Section 3: Courts, prosecutors, and jails

17. Injustice Watch via Capitol News Illinois: “The Wrong Side of Justice” (3.1)
18. Injustice Watch: special prosecutors’ political ties (3.1)
19. Injustice Watch: whistleblowers vs. shadow prosecutors (3.1)
20. Sun-Times: charged by special prosecutors, then unearthed misconduct (3.1)
21. Illinois Answers: chaos inside county jails (3.2)
22. Illinois Answers: jails failing state standards (3.2)
23. Illinois Answers: jail deaths missing from state records (3.2)
24. Illinois Answers: Winnebago pepperballs (3.2)
25. Illinois Answers: jail suicide standards (3.2)
26. Illinois Answers: restraint-chair use declines (3.2)
27. Illinois Answers: Cook County Board defers jail review (3.2)
28. Injustice Watch: Jennifer Bash back on the stand (3.3)

Section 4: Municipal finance, taxation, and city operations

29. WBEZ: $882M deficit forecast (4.1)
30. City Bureau: Bank of America and the vehicle debt sale (4.2)
31. City Bureau: tracking the debt sale (4.2)
32. Bloomberg: Bank of America withdraws (4.2)
33. WBBM/Tribune: debt sale struggles to attract banks (4.2)
34. Sun-Times/NYT: UIC TIF study (4.3)
35. Chicago OIG: Q2 2026 quarterly report (4.4)
36. Chicago OIG: vendor payment audit (4.4)
37. Chicago OIG: Catalyst Fund advisory (4.4)
38. Chicago OIG: auto pounds audit (4.4)
39. Chicago OIG: new arrivals spending (4.4)
40. Capitol News Illinois/Illinois Answers: South Chicago Chapel (4.5)
41. Illinois Answers: Chinatown landlord collapse (4.5)

Consolidated bibliography

“A Year After ICE Killed a Father Outside Chicago, FBI Won’t Release Any Info About Investigation.” Block Club Chicago, September 10, 2026. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/09/10/a-year-after-ice-killed-a-father-outside-chicago-fbi-wont-release-any-info-about-investigation/.

“After Being Charged by Illinois’ Special Prosecutors, a Lawyer and Legal Researcher Unearthed Misconduct.” Chicago Sun-Times, September 21, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/09/21/special-prosecution-unit-brian-towne-david-rands-julie-ajster-bradley-vanhoose-illinois.

“Bank of America Is Helping Chicago Sell Your Vehicle Debt.” City Bureau, July 6, 2026. https://www.citybureau.org/newswire/2026/7/6/chicago-vehicle-debt-sale-bank-of-america.

“Bank of America Withdraws from Chicago’s Overdue Parking Debt Sale Plan.” Bloomberg, July 16, 2026. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-16/bank-of-america-exits-chicago-plan-to-sell-overdue-parking-debt.

Bogado, Aura. “The County Prosecutors Who Became ICE Informants.” Injustice Watch, August 25, 2026. https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/ice-informants/2026/illinois-prosecutors-helping-ice/.

Bogado, Aura. “Illinois Promised to Protect Immigrants. Local Officials Helped Deport Them Anyway.” Injustice Watch, August 25, 2026. Updated September 16, 2026. https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/ice-informants/2026/illinois-trust-act-violations-immigrants-deported/.

“Chicago Police Failed to Place Troubled Cop under Strict Supervision before He Fatally Shot Partner.” Chicago Sun-Times, July 17, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/07/17/carlos-baker-krystal-rivera-chicago-police-department.

“Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling Retiring in July, He Announces.” CBS Chicago, July 2, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-police-supt-larry-snelling-retirement/.

“Chicago’s Debt Sale Plan Struggles to Attract Banks.” WBBM Newsradio, August 7, 2026. https://www.audacy.com/wbbm780/news/local/chicagos-debt-sale-plan-struggles.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “Chicago Office of Inspector General Releases Quarterly Report Featuring Three Major Audits of Core City Operations.” Press release, July 15, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/07/15/chicago-office-of-inspector-general-releases-quarterly-report-featuring-three-major-audits-of-core-city-operations/.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “OIG Advisory Recommends Reconsideration of the City’s Inactive $57 Million Catalyst Fund.” Press release, August 13, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/08/13/oig-recommends-reconsideration-inactive-57-million-catalyst-fund/.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “OIG Assessment of City’s New Arrivals Mission Finds Accuracy and Transparency in City’s Reported Support for over 46,000 New Arrivals.” Press release, July 22, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/07/22/oig-assessment-of-citys-new-arrivals-mission/.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “OIG Audit Finds City Cannot Determine Whether It Meets Its 30-Day Vendor Payment Goal.” Press release, August 11, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/08/11/oig-audit-finds-city-cannot-determine-whether-it-meets-its-30-day-vendor-payment-goal/.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “OIG Audit of Department of Streets and Sanitation’s Administration of Auto Pounds Finds Incomplete Data, Risks of Vehicle Damage, and Confusing Vehicle Retrieval Processes.” Press release, August 26, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/08/26/oig-audit-of-dss-auto-pounds-finds-incomplete-data/.

