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Search warrants must be open to the public (Editorial)

January 31, 2012
Suburban Life

Western suburbs —
A dispute between media outlets and the court system over public access to search warrants prompted a local lawmaker to clarify the issue.

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Legislation seeks to resolve whether search warrants are public records

January 25, 2012
Decatur Herald Review

By EDITH BRADY-LUNNY - Lee News Service Writer Posted

SPRINGFIELD - A bill introduced in the Illinois House could resolve a conflict between the courts and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan over whether search warrants are considered public records once they are returned to the court.

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A Conflict of Interest, But It’s Legal in Illinois

January 6, 2012
Chicago News Cooperative

by FREDRIC N. TULSKY and JOHN SULLIVAN | Jan 6, 2012

In most states and municipalities, government officials who vote to spend taxpayer dollars on proposals that also put money in their own pockets as lobbyists could be accused of illegal conflicts of interest. Not in Illinois.

Thanks to state and local ethics laws riddled with loopholes, it was legal for Jack Dorgan, a village trustee in Rosemont, to vote last year to award a lucrative contract to a client of his Springfield lobbying firm.

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Conflicts of interest? It's legal in Illinois

January 5, 2012
WBEZ

Lawmakers who lobby walk minefield of conflicts

Fredric Tulsky and John Sullivan  

In most states and municipalities government officials who vote to spend taxpayer dollars on proposals that also put money in their own pockets as lobbyists could be accused of illegal conflicts of interest. Not in Illinois.  

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Heavyweight lobbyists hold 'oversized' influence

January 6, 2012
WBEZ
Fredric N. Tulsky and John Sullivan
 
State Senate President John Cullerton is a registered lobbyist.

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When Office Holders Also Represent Clients, Collisions Are Likely

January 5, 2012
Chicago News Cooperative

By JOHN SULLIVAN and FREDRIC N. TULSKY

 
 
Elected officials who lobby face conflicts of interest when matters coming before them as office holders also affect their paying clients.

In Cook County, the list of elected officials who have also lobbied includes three county commissioners, two Chicago aldermen, the Cook County Democratic Party chairman and even John J. Cullerton, the state senate president since 2009.

Those numbers alarm outside ethics experts.

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State senate candidate says he got offer to bail out

January 4, 2012
Riverside Brookfield Landmark

Raul Montes Jr. says he wore FBI wire during meeting with state Sen. Steve Landek

By BOB SKOLNIK
Contributing Reporter

State Senator Steve Landek (D-Bridgeview) reportedly offered his primary opponent a job if he would drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination in the 12th District.

The offer came during a meeting Landek had with Raul Montes Jr. on Dec. 29 in the village of Bridgeview's suite at Toyota Park. In addition to being a state senator, Landek is the mayor of Bridgeview.

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New Questions About Trips Sponsored by Education Publisher

January 1, 2012
New York Times
By MICHAEL WINERIP
  
 
In the summer of 2010, Lu Young, the superintendent of schools in Jessamine County, a Lexington, Ky., suburb, took a trip to Australia paid for by the Pearson Foundation, a nonprofit arm

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