News in brief: CPS, union reach ‘tentative’ reopening agreement; Austin to challenge ethics ruling; Arwady to face grilling from aldermen 

Michael Simmons was sworn in as Illinois’ newest state senator Saturday night after local Democratic Party officials appointed him to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of state Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago). 

Simmons’ appointment dealt a blow to state Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), who was considered a frontrunner to fill the position. Simmons, deputy director of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and a former senior official in Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration, received nearly three times the number of weighted votes Cassidy pulled in.

City Council committees held more than 20 so-called subject matter hearings in 2020, more than the number of no-vote public discussions held during all of the four previous years combined. 

Aldermen and experts surmise the COVID-19 pandemic has played a role, in a multitude of ways, in the uptick in the number of meetings that largely have not culminated in any binding legislative action. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and some aldermen have celebrated the extra meetings for the extra transparency they lend to governance, but others have taken the trend as a sign that the council is too hesitant to take decisive action.

News in brief: Englewood aldermen blast feds over mail delays; Aldermen, Chicago Public Library employees want library workers moved up in vaccination plan

Thousands of laid-off Chicago hotel workers are redoubling their push for an ordinance they say would ensure that companies do right by employees who lost their livelihoods last year after decades of loyal service.

But hotel owners are pushing back hard on the proposed “Hotel Worker Right to Return to Work” ordinance (O2020-5777), saying its requirements would create a “logistical nightmare” that slows down hiring, potentially hurting the same workers the union is trying to protect.

News in brief: Englewood aldermen blast feds, @USPS over mail delays; Aldermen, @chipublib employees want library workers moved up in vaccination plan

Advocates and some Cook County officials are pressing for better data collection and more efficient scheduling in the county’s mammoth court system, saying reforms could help wind down the county’s unique backlog of defendants languishing in jail for years while they await trial.

The longstanding delays in the nation’s second-largest court system grabbed county commissioners’ attention in November, when Sheriff Tom Dart shared data during a budget hearing showing that more than one-third of the jail’s detainees have been locked up there at least a year, and 150 defendants — about 3 percent of the jail population — have spent more than five years awaiting trial.

News in brief: Vote on civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department could come this month, alderman says; Obama Presidential Center gets green light, construction could begin this summer

News in brief: Vote on civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department could come this month, alderman says; Obama Presidential Center gets green light, construction could begin this summer 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has respectively appointed Ald. Michelle Harris (8) and Ald. George Cardenas (12) as her new floor leader and deputy floor leader, putting them in charge of advancing her agenda in the City Council, she announced Tuesday.

Lightfoot revealed the changing of the guard via news release hours after Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) said he would step back from the floor leader role — which he has held since May 2019 — so he could focus on his other City Council work.

Chicago briefs: Suburban Cook County moves to Phase 4, keeps dining restrictions; City partners with Zocdoc for an online COVID-19 vaccination booking platform

The candidates hoping to be appointed to state Sen. Heather Steans’ (D-Chicago) 7^th District seat following her resignation last month have different takes on the party-led process currently underway to fill her seat.

The six candidates weighed in on the process during a virtual forum hosted Monday night by 40th and 47th Ward Democratic organizations, who organized the event with the goal of making the appointment process more transparent. Candidates also weighed in on topics including workers’ rights, police reform and the state’s budget crisis.

Chicago briefs: Suburban Cook County moves to Phase 4, keeps dining restrictions; City partners with Zocdoc for an online COVID-19 vaccination booking platform 

Any proposal to create an elected Chicago school board must include a “safeguard” to ensure that at least some members of the board have children in the school system — otherwise, Mayor Lori Lightfoot won’t get behind the plan, the mayor’s top lobbyist said Monday.

News in brief: First Subcommittee on Reparations meeting canceled; Lightfoot, city file lawsuit against companies for selling and marketing flavored vape products