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “OIG Evaluates Demographic Outcomes of Firefighter/EMT Hiring and Promotion Processes.” Press release, September 9, 2026. https://igchicago.org/2026/09/09/oig-evaluates-demographic-outcomes-of-firefighter-emt-hiring-and-promotion-processes-finds-shifts-in-representation-across-long-hiring-process-promotions-remain-heavily-male-and-white/.

“CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling to Retire This Month.” WTTW News, July 1, 2026. https://news.wttw.com/2026/07/01/cpd-superintendent-larry-snelling-retire-month.

Dukmasova, Maya. “Discredited UIC Lab Manager Jennifer Bash Is Back on the Witness Stand.” Injustice Watch, September 21, 2026. https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/forensic-failures/2026/discredited-uic-forensic-scientist-called-to-testify/.

“Evanston Man Hurt, Wrongly Identified by Federal Agents near Howard Street, Dodge Avenue; Police Investigating.” ABC7 Chicago, September 22, 2026. https://abc7chicago.com/post/evanston-il-ice-incident-man-hurt-wrongly-identified-federal-agents-howard-street-dodge-avenue-police-investigating/19855018/.

FitzPatrick, Lauren, Adriana Cardona-Maguigad, and Keenan Chen. “It’s Now Nearly Impossible to Get Asylum in Chicago Immigration Court.” Chicago Sun-Times, September 25, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/09/25/now-nearly-impossible-asylum-chicago-immigration-court.

Hauck, Grace. “Winnebago County Guards Fire Pepperballs More than Any Other Illinois Jail — Often at People with Mental Illnesses.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/15/illinois-county-jails-fire-pepperball-guns-mental-illness/.

Hauck, Grace, and Andrew Adams. “Cook County Board Defers Resolution Calling for Independent Review of State’s Largest Jail.” Illinois Answers Project, September 22, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/22/cook-county-board-defers-resolution-calling-for-independent-review-of-states-largest-jail/.

Hauck, Grace, and Andrew Adams. “Dozens of Deaths in Illinois Jails Missing from State Records.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/15/illinois-jail-deaths-missing-unreported/.

Hauck, Grace, and Andrew Adams. “Two Years After Illinois Answers Exposed Restraint-Chair Abuse, Jails Are Doing Better.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/15/illinois-jails-restraint-chair-use-declines/.

Hauck, Grace, and Andrew Adams. “Unsanitary, Unsupervised, Understaffed: Most Illinois Jails Aren’t Meeting Minimum State Standards.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/15/unsanitary-unsupervised-understaffed-most-illinois-jails-arent-meeting-minimum-state-standards/.

Hauck, Grace, Andrew Adams, and Meredith Newman. “Escapes. Fires. Rebellions. Trove of Records Reveals Chaos inside Illinois County Jails.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. http://projects.illinoisanswers.org/inside-illinois-jail-unusual-events/.

Hernandez, Cindy, and Violet Miller. “Northwest Side Residents Blast Use of Chicago Police Lot for ICE Operations.” Chicago Sun-Times, September 12, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/09/12/northwest-side-residents-demand-answers-amid-reports-of-ice-agents-staging-at-cpds-17th-district.

Huang, Binghui, and Yonggang Xiao. “Roaches, Flooding, Unpaid Loans: Dozens of Chinatown Residents, Businesses Face Uncertainty as Landlord’s Empire Crumbles.” Illinois Answers Project, September 2, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/02/chinatown-frank-chen-real-estate-chicago-119-million-debt/.

“Illinois Democrats Ask DHS Inspector General to Investigate Federal Agents for Excessive Force.” Chicago Sun-Times, September 8, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/09/08/illinois-democrats-congress-homeland-security-inspector-general-call-investigation-federal-agents-excessive-force.

