Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter with @IllinoisAnswers/@bettergov Former: @kcbeacon Tips/questions: [email protected]

Kansas City
Joined August 2012
Madison Hopkins retweeted
“That building will have a memory. The neighborhood will have a memory.” The Tribune showing how it's done: a forceful story about abuse of power
In what appears to have been a warrantless operation, the federal government has provided no public accounting of how many people were detained, who remains in custody and what happened to the children who were living in the building before the blitz. chicagotribune.com/2025/10/1…
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Madison Hopkins retweeted
Hi everyone! During the end of Election Week, I learned that @IllinoisAnswers @BetterGov was terminating the education beat due to editorial changes. I was laid off immediately. 🧵
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Madison Hopkins retweeted
Today is @jayohday’s birthday. She’d like you to send the data she requested, in the format she requested, by the deadline she requested, along with a tray of loaded nachos and a frozen boozy drink. This is not a difficult wish, so please don’t F it up.
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Madison Hopkins retweeted
I noticed a familiar face in the crowd behind Senator JD Vance at his rally last night in Derry, N.H.: The woman with short hair and a red hooded shirt is Kirstyn A. Niemela of Hudson, N.H., who was convicted for joining the crowd that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.🧵
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Thank you to all the journalists covering Election Day! IRE stands with you. We know it’s often a tough job, but your work is the bedrock of a strong democracy.
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Madison Hopkins retweeted
For months, we've been investigating how Illinois county jails use restraint chairs. Our 1st story featured a man restrained for days in Franklin County Jail. Now, a watchdog group has found the jail restrained him for 68h and violated state/county rules. illinoisanswers.org/2024/10/…
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Madison Hopkins retweeted
You know those bubble cameras atop poles across Chicago? The ones that used to be big boxes with🚨 blue lights then got (a bit) more covert? Criminals were supposed to fear them - or be caught by them. But after 2+ decades, 4K+ cams and $$$$ … (1/10) trib.al/XEqZP68
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Out today: @joemahr and I take an in-depth look at the promise – and at times, the futility – of Chicago’s long and expensive bet on a massive web of police surveillance cameras. 🧵 bit.ly/47OlIic
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Yet despite all of that, the POD program keeps growing. City leaders still clamor for more and more cameras, insisting that more surveillance = more safety, without showing any evidence to prove it.
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As a result, Chicago is now home to potentially the largest and most sophisticated surveillance network in the country, with little transparency, accountability or results to show for it. Check out our whole story here (and a big thanks to @MattStroud): bit.ly/47OlIic
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Madison Hopkins retweeted
When people learn what I do for a living, among the first questions I'm asked is: "Why is Illinois so corrupt?" In the coming weeks and months the @chicagotribune is going to explore that question and try to offer some answers. A🧵...1/14
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