Aldermen who support two different ward map proposals brought election experts to a public hearing Friday to discuss the merits of each proposal. And a City Council committee will consider revamping labor rules for some airport workers on Monday. 

Plan Commissioners on Thursday approved a proposal to build a 65-unit affordable housing development in North Lawndale. 

Chicago planning officials said they were “blown away” on Thursday by a proposal to remove a portion of a police department parking lot in Lawndale and use the property to build a 65-unit affordable housing development. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended her proposal to sue gang members during a post-City Council meeting news conference in September. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]

Members of a City Council committee are scheduled on Friday to discuss two controversial measures, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal that would allow the city to sue gang members and seize their assets.

Aldermen advanced a measure allowing Chicago to implement a new state law that prohibits restaurants from marketing sugary drinks as part of kids’ meals. And the City Council’s fourth and final ward remap hearing scheduled for January is set to kick off Friday morning.

Aldermen demanded on Wednesday that CTA President Dorval Carter answer their questions on how the transit agency plans to spend its money. [CTA] 

Aldermen on Wednesday held up what could have been a routine remittance of property tax transfer revenue to the CTA when the transit agency’s President Dorval Carter could not appear before aldermen to answer their questions about how the $76 million would be spent.

Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Comm. Ken Meyers and Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) speak during a license committee meeting on Wednesday.

A proposal to clamp down on the market for stolen cell phones by tightening regulations on pawn shops glided through a City Council committee on Wednesday. But if police and city licensing officials don’t step up their enforcement of violations, the new rules could be toothless, some aldermen warned.

New York City’s Chief Fleet Officer Keith Kerman (left) and Ald. Gilbert Villegas speak during a committee meeting on Wednesday

Some aldermen seized the opportunity on Wednesday to ask questions of clean air advocates and city leaders from New York and Pittsburgh about how the city could switch to an all-electric vehicle fleet by 2035. 

Restaurants are only allowed to market water, milk or other unsweetened drinks as part of kids’ meals under an Illinois law that took effect this month.

Aldermen are set on Thursday to take up a proposal by Mayor Lightfoot designed to nudge restaurants toward providing healthier drink options to children.

Plan Commissioners are set on Thursday to hear plans to relocate Saint Anthony Hospital.

A years-in-the-making plan to relocate Saint Anthony Hospital within Little Village is set to undergo scrutiny from the Chicago Plan Commission during its meeting Thursday. 

Aldermen are set on Wednesday to consider an ordinance that would crack down on stolen cell phones. [Erik Solheim/Unsplash]

Aldermen are set on Wednesday to consider a proposal meant to curb cell phone theft and secondhand sales of stolen phones and another proposal that would keep pedicabs from playing loud music.

Members of the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate gave initial approval to the sale of the former Maxim’s Restaurant. A council committee is set on Wednesday to hear the merits of switching the city’s fleet to electric-powered vehicles. And members of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations are set to consider two budget appropriation tweaks during their Wednesday meeting.

The city is set to sell the iconic former Maxim’s Restaurant for $680,000. [Paul Biasco / DNAinfo]

New life could soon be breathed into the former Maxim’s Restaurant in the city’s Gold Coast neighborhood.

A report from the city’s inspector general found multiple city departments mishandled fallout from the wrongful raid of Anjanette Young’s home, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Officials across multiple city departments mishandled the aftermath of the Chicago Police Department’s wrongful 2019 raid of Anjanette Young’s home and misled journalists covering the fallout, an investigation from the city’s Inspector General published Friday found.

Cook County Comm. Sean Morrison (R-17) [right] on Thursday challenged county board President Toni Preckwinkle over a county public health order requiring proof of vaccination at indoor spaces.

Updated 9:24 a.m. Jan. 14: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle stood firm on Thursday against a mounting backlash — including from one commissioner — against the county’s new vaccination mandate for some businesses, calling the criticism “profoundly disturbing.”

A public hearing on the city’s ward remap did not bear any discussion from aldermen on new ward boundaries. And Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell is urging aldermen to oppose a proposal from Mayor Lori Lightfoot that would allow the city to sue gang members and seize their assets.