John Chase

John Chase is deputy metro editor for local government and politics. He rejoined the Tribune in 2022 after having worked at the Better Government Association, where he was an editor on the 2021 Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Failures Before the Fires.” He worked at the Tribune from 1998 until 2016 covering Illinois and Chicago politics and government.

Kim Foxx, candidate for Cook County state's attorney, hugs a supporter following an early-voting rally at the Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago on Feb. 29, 2016. Foxx supporters, from left in background are Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, state Rep. Will Guzzardi, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and City Treasurer Kurt Summers.

Foxx capitalizes on personal story, political ties in state’s attorney race

May 15, 2019 at 8:27 p.m.

Kim Foxx stops at her Bronzeville campaign headquarters to rev up the troops working a phalanx of phones and computers, urging voters to back her for state's attorney. The workers...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, seen here on Feb. 9, 2016, in Pilsen, kept close tabs on the public fallout of two police shootings, according to a new batch of emails released by City Hall.

Emanuel releases emails on LeGrier shooting by cop

May 15, 2019 at 8:24 p.m.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a batch of emails Wednesday showing him keeping close tabs on the public fallout of two police shootings in late December that were the first in...

Cook County state's attorney candidates Anita Alvarez, Kim Foxx and Donna More meet with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board on Feb. 4, 2016.

Cook County state’s attorney race revolves around trial experience

May 25, 2019 at 6:26 p.m.

Political bona fides and lineage once played a key role in determining who became Cook County's top prosecutor, but in this year's contentious campaign a different issue has emerged: trial...

Cook County State's Attorney candidate Kim Foxx meets with the Chicago Tribune editorial board on Feb. 4, 2016.

State elections board knocks Foxx on Preckwinkle poll

May 25, 2019 at 6:26 p.m.

Cook County state's attorney challenger Kim Foxx's campaign violated state election law by failing to disclose that County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's political fund paid $25,000 for a poll last...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel addresses the media after the Illinois Mentoring Partnerships IMPACT Awards breakfast Jan. 22, 2016, at the Union League.

Emanuel releases texts for first time amid scrutiny

May 15, 2019 at 8:17 p.m.

For the first time, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has released text messages that show him conducting official business on a city-issued cellphone, a move that comes as he faces sharp scrutiny...

Emanuel ducks questions on how he didn’t know key details on McDonald case sooner

May 15, 2019 at 8:16 p.m.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel dodged questions Thursday about when he first learned that police reports from the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald differed dramatically from the infamous dash-cam video. Following a...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton, at a City Council meeting in April 2015. Public documents, including Patton's calendar, show the Law Department was aware there were allegations of discrepancies between police reports and dash-cam video in the Laquan McDonald case.

Top Emanuel aides aware of key Laquan McDonald details months before mayor says he knew

May 15, 2019 at 8:15 p.m.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said he didn't understand the gravity of Laquan McDonald's shooting death at the hands of a Chicago police officer until just before the city settled with...

The site where Laquan McDonald, 17, was killed on the 4100 block of South Pulaski Road in Chicago. McDonald was shot 16 times by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke in October 2014.

New emails show Emanuel City Hall scramble on Laquan McDonald shooting

May 23, 2019 at 2:10 a.m.

The White House requested a briefing. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan called for a federal civil rights investigation but didn't give City Hall a heads up. The mayor's aides sought...

Emanuel acknowledges his office aware of no-bid deal before vote

May 15, 2019 at 8:01 p.m.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday said his staff "asked some very hard questions" about a no-bid contract before the Chicago school board approved it — his first acknowledgment that his...

Mayor’s office withholds records on school contract scandal

May 15, 2019 at 8:01 p.m.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office was more involved in a $20.5 million school contract with a now-indicted consultant than previously disclosed, public records indicate, but his administration has refused to release...

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