Jackson, David. “Special Prosecutors Have Strong Political Ties and Practically No Public Oversight.” Injustice Watch, August 11, 2026. https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/shadow-prosecutors/2026/political-ties-little-oversight/.

Jackson, David. “The Whistleblowers vs. the Shadow Prosecutors.” Injustice Watch, September 16, 2026. https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/shadow-prosecutors/2026/whistleblowers-vs-illinois-special-prosecutors/.

Jackson, David. “‘The Wrong Side of Justice.’” Injustice Watch, August 11, 2026. Republished by Capitol News Illinois. https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/the-wrong-side-of-justice/.

O’Dea, Janelle. “State Standards Designed to Prevent Jail Suicides Don’t Always Work.” Illinois Answers Project, September 15, 2026. https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/09/15/state-standards-designed-to-prevent-jail-suicides-dont-always-work/.

“Retiring Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling to Serve His Last Day on Wednesday.” CBS Chicago, July 14, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-police-supt-larry-snelling-retiring/.

Rose, Megan, and Andy Mannix. “Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge over Federal Prosecutor’s ‘Strongest Possible’ Objections.” ProPublica, September 2, 2026. https://www.propublica.org/article/doj-blocks-charges-ice-agent-minneapolis-julio-cesar-sosa-celis.

Salzman, Nell. “Chicago Program That Set Aside Billions for Development Has Left Poor Areas Behind, UIC Study Finds.” Chicago Sun-Times, August 26, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/08/26/tif-tax-increment-financing-property-taxes-chicago-uic-great-cities-institute.

Seidel, Jon. “‘Broadview Six’ Prosecutor Slams Boutros in Resignation Letter, Saying He Pushed Doomed Felony Charges.” Chicago Sun-Times, September 25, 2026. https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/09/25/broadview-six-boutros-mecklenburg.

Toner, Casey, and Maggie Dougherty. “Chicago Officials Raised Concerns about South Chicago Chapel a Year before Discovery of 56 Decomposing Bodies, Records Show.” Capitol News Illinois, August 27, 2026. https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/chicago-officials-raised-concerns-about-south-chicago-chapel-nearly-a-year-before-discovery-of-56-decomposing-bodies-records-show/.

“We’re Tracking Chicago’s Debt Sale — And What It Means For You.” City Bureau, July 2026. Accessed September 26, 2026. https://www.citybureau.org/notebook/tracking-chicagos-debt-sale.

“What We Know after Officials Say ICE Detained a US Citizen and Left Him Injured in Chicago Suburb.” CNN, September 24, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/24/us/ice-us-citizen-detained-evanston.

Woelfel, Mariah. “Mayor Johnson Projects $882M Deficit, Vows to Not Balance Budget ‘on Backs of Working People.’” WBEZ Chicago, September 3, 2026. https://www.wbez.org/city-hall/2026/09/03/mayor-brandon-johnson-2027-budget-forecast-chicago-city-hall-deficit.

Woelfel, Mariah. “Mayor Johnson’s Plan to Crack Down on ICE Agents under City Council Scrutiny.” WBEZ Chicago, July 15, 2026. https://www.wbez.org/politics/2026/07/15/brandon-johnson-city-council-ice-immigration-midway-blitz.

Related Events

• 

  Human Rights Enforcement, such as it is: ICCPR and ICESCR

  October 11 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm CDT

This is our evening monthly discussion of the topics raised by recent Chicago area investigative reporting. We use a rolling mid-month to mid-month timeframe for these late month time slots, and we’re looking at May 23rd to June 27th (Saturday) publishing dates. What we spend the most time on depends on where the interest of the group lies. We meet on Zoom at URL https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88112982706?pwd=SlRldUpsQzBibHBEdUN3ZzhxcUlPQT09.

The article list comprises 15 items published in the time period.

Immigration Enforcement and Federal Activities

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “ICE Chicago Arrests Violent, Criminal Illegal Alien After Chicago PD Releases Him into Community.” U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, June 6, 2026.

• Summary: A federal press release detailing a recent ICE arrest in Chicago while explicitly criticizing local law enforcement for their release policies. This document provides primary-source insight into the ongoing jurisdictional tension between federal agencies and Chicago’s sanctuary city protocols.
• URL: https://www.dhs.gov/making-america-safe-again-press-releases

CBS News Chicago. “Illinois Accountability Commission chair says fresh wave of ICE arrests has begun, with new tactics in play.” CBS News Chicago, June 22, 2026.

