Chicago News
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DEC 04, 2020
Dr. Cristina Pacione-Zayas speaks during a virtual event hosted by six Northwest Side independent political organizations on Wednesday.
Days after she was sworn in as Cook County’s first new clerk of the circuit court in 20 years, Iris Martinez faces a daunting list of challenges, including overhauling the office’s electronic records system and navigating a federal hiring monitor.
But first, Martinez has to help find someone to take her old job in the Illinois State Senate, and she believes she has already found her choice in Cristina Pacione-Zayas, she told The Daily Line on Thursday. Pacione-Zayas has spent nearly five years overseeing policy for the Erikson Institute, a graduate school and community service provider focused on early childhood education, and in 2019 she was appointed by Gov. JB Pritzker to serve on the Illinois State Board of Education. -
DEC 03, 2020
City officials say they plan to issue a Request for Proposals for a casino operator early next year.
An eventual Chicago casino should take up at least 10 acres downtown and include a hotel, restaurants and hundreds of above-ground parking spaces, according to nearly a dozen developers and gambling industry leaders. -
DEC 02, 2020
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A proposed ordinance aims to slow the conversion of small Chicago apartment buildings into single-family homes. [photo via reallyboring on Flickr]City planning and housing officials are looking to introduce an ordinance this month to make it harder to convert some small apartment buildings into single-family homes, a process blamed for the loss of affordable housing in gentrifying areas.
Speaking during a meeting of the City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards on Tuesday, Chicago Department of Housing Comm. Marisa Novara said the ordinance will require property owners to apply for a zoning change before converting two- to six-unit apartment buildings into single-family homes in some multifamily residential zones. -
DEC 02, 2020
Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez and planning department Comm. Maurice Cox speaking during a zoning committee meeting
Aldermen voted unanimously on Tuesday to expire the 2-year-old Pilsen Landmark District but rejected a separate proposal to temporarily freeze demolitions in the neighborhood, delivering a mixed verdict to Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) and his supporters. -
DEC 02, 2020
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Avondale's Milwaukee Avenue. MINA BLOOM/BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
It's the latest in a long-running battle between the prominent landlord and Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), who is driving the rezoning plan.
LOGAN SQUARE — A key city committee on Tuesday approved most of the Milwaukee Avenue rezoning plan, an anti-gentrification measure crafted by Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) to block dense development along the stretch.
But one set of properties in line to be rezoned was temporarily dropped from the plan after it was revealed the property owner — prolific landlord Mark Fishman — is threatening to sue the city, the latest in a long-standing battle between him and the alderman. -
DEC 02, 2020
The City Council Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity on Wednesday will consider extending the minority- and women-owned business contracting program. Ald. Carrie Austin (34) is chair of the committee and Ald. David Moore (17) is vice chair of the committee.
Aldermen on Wednesday will consider extending the city’s diverse hiring rules for construction programs through September 2021 while a consultant completes a “disparity study” on the program. -
DEC 01, 2020
A controversial proposal to cement a historic landmark district in Pilsen is set to meet its fate on Tuesday, potentially ending a nearly two-year battle that has pitted neighbors against city planning officials over the future of the neighborhood.
A nearly 2-year-old historic landmark district in Pilsen could come to an end following a vote by the City Council zoning committee on Tuesday. [Department of Planning and Development] -
NOV 30, 2020
Alds. Andre Vasquez (40) and Daniel La Spata (1) are among aldermen who plan to continue pitching alternative revenue plans.
The City Council approved a $94 million property tax increase as part of the $12.8 billion budget last week, but some aldermen are already planning to find alternate revenue for the 2022 budget now that the holiday weekend is over. -
NOV 30, 2020
Attorney Tammy Wendt is racing to prepare for her swearing in as the newest commissioner for the Cook County Board of Review.
On Wednesday, Nov. 4, defense attorney Tammy Wendt sat down to write a concession statement acknowledging that she had failed in her longshot bid to unseat Cook County Board of Review Comm. Dan Patlak (R-1). Leading by about 37,000 votes, Patlak appeared headed for a fourth term on the board, whose decisions wield massive power over tax bills assigned to the county’s nearly 2 million properties. -
NOV 25, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot oversee the City Council meeting on Tuesday during which aldermen approved her pandemic budget.
The $12.8 billion plan that has been referred to as the city’s pandemic budget, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed $94 million property tax increase, was approved Tuesday after a divided City Council voted to pass the plan in a narrow margin not seen on a budget in decades. -
NOV 25, 2020
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks during a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
Cook County commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to lock down a $6.94 billion budget (20-4595) for the 2021 fiscal year, a plan they lauded as a life raft to keep the county’s finances afloat through the COVID-19 pandemic without raising the burden on taxpayers.
