Archive - Midwest
COVID-19 Killed at Least 25 Residents of One Illinois Nursing Home. The Family of One Victim Has Filed a Lawsuit, Alleging Negligence.
The family of a Bria of Geneva resident who died from the coronavirus in April claims in the lawsuit that the nursing home failed to adequately test residents and staff, and didn’t isolate infected residents in time to protect others.
The Big Empty: How Corporate Headquarters Have Abandoned America’s Suburbs
As companies increasingly relocate to urban centers, sprawling, once-trendy corporate campuses like Sears’ and Kmart’s have been left crumbling in the suburbs.
Sears Helped Build a Giant Entertainment Arena. Now, a Suburb Pays Millions to Keep It Running.
A Chicago suburb is on the hook for millions to operate the Sears Centre arena — an amount that in some years accounts for as much as 14% of its budget.
Nearing Bankruptcy, Sears Claimed Fast-Food Workers and Baristas as Employees to Keep Tax Breaks
Politicians who helped draft Sears’ tax deals said they were designed to retain thousands of corporate jobs. Contractors, landscapers and temporary employees who worked in Sears’ buildings were never meant to help the company qualify for tax breaks.
The Sears Headquarters Deal Cost Taxpayers $500 Million. 30 Years Later, There’s Little to Show for It.
Was the multimillion dollar deal to keep Sears in Illinois worth it? An economic study commissioned by ProPublica and the Daily Herald suggests it wasn’t. Here’s why.
Sears’ Headquarters Was Supposed to Turn a Sleepy Suburb Into a Boomtown. It Never Happened.
To lure Sears into a Chicago suburb, officials crafted the largest tax break package ever awarded to a company in Illinois. It resulted in revenue shortfalls, disappearing jobs and unexpected tax burdens, a Daily Herald and ProPublica review showed.
How We Reported on the $500 Million Sears Deal
To investigate the Sears deal, ProPublica and the Daily Herald reviewed thousands of pages of records, court filings and internal Sears documents. We also commissioned an economic study to examine the long-term effect of the tax deals.
A Quarter of the Residents at This Nursing Home Died From COVID-19. Families Want Answers.
Within three weeks, the Bria of Geneva nursing home went from one case of COVID-19 to two dozen residents dead and at least 75 infected. Delayed testing and gaps in nursing home data obscures the true toll of the crisis.
These Companies Got Millions in Tax Breaks to Bring Jobs to Youngstown. They Created Next to None.
When the American steel industry collapsed, few places were hit as hard as Youngstown, Ohio. Desperate for investment, officials awarded millions in property tax breaks to companies promising new jobs. But those efforts have largely failed to deliver.
Why a Struggling Rust Belt City Pinned Its Revival on a Self-Chilling Beverage Can
Welcome to Youngstown, Ohio, home of Chill-Can, the self-chilling beverage container you’ve probably never heard of. Officials have gambled millions of dollars and demolished a neighborhood for the product. Not one job has been created yet.
COVID-19 Took Black Lives First. It Didn’t Have To.
In Chicago, 70 of the city’s 100 first recorded victims of COVID-19 were black. Their lives were rich, and their deaths cannot be dismissed as inevitable. Immediate factors could — and should — have been addressed.
Early Data Shows Black People Are Being Disproportionally Arrested for Social Distancing Violations
Crowds of mostly white protesters have defied Ohio’s stay-at-home order without arrest, while in several of the state’s biggest jurisdictions, police departments have primarily arrested black people for violating the order.
¿Qué pasa cuando los obreros que hacen jabón de manos contraen COVID-19? Protestan.
Después de que una trabajadora en una fábrica de productos de belleza cerca de Chicago muriera por COVID-19, sus compañeros armaron una protesta. Pero no solicitaron ayuda de OSHA. Solicitaron ayuda de un nuevo defensor: la fiscalía general del estado.
In Chicago, Urban Density May Not Be to Blame for the Spread of the Coronavirus
The communities hardest hit by the coronavirus in Chicago are low-density black and Hispanic neighborhoods, including ones where economic decline and population loss have caused more people to live in the same household.
Inside the Jail With One of the Country’s Largest Coronavirus Outbreaks
Correctional officers, health care staff and detainees describe how COVID-19 spread through Cook County Jail in Chicago as the sheriff came under fire for his handling of the crisis. “You’re working in a petri dish,” one staffer said.
What Happens When the Workers Who Make Hand Soap Get COVID-19? They Protest.
After a worker at a beauty supply factory near Chicago died of COVID-19, her former co-workers staged a protest. But they didn’t seek help from OSHA. They sought help from a new advocate: the state attorney general’s office.
This Rural School District Has Been Asking for Wi-Fi for Years. Now It’s Finally Getting It.
An anonymous individual donated a dozen internet hotspots. A school district near Chicago is sending Chromebooks. And a superintendent in rural Illinois is stunned by the support to keep his students learning.
Nursing Homes Violated Basic Health Standards, Allowing the Coronavirus to Explode
Our analysis of federal inspection reports found that nine nursing homes put residents in “immediate jeopardy,” including a case where a nursing assistant fed a resident after changing soiled briefs without washing hands.
