Cara Hendrickson (left) and Walter Katz are set for appointment to a search committee charged with finding Chicago’s next inspector general. [Arnold Ventures/Business and Professional People for the Public Interest]

The delayed process of finding a successor to departing Inspector General Joseph Ferguson is set to kick into higher gear on Friday, as aldermen vet two candidates for a search committee charged with finding a new leader for the watchdog office.

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40) submitted a 229-page budget appropriation proposal that would hike fines for health and building code violations to pay for more mental health and homelessness services. [Alex V. Hernandez/Block Club Chicago]

Chicago’s budget process unfolds along the same lines every year: the mayor comes out with a top-to-bottom spending plan for the next year and aldermen push for tweaks, ultimately deciding whether to register dissent when it comes up for a final vote.

This year, one member of the City Council is trying to upend that routine.

Ald. Jim Gardiner (45) paces at a City Council meeting on Sept. 14, 2021. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

The Board of Ethics voted unanimously Monday to issue a “notice of probable cause” that a city official matching the circumstances of Ald. Jim Gardiner (45) violated anti-retaliation rules in the city’s ethics code and should undergo a “full factual investigation” by the city’s inspector general.

Mapmaking consultant Peter Creticos presents the most recent draft of the county’s new district map during a Redistricting Committee on Tuesday [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]

The Cook County Board of Commissioners has one more week to keep tweaking its once-in-a-decade remap of district boundaries. But to hear commissioners tell it, the job is all but finished.

Finance committee chair Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) and Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson during a committee meeting on Monday

Aldermen punted Monday on a proposal to award damages to a man who was shot three times by a Chicago Police officer, shelving the settlement after an intense debate over the merits of the case, the city’s record of fighting lawsuits and whether discussions of police misconduct should be shielded from public view.

Cannabis dispensaries would be allowed to open across most of Downtown under an ordinance set for consideration by the City Council during its Tuesday meeting.

The City Council is scheduled to vote during its meeting on Tuesday to loosen regulations for cannabis dispensaries and approve a $600 million, eight-year contract with the city’s rank-and-file police union, among dozens of other measures.

Cook County Comm. Sean Morrison (R-17) and the most recent draft of Cook County’s redrawn district boundaries

After state lawmakers chopped up the only all-suburban Cook County Board of Review district earlier this year, politically dismembering the county’s Republican voting base, Cook County Comm. Sean Morrison (R-17) braced for a fight.

The City Council overwhelmingly voted to install Ald. Jason Ervin (28) to the chairmanship vacated by indicted Ald. Carrie Austin (34). And two powerful aldermen moved to delay Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s departure after he warned city leaders they’re not moving fast enough to pick his replacement.

The city’s minority contracting program would be expanded and extended through 2027 under an ordinance approved on Friday. [Jeridan Villegas/Unsplash]

A City Council committee voted unanimously on Friday to advance a proposal extending and expanding city rules designed to give a leg up to construction firms that typically face discrimination in the industry. If the ordinance earns approval by the full City Council next week, it will renew the program with two weeks to spare before it was set to expire.

Banks that apply to hold the city’s money would have to publish detailed information on their lending patterns under an ordinance set for consideration Monday.

Banks would be required to more thoroughly report their lending patterns before applying to hold the city’s money under a proposal set for consideration on Monday.

Most restaurants would not be able to give out plasticware with takeout orders unless customers ask for it, under an ordinance set for consideration on Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Restaurants would almost always be banned from sending customers home with unsolicited plasticware, napkins or condiment packets under an ordinance set to be considered by aldermen on Monday. But supporters of a more sweeping plastics crackdown say the ordinance does not go far enough.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) used a committee meeting Thursday to ask whether Chicago Board of Ethics members think the city should be involved in the Chicago Park District’s probe into sexual abuse among its lifeguards. Aldermen advanced an update to the city’s excavation rules. A group of aldermen sent a letter to city health officials asking them to impose a requirement for proof of vaccination in indoor spaces. And the City Council Committee on Contract Oversight and Equity is set to advance an extension of the city’s minority hiring program, weeks before the program is set to expire. 
 

An ordinance that would allow sports betting at the city’s ballparks and stadiums is set to escape a City Council procedural snafu on Friday. [Heather Maguire via Unsplash]

A proposal to legalize sports betting at Chicago’s ballparks and arenas is set to get back on track Friday, setting it up for potential passage later this year after it was knocked off course.

Will Shih, a senior policy adviser to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, shows a map of the smaller downtown cannabis “exclusion area” proposed by a new ordinance

A divided City Council committee voted on Wednesday to advance a proposal from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to ease the path for new cannabis dispensaries to open in the city, sweeping aside critics who said city leaders should wait to see how the state’s chaotic licensing rollout shakes out before giving new operators a boost.

Attorney James Franczek (left) and Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22) during a virtual committee hearing on Tuesday

Aldermen voted unanimously on Tuesday to advance an eight-year, $600 million contract with Chicago’s rank-and-file police union, acknowledging the exchange of retroactive pay hikes for a laundry list of new accountability guardrails represented the best bargain the city was likely to reach.

An ordinance lowering barriers for new cannabis dispensaries to open in Chicago is set for consideration by the City Council zoning committee on Wednesday. [Unsplash]

Updated 9:25 a.m. Monday, Sept. 8: A freshly tweaked proposal to cut red tape for new cannabis dispensaries is set to come before aldermen on Wednesday, potentially easing the path for dozens of new pot entrepreneurs to set up shop in Chicago following this summer’s state-run license lotteries.

A $600 million, eight-year contract with the city’s rank-and-file police union is set for consideration by aldermen on Tuesday. [Kelly Bauer/Block Club]

A years-overdue, $600 million contract with the Chicago Police Department’s rank-and-file union is set for its first public audience with aldermen on Tuesday, setting off a balancing act for city budget officials looking for ways to foot the bill for officer pay raises.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith (left) and Danielle Gomez, a staff attorney for the Cook County Public Guardian’s office, testifying during a House hearing on Thursday

The head of the state’s embattled foster care agency on Thursday defended what he called the department’s “comfortable and safe” network of makeshift intake spaces being stood up in offices and private facilities around the state, directly contradicting critics who said state officials are leaving vulnerable children “in limbo” for weeks with sometimes devastating consequences.

Gov. JB Pritzker held an event Thursday to promote a bill he signed last month that he said will make the state a “national leader” on digital access for students with disabilities. And the governor expressed cautious optimism that the states’ latest COVID-19 surge could be cresting.

Travelers make their way through O'Hare International Airport on May 30, 2021. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

A multi-part concession agreement would pave the way for a private vendor to set up no-contact “micro marts” at O’Hare Airport under an agreement set for consideration by a City Council committee on Thursday.