While budget hearings continued, aldermen also worked through a regular slate of committee meetings in preparation for next week’s City Council meeting.

Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham welcomed the news that the Trump administration planned to intervene in the city’s effort to impose a consent decree to reform the police department, even though Mayor Rahm Emanuel dismissed the action as not “on the level.” Mayoral candidate Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle bristled when asked Wednesday if she had been the source who leaked a confidential Cook County inspector general report that found Democrat JB Pritzker had engaged in a “scheme to defraud” taxpayers when his Gold Coast mansion was reassessed sans toilets in 2015.

The Women’s March Chicago is set to return to Columbus Drive and Jackson Boulevard Saturday — this time in an effort to get first-time voters to turn out for next month’s midterm elections. Three progressive aldermen agreed to lead an exploratory committee for Peter Gariepy, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle named a permanent chief of staff, and prepared to unveil her 2019 budget proposal.

Cook County Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia announced Monday he will not run for mayor, despite an all out campaign to draft him to run. Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot vowed to take a new approach to violence, while two North Side aldermanic candidates Monday reported huge hauls of campaign cash in some of the most hotly contested races for the City Council. In the 9th Ward, Ald. Anthony Beale has drawn another challenger.

Early voting officially starts Thursday, with the opening of early voting polling places Downtown. Elected officials spent most of Tuesday urging residents to register to vote as part of a nationwide push pegged to National Voter Registration Day. Meanwhile, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will enter budget season without three top aides.

An influx of federal cash will help the modernization of the will help move the modernization of the Red and Purple CTA train lines forward, while a judge will face re-election without the support of the Cook County Democratic Party for the first time in recent memory. New candidates have filed in the 7th, 14th and 20th wards — while 42nd Ward Ald. Brendan Reilly has no opponent, but a boatload of cash,

Civilian control of the Chicago Police Department is the missing piece of efforts to reform the Chicago Police Department, members of the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability said Thursday at City Hall, renewing their push for new rules to hold officers accountable.

Police reform advocates will gather at City Hall before Thursday’s meeting of the full City Council to renew their call for civilian oversight of the police department. In addition, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has named a replacement for the executive director of Chicago Animal Care and Control that he fired in July.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Lanetta Haynes Turner's salary as interim chief of staff as $186,000 annually. It is $154,000.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s future came into sharper focus with the news that he will write a book, set to be published in 2020, about the shift of power away from gridlocked state and federal governments and toward cities. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced late Tuesday that her chief of staff had stepped down for personal reasons.

Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot backed 47th Ward Ald. Ameya Pawar’s bid to test a basic universal income in Chicago, citing her poverty-stricken childhood. City Treasurer Kurt Summers launched a new website as he considers a bid for mayor.