• Summary: The chair of the Illinois Accountability Commission reports a new, less public-facing surge in ICE arrests in Chicago under Homeland Security leadership. The piece also notes the commission’s ongoing push for investigations into two shootings involving federal immigration agents.
• URL: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/illinois-accountability-commission-chicago-ice-arrests-new-tactics/

The TRiiBE. “‘Everybody’s going to be living in fear’: Chicago’s Haitian community reacts to TPS decision.” The TRiiBE, June 26, 2026.

• Summary: Following the Supreme Court’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status for people from Haiti, local activists warn of quieter, targeted immigration enforcement operations in the Chicago area. The report explores the local impact of these federal immigration policies on Black immigrants.
• URL: https://thetriibe.com/2026/06/everybodys-going-to-be-living-in-fear-chicagos-haitian-community-reacts-to-tps-decision/

Police Accountability and Emergency Response

Cherone, Heather. “Taxpayers Paid Man Pulled Over by the Same CPD Officers Who Stopped, Shot Dexter Reed $27K: Records.” WTTW News, May 26, 2026.

• Summary: Chicago paid $27,500 to a man who was stopped by the identical tactical team of officers that, days later, pulled over and fatally shot Dexter Reed.
• URL: https://news.wttw.com/2026/05/26/taxpayers-paid-man-pulled-over-same-cpd-officers-who-stopped-shot-dexter-reed-27k

Cherone, Heather. “City Lawyers: Pay $250K to Wrongfully Convicted Man Arrested by Officers Repeatedly Accused of Misconduct.” WTTW News, June 11, 2026.

• Summary: City lawyers recommended a $250,000 settlement for David Jones following a federal lawsuit. The suit accused four Chicago police officers of conspiring to frame him for selling drugs in Lawndale in 2015.
• URL: https://news.wttw.com/2026/06/11/city-lawyers-pay-250k-wrongfully-convicted-man-arrested-officers-repeatedly-accused

Cherone, Heather. “Chicago Paid $2.7M for System Designed to Flag Officers With Multiple Complaints: Records.” WTTW News, June 15, 2026.

• Summary: Records reveal uncertainty regarding how and why the Johnson administration selected Benchmark Analytics to develop a system required by a federal consent decree. The system was intended to flag officers who receive multiple complaints.
• URL: https://news.wttw.com/tags/police-accountability

Cherone, Heather. “Chicago Has Spent at Least $225M to Resolve Police Misconduct Lawsuits, Just 6 Months Into the Year.” WTTW News, June 17, 2026.

• Summary: An investigative analysis revealing that Chicago has spent over $225 million to settle more than 200 police misconduct lawsuits in the first half of 2026. The report notes that this massive expenditure largely stems from reversed wrongful convictions and heavily burdens taxpayers.
• URL: https://news.wttw.com/2026/06/17/chicago-has-spent-least-225m-resolve-police-misconduct-lawsuits-just-6-months-year

Cherone, Heather. “Chicago Taxpayers Paid $27.5M to Man Wrongfully Convicted of 2008 Murder, Setting New Record.” WTTW News, June 17, 2026.

• Summary: A WTTW News analysis found that the resolution of Marcel Brown’s lawsuit marked the largest payment Chicago taxpayers have ever made to compensate someone for a wrongful conviction tied to evidence developed by Chicago police.
• URL: https://news.wttw.com/2026/06/17/chicago-taxpayers-paid-275m-man-wrongfully-convicted-2008-murder-setting-new-record

Civilian Office of Police Accountability. “COPA Provides Update on Officer-Involved Shooting Near 1400 W. Argyle.” Civilian Office of Police Accountability, June 18, 2026.

• Summary: An official update from Chicago’s police oversight agency regarding an ongoing investigation into a recent officer-involved shooting. It serves as an essential primary document for tracking the city’s active monitoring of police use of force.
• URL: https://www.chicagocopa.org/

Government Finance, Accountability, and Public Safety

Nitkin, Alex. “A Proposed Law Would Push Wealthy Suburbs to Build More Affordable Housing. Mayors Are Pushing Back.” Illinois Answers Project, May 27, 2026.

• Summary: An effort to sharpen the state’s Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act is facing pushback. It is one of several bills pending in Springfield intended to widen affordability and boost housing construction in wealthy suburbs, prompting resistance from local mayors.
• URL: https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/05/27/proposed-illinois-law-push-wealthy-suburbs-build-more-affordable-housing/

Newman, Meredith, and Madison Hopkins. “Early Intervention therapies help kids — but Illinois pays providers less than other states, stalling access.” Illinois Answers Project, June 4, 2026.

