The Chicago Police Department is getting wide attention over alleged abuses at one of its West Side facilities. Officers working out of the Homan Square site were singled out by the Guardian newspaper for a variety of alleged tactics, including illegally detaining people for up to 24 hours without giving them access to a lawyer. Since the article was published last week, more people have stepped forward to tell their stories of being detained at Homan Square. CPD denies the charges. And WBEZ, the Guardian, and other news organizations continue to report on what goes on there behind closed doors.

For Chicagoans, the Homan Square saga has revived our city’s sordid past with police interrogation methods. Remember Jon Burge? He’s the police commander from the 1980s known for the brutal tactics some officers used when he was in charge. Burge was never convicted of torture, but he was convicted of perjury in 2010. He was released last year and currently lives in Florida where he still collects a police pension.

John Conroy is the reporter who uncovered the Burge story. He was with the Chicago Reader at the time and is now a professor at DePaul University. And he joins us in studio today to talk about two questions: First, what do we need to know about Burge when we read today’s stories about alleged police abuse and torture? And, second, what do journalists have to take into account when they’re reporting these stories, especially when the police deny there’s any wrongdoing?

Guest: John Conroy is a  former Chicago Reader reporter and currently the director of investigations and a senior lecturer at DePaul University. He is the author of ‘Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture’ and wrote the play, ‘My Kind of Town.’

Maple syrup enthusiasts head to Indiana for the National Maple Syrup Festival

When you think maple syrup, which part of the world springs to mind? For many it’s places like Vermont or Canada. But some of the best chefs and food experts in Chicago have a different answer: Indiana. In particular: Southern Indiana. In fact, a bunch of Chicago chefs are making the trek down to Brown County tomorrow for the National Maple Syrup Festival which runs through this weekend. Tree tapping, sap boiling, and lots of maple-flavored food and drink. It’s like Octoberfest for syrup lovers. Tim Burton is a maple syrup artisan and the founder of the festival. He joins us by phone from the middle of his Indiana maple forest.

Guest: Tim Burton is a maple syrup artisan and the founder of the National Maple Syrup Festival.

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