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.

K J Payne/Flickr

This article was originally published by Block Club Chicago.

Chicago could take a “first step” Tuesday towards reining in the use of single-use plastics at city restaurants, but a more expansive ban won’t be pursued until the industry fully recovers from the hardships of the coronavirus pandemic. 

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. Michele Smith (43) [left] and Ald. Leslie Hairston [5] during a City Council rules committee meeting on Friday.

Members of the public would still be allowed to virtually speak their minds at City Council and committee meetings even after the danger of the coronavirus pandemic subsides and meetings return to City Hall under a proposal set for a City Council vote on Sept. 14.

Greater Englewood is split among six wards — more than any other neighborhood.

Greater Englewood is one of several communities throughout Chicago carved up into numerous wards and represented by multiple aldermen. While some of those aldermen agree with a prominent community group that wants ward boundaries to be redrawn so they more closely mirror neighborhood lines, others argue it is beneficial to Greater Englewood to be represented by the six aldermen who currently each claim a piece of the neighborhood.  

Maura McCauley speaks during a committee meeting Thursday. 

The one-month extension of a rental agreement between the city and a downtown hotel to use 175 rooms as shelter for single men experiencing homelessness cleared a committee hurdle Thursday.

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.

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. 
 

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.

Aldermen on Thursday are set to consider extending an agreement with a downtown hotel for COVID-19 quarantine space amid the pandemic. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

Aldermen are set on Thursday to extend a contract with a downtown hotel that has served as a quarantine location for city and nursing home workers, and to approve the allocation of at least $900,00 in new grant money.