• Summary: Hundreds of therapists are leaving the state’s Early Intervention program annually because Illinois pays them less than other states do. This retention failure is causing some families to miss out entirely on therapies to which they are legally entitled.
• URL: https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/06/04/early-intervention-child-illinois-therapists-underpaid/

City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. “Ongoing Summary of Enforcement Matters from the City’s Inspector General.” City of Chicago Office of Inspector General, June 16, 2026.

• Summary: A status update on ethics investigations within Chicago’s municipal government, noting five completed inspector general investigations currently awaiting final resolution. This provides a baseline for ongoing municipal accountability reporting.
• URL: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/ethics/provdrs/reg/svcs/ongoing-summary-of-enforcement-matters.html

Toner, Casey, and Maggie Dougherty. “Addicted to Gambling in Illinois: ‘Someone Has Decided They Can Make Money Off You’.” Illinois Answers Project, June 24, 2026.

• Summary: An investigation detailing how people in Illinois lost over $7.7 billion to gambling over the last year. The report highlights that while lawmakers rely heavily on gambling to fund state operations, there are virtually no resources dedicated to treating compulsive gamblers.
• URL: https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/06/24/addicted-to-gambling-in-illinois-someone-has-decided-they-can-make-money-off-you/

Alpasan, Eunice. “Johnson Uses Executive Order to Establish Office of Gun Violence Reduction, a Step Toward Permanent Department.” WTTW News, June 25, 2026.

• Summary: Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order establishing an Office of Gun Violence Reduction. The new office is tasked with coordinating violence prevention efforts and victim services, serving as a stepping stone toward a permanent city department.
• URL: https://news.wttw.com/2026/06/25/johnson-uses-executive-order-establish-office-gun-violence-reduction-step-toward

Illinois Answers Project. “City Leaders Tout Tree-Planting Bonanza, But Neighborhood Disparities Persist.” Illinois Answers Project, June 26, 2026.

URL: https://illinoisanswers.org/2026/06/26/city-leaders-tout-tree-planting-bonanza-but-neighborhood-disparities-persist/

Summary: Despite city departments turning to community groups to improve tree planting—a critical public health measure—neighborhood disparities in tree coverage continue to persist due to cultural barriers.

Related Events

• 

  Human Rights Enforcement, such as it is: ICCPR and ICESCR

  October 11 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm CDT

This is our Sunday afternoon monthly discussion of the topics raised by recent Chicago area investigative reporting. We use a rolling mid-month to mid-month timeframe for these late month time slots, and we’re looking at April 25th to May 22nd (this past Friday) publishing dates. What we spend the most time on depends on where the interest of the group lies.

This candidate list comprises 34 items published between April 25 and May 22, 2026. As I prepare the walk-through ome may leave and others may join the list, but it will be in roughly the following order. I’ll summarize each as we walk through the list.

Immigration enforcement and federal activities: 11 items, focusing heavily on the prosecutorial misconduct in the “Broadview Six” case and the judicial rejection of a special prosecutor request for Operation Midway Blitz

Government accountability: 3 items addressing state’s attorney office practices, certificates of innocence objections, and transit violence task force

Education governance: 3 items covering school board media leaks, custodial services, and CEO congressional testimony

Police accountability: 1 item on city council action regarding officers with extremist ties

Crime and public safety: 2 items on shootings, homicides, and officer-involved incidents

Utility regulation: 5 items on consumer advocacy against Peoples Gas rate hike

Property and land use: 2 items on Englewood junkyard property foreclosure follow-up

Federal corruption: 2 items on Madigan sentencing and ComEd bribery case

Journalism recognition: 4 items on staff additions, professional development, and prize announcements

All items meet the criteria of investigative reporting, accountability journalism, government audit findings, and federal investigation reports affecting Chicago-area residents.

Sources represented: Chicago Sun-Times, WTTW, Block Club Chicago, Chalkbeat, Injustice Watch, WBEZ, Axios, NPR Illinois, Capitol News Illinois, CBS Chicago, U.S. Department of Justice, NBC 5 Chicago, NewscastStudio, Poynter, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. 

## IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AND FEDERAL ACTIVITIES

1. **Source:** Chicago Sun-Times | **Article:** “Remaining ‘Broadview Six’ Defendants Move to Disclose Grand Jury Transcripts, Drop Conspiracy Charges” | **Date:** May 4, 2026 | **URL:** https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/05/04/broadview-six-grand-jury-transcript-conspiracy

2. **Source:** WTTW (NBC 5 Chicago) | **Article:** “Judge Agrees to Toss Top Conspiracy Count in ‘Broadview Six’ Case” | **Date:** May 7, 2026 | **URL:** https://news.wttw.com/2026/05/07/judge-agrees-toss-top-conspiracy-count-broadview-six-case

3. **Source:** Block Club Chicago | **Article:** “Judge Dismisses Conspiracy Charge Against Remaining 4 Broadview Protesters” | **Date:** May 7, 2026 | **URL:** https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/05/07/judge-dismisses-conspiracy-charge-against-remaining-4-broadview-protesters

4. **Source:** Chicago Sun-Times | **Article:** “‘Broadview Six’ Charges Dropped as Chicago’s Top Federal Prosecutor Admits Case Was Tainted by Misconduct” | **Date:** May 21, 2026 | **URL:** https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/05/21/broadview-ice-protest-grand-jury-transcript-kat-abughazaleh-trump

5. **Source:** WTTW (NBC 5 Chicago) | **Article:** “Feds Drop All Charges in ‘Broadview Six’ Case Following Closed-Door Meeting Over Grand Jury Transcripts” | **Date:** May 21, 2026 | **URL:** https://news.wttw.com/2026/05/21/broadview-six-no-longer-set-trial-next-week-following-closed-door-meeting-over-grand

6. **Source:** Block Club Chicago | **Article:** “Charges Against Broadview Protesters Dropped After Feds Admit To Grand Jury ‘Errors’” | **Date:** May 21, 2026 | **URL:** https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/05/21/trial-date-for-broadview-protesters-vacated-just-days-ahead-of-expected-start

7. **Source:** Block Club Chicago | **Article:** “Full Transcript: Judge Discusses Prosecutors’ ‘Errors’ In Broadview Protester Case” | **Date:** May 22, 2026 | **URL:** https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/05/22/full-transcript-judge-discusses-prosecutors-errors-in-broadview-protester-case

8. **Source:** Cook County Judge Decision | **Article:** “Cook County Judge Rejects Push to Appoint Special Prosecutor to Investigate Alleged ICE Misconduct” | **Date:** May 21, 2026 | **URL:** https://news.wttw.com/2026/05/21/cook-county-judge-rejects-push-appoint-special-prosecutor-investigate-alleged-ice

9. **Source:** Chicago Sun-Times | **Article:** “Cook County Judge Rejects Push to Appoint Special Prosecutor to Probe Chicago Area Deportation Blitz” | **Date:** May 21, 2026 | **URL:** https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/05/21/special-prosecutor-midway-blitz-ice-trump-oneill-burke-cook-county

10. **Source:** Capitol News Illinois | **Article:** “Judge Rejects Request for Special Prosecutor to Investigate ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ Abuses” | **Date:** May 2026 | **URL:** https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/judge-rejects-request-for-special-prosecutor-to-investigate-operation-midway-blitz-abuses

11. **Source:** Block Club Chicago | **Article:** “Hearing Features ‘Horrifying’ Video, Testimony Documenting Operation Midway Blitz” | **Date:** April 27, 2026 | **URL:** https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/27/a-horrifying-moment-hearing-features-dramatic-video-testimony-documenting-operation-midway-blitz

—

## GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATIONS AND AUDIT REPORTS

### Chicago Office of Inspector General and Accountability

12. **Source:** Injustice Watch | **Article:** “Investigation Finds Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Objects to 4 of 5 Petitions for Certificates of Innocence” | **Date:** May 12, 2026 | **URL:** https://news.wttw.com/2026/05/12/investigation-finds-cook-county-state-s-attorney-s-office-objects-4-5-petitions

13. **Source:** Chicago Sun-Times | **Article:** “Cook County Prosecutors Launch Task Force to Address Violence on Public Transit” | **Date:** May 18, 2026 | **URL:** https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/05/18/crime-transit-cta-cook-county-states-attorney-eileen-o-neill-burke

14. **Source:** WBEZ Chicago | **Article:** “Cook County Prosecutors Launch Task Force to Address Violence on Public Transit” | **Date:** May 18, 2026 | **URL:** https://www.wbez.org/crime/2026/05/18/crime-transit-cta-cook-county-states-attorney-eileen-o-neill-burke

