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.

Metropolitan Correctional Center, foreground, as seen from the 300 block of east Superior St on July 23, 2014. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Federal prison guard charged with having sexual contact with detainees at Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center

March 5, 2025 at 5:20 p.m.

A federal corrections officer has been charged with having sexual contact with four detainees at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, court records show. Brittany Hall, a Federal Bureau of...

Makenna Krabath, 15, puts her hand up to signal to cars to stop while walking with Cindy Bergeron, right, a teacher for the visually impaired with the Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization, along Madison Street during a field trip to downtown Chicago with other suburban school students with visual impairments on Feb. 26, 2025. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)

Visually impaired students learn to navigate Chicago streets without audible warning signals

March 5, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

In 2023, a federal judge ruled Chicago’s failure to install warning devices for the blind violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Yet nearly two years later, there is no court...

An aerial photo shows the former Arlington International Racecourse on March 12, 2024, in Arlington Heights. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Bears to submit traffic and financial studies for Arlington Heights stadium site, official says

February 28, 2025 at 9:55 a.m.

Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said that reports from local real estate agents that the team had reached a deal to build a new enclosed stadium are “speculation.”

Dolton mayoral candidate Jason House thanks a supporter as he celebrates a victory in the primary election over incumbent Mayor Tiffany Henyard in Dolton on Feb. 25, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Suburban Chicago elections: Two high-profile politicians ousted, Larry Dominick keeps control of Cicero

February 26, 2025 at 10:00 p.m.

Suburban Chicago elections: Two controversial politicians ousted and Larry Dominick keeps control of Cicero

Cheryl Cryer carries jars of herbs and flowers in her shop, Urban Apothecary, on Feb.10, 2025, in Batavia. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

In absence of state regulation, some suburbs are banning hemp products that get users high

February 14, 2025 at 2:22 p.m.

In the absence of strong state and federal regulations, some suburbs have banned the sale of hemp products that get users high.

Aeriz cannabis products for sale in a Chicago dispensary in 2022. Aeriz is one of the defendants in a lawsuit. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune)

Lawsuits claim cannabis products violate Illinois law on limits for THC

January 31, 2025 at 7:02 p.m.

The cases highlight increasing debate over cannabis potency as the percentage of THC — the component that gets users high — keeps increasing.

Tarik Shahzad walks around Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary in Chicago on Jan. 24, 2025, while bird-watching. Shahzad set a record by identifying 294 birds in Cook County in 2024. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)

New bird-watching record marks Cook County as prime hot spot for bird-watching

January 29, 2025 at 12:23 p.m.

Tarik Shahzad logged 294 birds last year, a new record to Cook County, which is a hot spot for bird-watching in the Midwest.

A family picks up their child at Two Rivers Head Start Agency on Sullivan Road in Aurora on Jan. 28, 2025. Earlier Tuesday Donald Trump's administration announced a freeze on federal grants, which could affect Illinois Head Start child care programs. However, a federal judge late Tuesday afternoon temporarily blocked the freeze. Two Rivers is among programs that would be
in danger of shutting down without the necessary federal funding. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Trump administration’s surprise federal funding freeze sows havoc across Illinois before being blocked by federal judge

January 29, 2025 at 9:53 a.m.

The Trump administration's surprise federal funding freeze spurred discord and pushback in Illinois even as a judge temporarily blocked the effort.

Anthony Marsico works in the flower room at the Ataraxia medical marijuana cultivation center in Albion, Illinois, in 2015. Verano later acquired Ataraxia's grow house in Albion. (Seth Perlman/AP)

Former executive for cannabis company Verano indicted on insider trading charges

January 21, 2025 at 6:36 p.m.

The indictment accused Anthony Marsico of using confidential information to make an illegal profit of about $607,000 by buying stock in another marijuana company that Verano planned to acquire.

Charles Wu gives a tour at Prescribd, a cannabis cultivation company, on July 17, 2021, in Bridgeview. Wu, a lobbyist for the Illinois Hemp Business Association, made campaign contributions of over $21,000 to various state legislators, including Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch and state Rep. LaShawn Ford. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Hemp advocates gave campaign donations to lawmakers in fight over regulations

January 26, 2025 at 12:34 p.m.

Hemp business owners recently gave more than $30,000 to oppose a bill they said would have shut them down.

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