Getting Hosed: Bad Water Bills Aren't Chicago's Only Problem -- Many Residents Are Drinking Lead-Laced Water
Over the years, viewers have reached out to the CBS 2 Investigators concerned about the high levels of lead in their drinking water.
Over the years, viewers have reached out to the CBS 2 Investigators concerned about the high levels of lead in their drinking water.
For our latest Getting Hosed expose, the CBS 2 Investigators dug into issues with vacant, unmetered properties and the regressive billing policies that lead to inflated water bills.
"I just think that this is municipal property. I can't see it any other way," said Christine Wehrle, who disputes that she should have to pay for the repairs.
The bill for her Southside six-flat is now nearly $60,000 — for water that was never used. In fact, the building has been boarded up and vacant since her last tenant moved out in 2018.
It's Earth Day. Here at CBS 2, we take water seriously: from lakes and rivers to pipes and bills.
Chicago's "Getting Hosed." Again. In our exposé of the City's bad water billing system, we've asked over and over -- why hasn't anything been done to fix it?
For years, the CBS 2 Investigators have exposed baffling gaffes in the bureaucracy that is the Chicago Department of Water Management: big, bad bills. By bad, we mean wrong.
"Getting Hosed" - our exposé into a bungled Chicago Water Department bureaucracy - has won multiple awards. However, it hasn't fixed a broken system. So, we'll keep reporting.
After Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently announced a plan to resume meter installations, we looked into the City program and discovered how ineffective it will be -- especially for one Chicagoan getting hosed.
Camella Batten is retired, she's fought cancer, and she's scared of COVID-19. But her biggest obstacle? The City of Chicago.
"My lawyer called me and said, 'You owe $61,000,'" Hamza Alkamel said. "I was stunned. I'm like, what?"
Over the last year, Chicagoans have reached out to CBS 2 Investigators for help with inexplicable water bills.
Mr. Andrews has witnessed the horrors of war. Yet, he said his fight with the city has been more difficult than the one he survived in Vietnam.
Chicago's water billing system has long baffled customers. Now, the city's inexplicable method for calculating water bills has even stumped CBS 2 Investigators.
Rodney Andrews wants to unpack his boxed-up life. There is just one catch – he's one of the many people getting hosed by Chicago's Water Department.
One woman has a water bill of more than $8,000, even though she hasn't used a drop.
The CBS 2 investigators stay on the water beat. In the latest case, Chicago's water department cut one man's $9.000 water bill in half. Great. Right? Well, not really.
The city's Water Department has a long history of slapping people with wrong bills. This time, it's because the agency was incapable of simple subtraction.
In her 2020 budget, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the new Utility Billing Relief Program for people with outstanding water bills. But it won't help some Chicago water customers who have gotten hosed.
Larry Richardson is one of the people who called CBS 2 Investigators after the first expose on the City's water billing system aired in February. Some owed hundreds of dollars, others tens of thousands.
The City of Chicago is going after residents for millions of dollars, attempting to collect bills for water they never used.
Breaking News, First Alert Weather, Exclusive Investigations & Community Journalism
Donahue, 88, was visibly moved as President Joe Biden gave him the prestigious honor.
During the burglary, surveillance video caught a man taking a swig from a bottle of 19 Crimes Snoop Dogg Cali Red blend wine, which he then put back in the garage refrigerator.
The White Sox lost their fourth game in a row. It was the ninth time they were shut out this season.
Activists based in Pilsen on the city's West Side and Greater Grand Crossing on the city's South Side stood together Friday – issuing a plea to put down the guns this Cinco de Mayo.
"My vision for the DNC, ultimately, is to have a safe, energetic, vibrant convention, and I'm confident we will be able to deliver that," Johnson said.
President Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to 19 recipients.
The CBS 2 Investigators analyzed more than 1 million rows of city budget office data. The data showed the five key city departments that relied on overtime the most.
Joshua Dean was a quality inspector at Spirit AeroSystems, which builds the bulk of the 737 Max for Boeing, and recently died from a fast-spreading infection.
President Biden said "no," the National Guard should not intervene in the protests.
Employees at dozens of now-closed Foxtrot Market and Dom's Kitchen stores, now jobless, wonder what comes next for them as their paychecks will soon end.
The family didn't get their cut of the estate sale, not hearing back from the salesman until CBS 2 got involved.
The Better Business Bureau warns that anyone buying an event ticket should watch out for fake ticket scams.
Financial records show Paul Croft and J.D. Frost raised about $30 million for a hydrogen plant that was supposed to be, at one point, in Indiana. It never existed, an attorney says.
Anyone with these sausages in their refrigerators should throw them away or return them to the store.
First known HIV cases from a nonsterile injection for cosmetic reasons highlights the risk of unlicensed providers.
The city's measles dashboard said a total of 63 measles cases have been confirmed in Chicago this year, with one new case this week.
