Jon Yates

Problem Solver: Medicare aid and information slow in arriving

The good news arrived in Hilde Loebe's mailbox in late August. As a low-income Medicare beneficiary, the 87-year-old Hoffman Estates resident had been approved for assistance with her Medicare Part B premiums. The letter from the Illinois Department...

Tags: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Medicare, Social Security, Hoffman Estates, Government Health Care

Problem Solver: Phantom toll violation in New Jersey has now disappeared

It was physically impossible for Wendy Brown to have driven through the E-ZPass lane in Woodbridge, N.J., on May 30. That didn't stop the state of New Jersey from ticketing the Chicago resident for non-payment. In a letter dated Aug. 14, the New...

Tags: New Jersey Turnpike, Woodbridge

Problem Solver: Computer monitor never arrives, gift card refund lost

Connor Loughlin's grandmother had nothing but the best intentions. For Connor's 16th birthday this year, she sent him a $50 Best Buy gift card to use however he wanted. On July 30, the Elk Grove Village teenager went online and used the card to...

Tags: U.S. Postal Service

Problem Solver: Seller's merchandise, money disappear on Amazon.com

It's been more than two years since Elizabeth Guinea sold a percussion bell set through Amazon.com. The Frankfort native apparently will not receive her money, and is out the set as well. The botched transaction started in August 2010, when Guinea...

Tags: Amazon.com Inc., Guinea, Credit and Debt

Problem Solver: 2 Chicago police officers not guilty in Ticketgate

Someone wrote a series of bogus parking tickets to Mark Geinosky, but it was not Chicago police officers Paul Roque or Horst Hegewald, the Chicago Police Board has ruled. In a 25-page decision posted Tuesday afternoon, the board found the officers not...

Tags: Police Investigations, Garry McCarthy, Crime, Law and Justice, Laws, Chicago Police Department

Problem Solver updates: Found money to aid animals

Tags: Judges, Crime, Law and Justice, Human Interest, Social Issues, Justice System

Problem Solver: Snowboard accident hurts spine; insurance error hurts pocketbook

It was Christmas Day 2010, and Mike Skogmo was making his last snowboard run of the morning at Big Bear ski resort in Southern California. The graduate student from Elgin started smoothly but quickly ran into trouble. "I was going too fast and I hit...

Tags: Hospitals and Clinics, Insurance, Medical Procedures and Tests, Snowboarding, Healthcare Provider

Problem Solver: Passengers left holding the bag on airline luggage fees

The trip was to celebrate the Robertses' 20th wedding anniversary, and for the most part it was spectacular. It certainly started innocently enough. On Oct. 11, Paul Roberts and his wife, Judy, checked in online for their United Airlines flight to...

Tags: Ceremonies, Arts and Culture, Air Transportation, Travel, United Air Lines

Problem Solver: Motorcyclist received 38 tickets in legal parking spot

Parking along the 0-100 block of West Randolph Street isn't cheap. From 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., it costs $5.75 an hour; overnight parking costs about half that amount. At those rates, parking along the street for 24 hours would set you back a hefty $106.38....

Tags: Brendan Reilly, Judges, Crime, Law and Justice, Justice System

Problem Solver: Motorist has disconnect with emergency vehicle service

William Herman has always been loyal to General Motors. The Buffalo Grove resident worked 16 years at the old GM plant in Willow Springs, and over the years, he's bought four Chevrolets, four Buicks, three Pontiacs and three Oldsmobiles. He didn't...

Problem Solver: Chicago parking meter fast to take money, slow to refund

By the time Dawn Benavides realized what had happened, it was too late. The Jefferson Park resident parked in a city-owned lot near the Logan Theatre on North Milwaukee Avenue the evening of July 1. She swiped her credit card in the meter box and,...

Tags: Jefferson Park

Problem Solver: DuPont herbicide Imprelis kills tree, but restitution moves slowly

The herbicide was supposed to kill the weeds in Bill Tortorello's yard. It did, but the chemical applied by Lawn Doctor of McHenry County in April 2011 didn't stop there. In late May, the needles on Tortorello's 48-foot Norway spruce began turning...

Tags: Aquaculture, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, McHenry, Environmental Issues, Norway