—

## CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION GOVERNANCE

15. **Source:** Chalkbeat Chicago | **Article:** “A Law Firm Investigation Could Not Determine the Source of Chicago School Board Media Leaks” | **Date:** May 8, 2026 | **URL:** https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026/05/08/chicago-public-schools-media-leaks-inquiry-finds-insufficent-evidence

16. **Source:** Chalkbeat Chicago | **Article:** “Chicago Public Schools Surveyed Custodians and Principals. Most Said Schools Aren’t Being Cleaned Well.” | **Date:** May 11, 2026 | **URL:** https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026/05/11/chicago-custodians-and-principals-report-cleanliness-problems

17. **Source:** Chalkbeat Chicago | **Article:** “CPS CEO King Declined Invitations to Testify to Congress. A Lawmaker Responded with a Subpoena.” | **Date:** May 13, 2026 | **URL:** https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026/05/13/macquline-king-subpoenaed-to-appear-at-congressional-hearing

—

## POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY AND EXTREMISM

18. **Source:** WTTW (NBC 5 Chicago) | **Article:** “City Council Votes 28-21 to Rid CPD of Officers With Ties to Extremist Groups” | **Date:** May 20, 2026 | **URL:** https://news.wttw.com/2026/05/20/city-council-votes-28-21-rid-cpd-officers-ties-extremist-groups

—

## CRIME AND PUBLIC SAFETY

19. **Source:** Block Club Chicago | **Article:** “1 Chicago Police Officer Killed, 2nd Wounded At Swedish Hospital Shooting, Suspect In Custody” | **Date:** April 25, 2026 | **URL:** https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/25/swat-team-huge-police-presence-reported-at-swedish-hospital-in-lincoln-square

20. **Source:** WTTW (NBC 5 Chicago) | **Article:** “Shootings, Homicides in Chicago Up This Year as They Continue to Outpace Last Year’s Historic Lows” | **Date:** May 5, 2026 | **URL:** https://news.wttw.com/2026/05/05/shootings-homicides-chicago-year-they-continue-outpace-last-year-s-historic-lows

—

## UTILITY REGULATION AND CONSUMER ADVOCACY

21. **Source:** WTTW (NBC 5 Chicago) | **Article:** “Watchdogs, Attorney General Call for Massive Cuts to Peoples Gas Rate Request” | **Date:** May 6, 2026 | **URL:** https://news.wttw.com/2026/05/06/watchdogs-attorney-general-call-massive-cuts-peoples-gas-rate-request

22. **Source:** Axios Chicago | **Article:** “Illinois AG Joins Fight Against Peoples Gas Rate Hike in Chicago” | **Date:** May 7, 2026 | **URL:** https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2026/05/07/illinois-ag-peoples-gas-rate-hike-chicago-gas-bills-pipe-replacement

23. **Source:** NPR Illinois | **Article:** “Cut with ‘an Axe’: Watchdogs, AG Call for Massive Cuts to Peoples Gas Rate Request” | **Date:** May 6, 2026 | **URL:** https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2026-05-06/cut-with-an-axe-watchdogs-ag-call-for-massive-cuts-to-peoples-gas-rate-request

24. **Source:** Capitol News Illinois | **Article:** “Cut with ‘an Axe’: Watchdogs, AG Call for Massive Cuts to Peoples Gas Rate Request” | **Date:** May 6, 2026 | **URL:** https://capitolnewsillinois.com/cut-with-an-axe-watchdogs-ag-call-for-massive-cuts-to-peoples-gas-rate-request

25. **Source:** CBS Chicago | **Article:** “Consumer Advocates Want to Slash Millions from Peoples Gas’ Proposed $202 Million Rate Hike” | **Date:** May 2026 | **URL:** https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/consumer-advocates-cuts-to-peoples-gas-proposed-rate-hike

—

## PROPERTY AND LAND USE ACCOUNTABILITY

26. **Source:** Block Club Chicago | **Article:** “1 Year After Clearing Englewood Junkyard, City Seeks To Foreclose On Property Owner’s Vacant Lots” | **Date:** May 19, 2026 | **URL:** https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/05/19/1-year-after-clearing-englewood-junkyard-city-seeks-to-foreclose-on-property-owners-vacant-lots

27. **Source:** Block Club Chicago | **Article:** “City Could Soon Foreclose On Englewood Junkyard Property Owner’s Vacant Lots” | **Date:** May 21, 2026 | **URL:** https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/05/21/city-could-soon-foreclose-on-englewood-junkyard-property-owners-vacant-lots

