We are very happy to announce that the Crossroads Fund has recently awarded the Daily News a $5250 grant to develop a new Open Government and Freedom of Information project. This project has three specific components that we think will make a huge impact on government transparency in Chicago.

First, the Daily News will produce a series of articles examining how a range of local government agencies comply with state open meetings and open records laws, and assessing their efforts to encourage or discourage public discourse around agency business.

Second, we will consistently and promptly bring government agencies into court when they fail to adhere to public records and public meetings laws.

And third, we will develop Web site documenting the agencies' compliance with open government laws, and offering citizens an interactive space to learn about open government. The site will include details on the Freedom of Information Act, a FOIA request generator, and a tracker that allows citizens to document their own FOIA requests and the government's response, or lack thereof.

We're very excited about this new project, and will keep you all posted on the reports as they come out, and when the new open government and FOIA site is launched.

CHA mum on maintenance after man falls to death in elevator shaft - Adrian Uribarri

When officials at public agencies say they want to be accountable and transparent, what does that really mean?

It's a persistent question in a big, political city like Chicago, and it hit us with force as we followed up on a man who died last month in public housing.

Foster underpass gets an artsy facelift - Natasha Wasinski

A skateboarder glides down the shimmering black mane of woman who hugs a sphere of seven circles.  The underside of his board says “Apache.”  Woven into the woman’s hair, a poem reads, “With our strong arms, we form a circle, and in that circle, we embrace the world.”  

The hundreds of ceramic and mirror tiles, paintings and photographs that create these images and more are part of the new “Indian Land Dancing” mural on the north and south side walls of the Foster Avenue underpass at Lake Shore Drive.

The South Side group home that waited six days to notify a mentally ill resident's family of his disappearance earlier this month was in business even though its parent company is dissolved, its property has been foreclosed upon, its business office is boarded up and its phones are disconnected.

No one was monitoring the situation at the Bridging the Gap facility because a legal loophole in Illinois allows such community homes to care for a fragile mental health population without state regulation or supervision, a Daily News investigation shows.

WYCC political videos spark investigation, lawsuit - Peter Sachs

Under orders from then-Chancellor Wayne Watson, the PBS television station at City Colleges of Chicago used its budget to produce free videos of powerful politicians and friends of the chancellor, an internal college e-mail shows.

The political programs, dating between 2002 and 2006, spawned a state ethics investigation and figure into a new federal lawsuit that alleges the publicly funded WYCC television station violated the terms of its government grant funding and broke federal tax rules for charities.

When the station's former manager complained about the political projects, she was fired, according to the lawsuit.