Illinois General Assembly Scholarships December 2009
Published Day One
- One Scholarship, 163 Ways to Dole It Out by Elida Coseri and Patrick Smith
- Evasive State Legislators Dodge Questions About Scholarships by Karlie Baker
- Clout or Coincidence? Some Legislators Keep General Assembly Scholarships All in the Family by Jeremie Benoit Rosley
- Scholarships for Some Grad Students a Big Burden for State and Schools by Sean Stillmaker
Published Day Two
- Some Lawmakers Turn a Right into a Requirement by Laura Lane
- Nobody’s Watching: Illinois Lawmakers Alone Decide How to Give Millions by Jay Grooms
- No Method to the Madness: State Scholarships Award Some Students More than Others by Nicholas Myers
- Students’ Free Ride Proves Costly to Their Classmates by Nicole Leonhardt
Published Day Three
- State Legislative Scholarships Could Be Eliminated by Emily Capdevielle
- 5/22/2003 debate over House Bill 465 Listen to legislative session.
- 4/1/2004 debate over House Bill 4363 Listen to legislative session.
- For Richer or Poorer? Legislative Scholarships Should Target the Needy by Stacey Alletto
- Experts Suggest Changes to Legislative Scholarships by Shawna Lent
Follow-up Stories
- State Government Requires Schools to Waive Millions by Nicole Leonhardt.
62 Legislators Violated the Legislative Scholarship Program, and Everyone’s Pointing Fingers by Nicole Leonhardt
Related Reporting:
- View more than 6,000 scholarships awarded between 2003 and 2008 by current lawmakers.
- Listen to the podcast of Suzanne McBride on “Mornings with Ray Hanania“
- View the Data
- Sensitive issue
- Who Participates & Who Doesn’t
- Legislators who did not respond to reporters‘ inquiries.
Chicago Transit Authority Investigation
- Investigation Finds Handicapped Accessibility Issues Plague CTA by Zach Wilmes
- Broken CTA Facilities, Slow Repairs Create Problems for Disabled Customers by Elizabeth Czupta
- Complaints Against CTA Keep Climbing by Danielle Desjardins and Kaitlyn McAvoy
- Injury and Equipment Breakdowns Continue to Trouble Some Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck
- Disabled Riders Experience Years of Inconsistency in CTA Service by Danielle Desjardin
- Advisory Group Works to Improve Access for Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck
- ChicagoTalks Video: CTA Improves But Some Disabled Still Complain by Elizabeth Czupta
- Investigation:Disabled And Downtown On The CTA by Eli Kaberon
- Investigation: The Inaccessible CTA by Kaitlyn McAvoy
Investigations into Chicago City Council
In May 2008, ChicagoTalks published its nine-month investigation of the Chicago City Council. Reporters Erica Christoffer and Becky Schlikerman found that most of the council’s committees routinely broke state law by holding meetings without enough members present and keeping poor records.
- Politics out of order published by BeachwoodReporter.com
- Off-the-Record Chicago City Council Committees Evade the Law Experts Say published by ChicagoTalks.
In April 2007, ChicagoTalks, then publishing under the name Creating Community Connections, posted its first investigation. Reporters Allison Riggio and Hunter Clauss documented several instances of Chicago City Council members employing their own relatives in the government-funded offices.
- http://www.chicagotalks.org/2007/04/12/chicago-aldermen-face-no-hurdles-in-hiring-kin/
- http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/politics/post_12.php
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