Robert Becker

State panel’s proposals include expanded use of wiretaps, but some see flaws

June 19, 2018 at 3:57 a.m.

The public corruption case brought by DuPage County prosecutors in connection with a tainted Illinois tollway land deal ended with the convictions of two officials. Yet more than a decade...

Reforms on table; what will pols do?

August 22, 2021 at 1:01 p.m.

Delivering its final suggestions on how to clean up state government, a reform group took aim Tuesday at curbing the power of the small band of legislative leaders who rule...

Stroger fires cousin over hiring scandal

August 22, 2021 at 9:12 a.m.

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's decision last fall to hire a steakhouse busboy with a criminal record mushroomed into a political scandal Friday, with Stroger facing calls for his...

Rod Blagojevich gave Cubs’ Piniella advice in 2007

May 15, 2019 at 11:11 p.m.

Like any frustrated Cubs fan, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich had his own ideas about how manager Lou Piniella should run the team. The moment came during one tough stretch at...

Blagojevich’s secret talks with Tribune Co.

June 18, 2018 at 7:00 a.m.

Early on a Sunday evening in December, e-mails went out among state officials who had just learned that financially strapped Tribune Co. was about to file for bankruptcy protection. "This...

Tribune Co. Chairman and CEO Sam Zell enjoys the second inning of the first Chicago Cubs National League Division Series game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field, in Chicago.

Tribune Co. chief Sam Zell interviewed by federal prosecutors in criminal probe of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich

January 30, 2019 at 10:54 a.m.

Tribune Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Sam Zell hired well-known defense lawyer Anton Valukas and was interviewed in January by federal prosecutors as a "potential witness" in the criminal investigation...

Doubts cast on perjury

August 22, 2021 at 10:13 a.m.

A perjury investigation of U.S. Sen. Roland Burris must show that he knowingly lied under oath, and not simply that he danced around tough questions, according to legal experts who...

House of cards emerges in zoning-change game

January 30, 2019 at 11:09 a.m.

Like so many Chicagoans, Walter and Alice Sopala didn't like how their alderman let a real estate developer build a new condo building that placed their home in its shadows....

House of cards emerges in zoning-change game

August 22, 2021 at 8:23 a.m.

Like so many Chicagoans, Walter and Alice Sopala didn't like how their alderman let a real estate developer build a new condo building that placed their home in its shadows....

Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) (left), confers with Sen. Lou Viverito (D-Burbank) as questions are posed to Rep. Chapin Rose (R-Charleston) during Gov. Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial in the Illinois Senate in Springfield, Ill.

Sam Zell’s financial adviser at Tribune Co. was middleman sought by Blagojevich

June 19, 2018 at 4:06 a.m.

As Tribune Co. acknowledged Thursday that it received a federal subpoena as part of criminal charges against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, sources confirmed that a close associate of company chief executive...

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