2012

• Covering 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates | APR 23-25, 2012 Prof. Marla Donato’s Reporting and Writing 1 students attended and reported on the World Summit.

State and County College Campus Security Plan Shortcomings  December 2011

• State, Local Officials Reluctant To Hand Over College Campus Security Plans To Public
• One-Person State Office Not Enforcing The Campus Security Act
• Few Cook County Colleges, Universities Following State’s Campus Security Act
• State Legislators, College Students Unaware That Many Schools Not Following Campus Security Law

• Special Infographic. Interactive searchable map “Campus Safety Issues”

TIF Investigation with NYTimes and Chicago News Cooperative 2011

• Corporate Giants Received TIF Money, Records Show by  ELLYN FORTINO and MARGARET SMITH New York Times Published: February 26, 2011
• TIF Subsidies Given to Chicago Companies, Nonprofits Bypass City Neighborhoods in Need of Jobs
• Challenges Remain in Getting TIF Information in Chicago

• Special Infographic. Interactive, searchable map “Chicago TIF Projects”

Reporter Mick Dumke talks about Columbia’s journalism program and learning to cover City Council meetings.

Illinois General Assembly Scholarships December 2009

Published Day One

1. One Scholarship, 163 Ways to Dole It Out by Elida Coseri and Patrick Smith
2. Evasive State Legislators Dodge Questions About Scholarships by Karlie Baker
3. Clout or Coincidence? Some Legislators Keep General Assembly Scholarships All in the Family by Jeremie Benoit Rosley
4. Scholarships for Some Grad Students a Big Burden for State and Schools by Sean Stillmaker

Published Day Two

1. Some Lawmakers Turn a Right into a Requirement by Laura Lane
2. Nobody’s Watching: Illinois Lawmakers Alone Decide How to Give Millions by Jay Grooms
3. No Method to the Madness: State Scholarships Award Some Students More than Others by Nicholas Myers
4. Students’ Free Ride Proves Costly to Their Classmates by Nicole Leonhardt

Published Day Three

1. 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

1. 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.

• http://www.chicagotalks.org/2007/04/12/chicago-aldermen-face-no-hurdles-in-hiring-kin/
• http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/politics/post_12.php