Better Government Association

The Better Government Association was recognized with an award from the Society of Professional Journalists for an investigative project about drug possession in two states. BGA reporters Casey Toner and Jared Rutecki shared the Sigma Delta Chi Award for best non-deadline reporting (circulation up to 100,000) with Frank Main of the Sun-Times.

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Investigative Reporting honor excellence in government-related investigative reporting in Illinois and recognize the importance of this work in preserving and advancing democracy. The mission of the Better Government Association is to shine a light on government and hold public officials accountable. Thanks to...

The Chicago Park District’s security camera program is under fire by park advocates and some city council members who call it a worthless — yet costly — deterrent to crime in neighborhood parks. Some city officials say the cameras, rarely monitored by Park District employees, are below...

With Deborah Witzburg’s confirmation as inspector general at April’s city council meeting, Chicago finally has an internal governmental watchdog back on duty. The department Witzburg heads is among the strongest government oversight offices in the country, a Better Government Association Policy Team comparison of the 20 largest U.S. cities found, but lacks independent authority to release its final reports to the public.

BGA President David Greising writes every other week for the Chicago Tribune Opinion section. Lori Lightfoot made her name as a candidate for mayor by criticizing Chicago’s police. Now running for reelection, she has pivoted toward sounding tough on crime. In a high-profile instance this week, Lightfoot even talked...

Talks on gun reform are ramping up nationwide following the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott claims tougher gun laws are not a "real solution" to preventing gun violence, using Chicago's gun laws as his example. "I hate to say this, but there are more people...

The state’s former public health director – a well-regarded advisor to Gov. J.B. Pritzker during the COVID-19 crisis – is under investigation by a state ethics agency for taking a CEO job at a medical non-profit overseen and funded by the state agency she led. Dr. Ngozi...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, after a mass shooting at an elementary school in his state, pointed to Chicago as an example of how “real gun laws” fail to protect school children and teachers from shootings. “I hate to say this, but there are more people who were shot...

The Better Government Association has named eight investigative projects as finalists for the 2022 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Investigative Reporting. These annual awards honor Illinois’ top achievements in investigative journalism focused on government. Winners will be announced at a live ceremony at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 21 at City Winery Chicago, 1200 W. Randolph St. The winners will share $27,000 in prizes.

A Better Government Association examination of the Illinois Department of Family and Children Services revealed the agency is battling a crisis under the watch of child welfare chief Marc Smith. The BGA obtained court permission to review dozens of confidential juvenile court files, interviewed numerous agency employees, and dug out...

BGA President David Greising writes every other week for the Chicago Tribune Opinion section. First, Arne Duncan decided not to run for mayor. The former U.S. education secretary said he wanted to stay focused on his anti-violence work. Next, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley said he was out. He needs to...

Three years after becoming the state’s child welfare chief, Marc Smith presides over an agency inundated by crises — rising abuse and neglect complaints, growing vacancy rates among investigators and a litany of children who died in the agency's care. Smith, 53, who worked his way up the...

Mayor Lori Lightfoot's plan to extent the citywide curfew for minors was approved by the Chicago City Council's Public Safety Committee Friday, but not without some sharp criticism.

The Better Government Association and its partners took top honors for 2021 public service reporting at the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors contest for newspapers throughout the state. “Failures Before the Fires” — an investigation with the Chicago Tribune that identified 61 people who died in fires in buildings the...

BGA President David Greising writes every other week for the Chicago Tribune Opinion section. The Pulitzer Prizes are the most prestigious awards in American journalism. And because of the nature of the craft, they also can stand as an unofficial catalog of the catastrophes, coups, military atrocities, corporate malfeasance and the crushing inhumanity of our times.

Four years ago this month, Lori Lightfoot announced her intention to run for mayor of Chicago. The former federal prosecutor and Chicago Police Board president ran on promises such as pursuing ethics reform, reshaping the City Council, rooting out corruption and convening a panel of “journalists, attorneys, public watchdogs and other stakeholders … to make recommendations for increasing transparency.”

The Better Government Association has won a Pulitzer Prize for its investigative stories with The Chicago Tribune that exposed the failure of Chicago city officials to keep tenants safe from deadly fires in dangerous residential buildings. The Pulitzer board announced Monday afternoon the BGA and Tribune would share the award...

ABC 7's Weekend Watch shines a spotlight on government activity. Legislation designed to force divestment in Russian-based assets languished unpassed in the spring session of the Illinois General Assembly. Despite strong rhetoric from Gov. JB Pritzker and other top state officials demanding public pension funds divest more than $100 million...

The Better Government Association won nine Peter Lisagor Awards for its work in 2021, including top honors for best news website and two investigative collaborations with its partners the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. The BGA was recognized in the categories of best investigative reporting, best multimedia collaboration, best data...

BGA President David Greising writes every other week for the Chicago Tribune Opinion section. The surge in violent crime that began in 2020 has seemed almost unrelenting, so when numbers for the first quarter of 2022 came out, they offered a reprieve. Homicides were down, according to city data. Shootings...