Stories by Jared Rutecki

Voters will consider a non-binding referendum that seeks to impose a 3% tax on income over $1 million to fund property tax rebates for homeowners. It’s different from the contentious 2020 graduated income tax amendment that sparked an expensive campaign battle.

The Fermi Forward Discovery Group will replace the Fermi Research Alliance early next year at the accelerator and detector laboratory in suburban Batavia. The announcement comes following criticism about safety and financial stewardship by the particle physics lab.

A new report from NYU offers alternative solutions to policing that researchers said would better serve the public and free up police to investigate more serious crimes.

The Cook County Public Defender’s Office said the majority of cases involving protesters ordered them to avoid the area they were cited in following release.

One source told WTTW News the bugs were maggots, while another said crickets were used to spoil the Indiana delegation’s breakfast. 

The release attributed to anonymous employees comes at a critical juncture for the Department of Energy, which is currently exploring options for new lab management. The lab will have limited operations for a short time due to budget issues starting this month.

The national laboratory in Batavia chopped the duration of its previously announced closure nearly in half, and said some of its research projects will continue before it reopens to the public on Sept. 3.

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will shut down a significant part of its operations from Aug. 26 to Sept. 8, WTTW News has confirmed.

WTTW News examined some of the claims made during the second day of the RNC, looked at criminal justice research and spoke to an expert about how research supports — or doesn’t — the campaign rhetoric.

With rising overtime costing the city more each year, records show the Chicago Police Department paid a high price for overtime for shifts meant to curb violence before ending its strategic deployment initiative. The city did not explain how it judged the effectiveness of the plan it recently ended.

Bad sidewalks can be found all across Chicago, but the slow pace in getting them repaired is tied to a lack of funding and the city’s complaint-based approach to maintenance, experts say. While a shared cost program has improved some areas, it has also caused disparities.

Files released to WTTW News in public records requests identify 42 district security personnel disciplined between January and October of 2023. The records included individuals terminated in cases with a controversial video in Albany Park, and a sexual assault investigation in West Ridge. 

Following a Farragut Academy employee’s arrest, an examination of his criminal history raises questions of whether the district was or should have been aware of his 25 past cases for activity like burglary and aggravated assault.

The man’s brief tenure as an officer ended after he testified as a witness in a sexual assault case for the defense without informing the city. He worked for years at schools including Yates and Amundsen as both a coach and a security guard before his suspension.

Dave Graham, who a watchdog report said should be fired for “willful bureaucratic negligence” in the 2020 incident that covered Little Village in dust, is now in charge of environmental inspections and enforcement.

Two former Chicago Police Department employees were suspended from jobs at Lane Tech and Kenwood Academy. Chicago Public Schools says its revamped program is working, but omits key details.

A combination of economic factors, health access and misinformation pushed childhood vaccination figures down to dangerous levels in recent years for many illnesses, including measles, experts said.

Chicago is the center of attention when it comes to talking about crime data in a national context. Experts caution that interpreting numbers without examining the underlying influences can lead to misunderstandings. 

Many of the country’s worst rail crossings are located in diverse suburbs south and southwest of Chicago. Some will be helped by big construction projects while others get creative finding potential solutions.

The nuanced data is valuable to state agencies making budget decisions, but also is used by citizens, researchers, advocates and nonprofit organizations targeting specific issues.

WTTW News analyzed state salary data and found some departments got smaller or had a noticeable uptick in employees leaving. Even in agencies that grew, employee churn was evident. We walk you through the numbers. 

The Surface Transportation Board approved the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern. Illinois congressional members and transit agencies previously expressed opposition to the move.

Federal data show 272 hazardous materials releases involving trains in Illinois in the last decade. Predicting when and where environmental problems will manifest is difficult, but the risk is real.

There were 507,852 total ballots cast by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, and the total citywide turnout for voters stood at 32.1%, according to the Chicago Board of Elections. 

The veterinary drug was connected to a rising death toll in Cook County and across the state. The new restrictions aim to prevent the drug from entering the U.S. market for illicit purposes.

Data from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office shows 146 opioid-related deaths last year where xylazine was listed as a primary cause, marking a 16.8% increase from 2021. Local harm reduction organizations have also seen an uptick in its use.