Robert McCoppin

Robert McCoppin reports on news and trends in Chicago's suburbs, focusing especially on the legalization of marijuana. Having worked at the City News Bureau and Daily Herald before joining the Tribune in 2010, he has covered crime, the courts, flooding, and health, and has won multiple Chicago Headline Club awards.

Brian Fry lifts the mast for his sailboat as he prepares to sail at the Pistakee Yacht Club on June 11, 2025, in Johnsburg. Fry used to store his boat at the club but stopped after a dispute between the village and the yacht club. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Yacht club fights for its future with village of Johnsburg

June 14, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

The Pistakee Yacht Club is battling officials of Johnsburg, a town of 7,000 nearly 50 miles northwest of Chicago, over storing its boats.

Woman sentenced to 14 years for involuntary manslaughter in drug overdose of 14-year-old son near Richmond

June 16, 2025 at 1:43 p.m.

A mother tearfully spoke of battling addiction before she was sentenced to the maximum 14 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the overdose drug death of her 14-year-old son...

A customer walks into the Chicago Cannabis Co. in North Center on June 2, 2025. The company's three stores sell hemp and other cannabis products.(Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois lawmakers again fail to act on hemp, while a new study highlights growing health concerns

June 3, 2025 at 4:22 p.m.

The report notes that the lack of regulation of hemp means there is no oversight of ingredients, potency or marketing to kids.

Rows of trees on the southern edge of the former Arlington International Racecourse are lit by the sunrise on May 23, 2025, in Arlington Heights. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Bears proposed move to Arlington Heights would require complicated approval

May 28, 2025 at 10:56 a.m.

The Chicago Bears have submitted required traffic and financial impact studies to Arlington Heights. But the move will require much more.

Ja’Don Banks transplants a pepper plant in the new greenhouse at Lambs Farm on May 22, 2025, in Libertyville. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

New greenhouse at Lambs Farm brings gardening therapy, vocational training to people with developmental disabilities

May 24, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

While the facility previously had a hoop house and garden center, its new greenhouse offers a permanent, year-round facility with lighting and temperature control.

A digital billboard advertising the Chicago Bears sits near the practice track of the former Arlington International Racecourse near Route 53 and Northwest Highway on June 25, 2024, in Arlington Heights. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Bears shifting their stadium focus to Arlington Heights

June 1, 2025 at 5:50 p.m.

The Chicago Bears have flirted with leaving Chicago and building a stadium in Arlington Heights for more than 50 years.

Jessica Kennedy, center, and her mother, Joan Zagara, left, along with Kennedy’s three daughters, enjoy ice cream at the Neon Cow on South State Street in downtown Hampshire on May 14, 2025. Kennedy and her husband moved to Hampshire in 2019, buying a home on more than an acre of land. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago posts 7th largest population increase in nation, part of a growth spurt that also lifted many suburbs

May 16, 2025 at 6:16 a.m.

Chicago added 22,164 residents between mid-2023 and mid-2024, new estimates from the U.S. Census show.

Carol Flood, left, and her sister, Judy Naper, load grocery items after shopping at an Amazon Fresh on Dempster Street on May 2, 2025, in Morton Grove. Morton Grove is one town that has recently approved a 1% grocery tax. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)

With the state’s grocery tax set to end, many municipalities are adopting their own, even as food prices climb

May 4, 2025 at 8:02 a.m.

At least 163 communities around the state have recently enacted local grocery taxes, even as consumers worry about rising food prices.

Fans sit in the DraftKings Sportsbook at Wrigley Field before the Cubs host the Padres for their home opener on April 4, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois bans credit card wagering on sports, but use of digital payment methods at casinos still allowed

April 26, 2025 at 1:23 p.m.

Casinos have seen a shift towards cashless wagering, "revolutionizing" the way people gamble, the Association of Certified Gaming Compliance Specialists reported.

Members of the Uvaldo family react as Judge Victoria Rossetti sentences Robert Crimo III at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan on April 24, 2025. Crimo was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole in the 2022 Independence Day mass shooting in Highland Park. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Highland Park parade shooter sentenced to life in prison without parole

April 24, 2025 at 6:41 p.m.

Robert Crimo III will spend the rest of his life in prison for opening fire on spectators at the 2022 Highland Park Independence Day Parade.

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