—

## FEDERAL CORRUPTION AND JUSTICE

28. **Source:** U.S. Department of Justice / Northern District of Illinois | **Article:** “Former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan Sentenced to Seven and a Half Years in Prison After Corruption Conviction” | **Date:** May 2026 | **URL:** https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-illinois-speaker-house-michael-j-madigan-sentenced-seven-and-half-years-prison

29. **Source:** Chicago Sun-Times | **Article:** “Ex-ComEd Executive Caught Up in Bribery Scheme Avoids Prison After Testifying Against Madigan, Others” | **Date:** February 19, 2026 | **URL:** https://chicago.suntimes.com/comed-bribery-trial/2026/02/19/chicago-crime-corruption-bribery-comed-madigan-fidel-marquez

—

## JOURNALISM RECOGNITION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

30. **Source:** NBC 5 Chicago | **Article:** “NBC 5 Chicago Adds Acclaimed Local Journalist Paris Schutz to Its Expert On-Air Talent Lineup” | **Date:** April 28, 2026 | **URL:** https://nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com/nbculocal/2026/04/28/nbc-5-chicago-adds-acclaimed-local-journalist-paris-schutz-to-its-expert-on-air-talent-lineup

31. **Source:** NewscastStudio | **Article:** “Fox 32 Chicago Anchor Jumps to NBC 5 to Cover Investigations, Political Beat” | **Date:** April 28, 2026 | **URL:** https://www.newscaststudio.com/2026/04/28/paris-schutz-wmaq

32. **Source:** Poynter | **Article:** “Will Work For Impact: Fundamentals of Investigative Journalism (April 2026)” | **Date:** April 23 – May 21, 2026 | **URL:** https://www.poynter.org/shop/reporting-editing/will-work-for-impact-april-2026

33. **Source:** Richard H. Driehaus Foundation | **Article:** “22nd Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Investigative Reporting” | **Date:** May 7, 2026 (Event) | **No URL:** Venue SIX10, Chicago (in-person event)

—

## CHICAGO TRIBUNE PULITZER PRIZE

34. **Source:** Chicago Tribune / Pulitzer Prize Board | **Article:** “Chicago Tribune Wins Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting on Operation Midway Blitz” | **Date:** May 4, 2026 | **No URL:** (Pulitzer Prize announcement website)

If you know of a specific report you want us to include, please email Ken Novak.

Ken Novak is the President and the Program|Communications chair of the Circle.

https://bit.ly/cehcsunday or

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88112982706?pwd=SlRldUpsQzBibHBEdUN3ZzhxcUlPQT09

Related Events

• 

  Human Rights Enforcement, such as it is: ICCPR and ICESCR

  October 11 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm CDT

This is the continuing monthly discussion of the topics raised by recent Chicago area investigative reporting (on Fifth Wednesday in April, and fourth Wednesdays in future months). We use a mid-month to mid-month timeframe for these late month time slots, and we’re looking at  March 16-April 24, this past Friday, publishing dates. What we spend the most time on depends on where the interest of the group lies.

Ken is still assembling the summaries. Categories include:

• IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AND FEDERAL ACTIVITIES
• GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATIONS AND AUDIT REPORTS
• CITY HALL GOVERNANCE AND CONTRACTING
• CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS GOVERNANCE AND POLICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATIONS
• COOK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
• JUDICIARY AND LEGAL SYSTEM
• SCHOOL BOARD GOVERNANCE AND ELECTIONS
• CRIME AND PUBLIC SAFETY
• STATE INITIATIVES WITH CHICAGO IMPACT
• INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM PARTNERSHIPS AND INITIATIVES
• FEDERAL AGENCY INVESTIGATION REPORTS

The bibliography is at this Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fxtAkW2h2ECHVhZnThICXNAfi8kUxfVcw2hoqJ-HN9Q/edit?usp=sharing. If you know of a specific report you want us to dig into, please email Ken Novak.

Join us! We’ll soon post the summary and the links of the stories we’ll discuss.

Ken Novak is the President and the Program|Communications chair of the Circle.

https://bit.ly/cehcsunday or

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88112982706?pwd=SlRldUpsQzBibHBEdUN3ZzhxcUlPQT

Related Events

• 

  Human Rights Enforcement, such as it is: ICCPR and ICESCR

  October 11 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm CDT