The department said anyone who visited the Sam's Club at 9400 S. Western Ave. in Evergreen Park one day last week may have been exposed to someone with measles.
Health officials are warning consumers not to consume Infinite Herbs basil sold at some Trader Joe's and Dierberg's stores after 12 people were sickened.
Officials said there was no known link between this case and the recent outbreak of measles at a migrant shelter in Chicago.
The Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to notify workers of mass layoffs 60 days in advance.
Mayor Brandon Johnson denied that the Bears' shiny new dome could end up costing taxpayers a pretty penny.
Employees at dozens of now-closed Foxtrot Market and Dom's Kitchen stores, now jobless, wonder what comes next for them as their paychecks will soon end.
The company announced Tuesday that it received a stalking horse bid to purchase its operating assets.
Dozens of typewriters clutter the shelves of the 24-year-old business owner's workshop inside his parents' home in Downers Grove.
"Happy 9th Birthday, Princess Charlotte!" the Prince and Princess of Wales said in a social media post with a new photo of their daughter taken by Kate.
Paramount said long-time CEO Bob Bakish will leave the company, which is in discussions to explore a sale or merger.
The vinyl sales alone were monumental, Billboard said, with "the largest sales week for an album on vinyl in the modern era."
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 conviction on felony sex crime charges has been overturned by the State of New York Court of Appeals.
Still, Ravinia is capitalizing on the situation with a limited-edition shirt—reading, "Ravinia Interrupta," and calling the cicada buzz the loudest song of summer.
Donahue, 88, was visibly moved as President Joe Biden gave him the prestigious honor.
CBS 2 Chief Meteorologist Albert Ramon has your 10 p.m. First Alert Weather forecast for Friday, May 3, 2024.
Lynn Orman has been a writer, TV host and now is an advocate to chronicle the careers, challenges and triumphs of more than 100 women who sang the blues. As CBS 2's Joe Donlon reports, Orman is one of Chicago's Hidden Gems.
University of Chicago police officers in riot gear came to campus after protesters from the UChicago United for Palestine encampment clashed with counter-protesters. CBS 2's Jermont Terry reports.
Community leaders in Pilsen issued a call to action ahead of the Cinco de Mayo weekend. They called for a 48-hour unity challenge – a message they’re spreading not only through a video on social media, but also to neighborhoods outside of their own. CBS 2's Marybel Gonzalez reports.
On Friday morning, University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos wrote that the protest encampment is disrupting campus and "cannot continue."
Activists based in Pilsen on the city's West Side and Greater Grand Crossing on the city's South Side stood together Friday – issuing a plea to put down the guns this Cinco de Mayo.
Police said they do not have any evidence that Xavier Tate Jr. targeted Officer Luis Huesca because he was an officer.
Lynn Orman has been a writer, TV host and now is an advocate to chronicle the careers, challenges and triumphs of more than 100 women who sang the blues.
Donahue, 88, was visibly moved as President Joe Biden gave him the prestigious honor.
Expert panel discussion centers the focus on the disparity that 1 in 3 victims of crime in Chicago is a Black woman
Police arrived at the scene sooner than if they had waited for the first 911 call.
Anthony Robinson's attorney said his previous defense lawyer failed to present evidence that showed it was physically impossible for him to be the shooter.
The village board is working on a resolution to hire Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor before her lone term as Chicago's mayor, to investigate claims Henyard has been misusing public funds.
DCFS Director Heidi Mueller was asked Thursday why some kids in the system are being held in psychiatric hospitals longer than medically necessary.
The White Sox lost their fourth game in a row. It was the ninth time they were shut out this season.
William Contreras hit an RBI single during Milwaukee's three-run eighth inning, and the Brewers won their first game against former manager Craig Counsell, beating the Chicago Cubs 3-1.
After a 3-9 start to the season, the Cougars have won the Horizon League and clinched their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth with players from all over the world.
Francisco Lindor delivered a pair of two-run doubles off the bench, rallying the New York Mets past the Chicago Cubs 7-6 in 11 innings for a split of their four-game series.
The Wildcats will face Penn State on Saturday.
During the burglary, surveillance video caught a man taking a swig from a bottle of 19 Crimes Snoop Dogg Cali Red blend wine, which he then put back in the garage refrigerator.
There were four different robberies of this variety with five victims within a period of less than half an hour in Bucktown Thursday morning. One of them was caught on video.
Larry Perry, 34, was killed on Feb.21 after officers with the Hammond Police Dept. chased him into Chicago and ran his vehicle into the Little Calumet River, family members said.
Police say the 39-year-old victim was arguing with an unknown man in the mezzanine level of the station who then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the left leg and right thigh.
Police said they do not have any evidence that Xavier Tate Jr. targeted Officer Luis Huesca because he was an officer.