Chicago News

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    Democrat Eileen O’Neill Burke and Republican Bob Fioretti are competing to become the next Cook County State’s Attorney. [O’Neill Burke photo by Michael McDevitt/Fioretti campaign photo]

    Although Eileen O’Neill Burke is favored to win the Cook County State’s Attorney race in a county that regularly votes for Democrats, the former judge told The Daily Line she’s not taking anything for granted as polls open countywide.

    Early voting began in Chicago Thursday and begins in suburban Cook County next week, and former Ald. Bob Fioretti is hoping his appeals to law enforcement, crime victims and suburbanites spooked by Chicago violence leads to an upset in the race to replace State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

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    City Hall is pictured in this file photo. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

    The City Council Committee on Finance approved two significant bond transactions Wednesday that are aimed at helping the city address big budget holes by reducing its debt service and increasing cash flow savings.

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    The Committee on Public Safety holds a hearing on ways to improve the city's extreme weather response plan on Oct. 1, 2024. [Livestream]

    The City Council’s public safety committee held a hearing Tuesday on some policy solutions to increase the safety of unhoused and low-income Chicagoans during extreme heat and cold.

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    The housing committee meets on Oct. 1, 2024. [Livestream]

    The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate approved an ordinance Tuesday in line with Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “Cut the Tape” Initiative, which seeks to speed up housing and commercial development by eliminating some processes and reducing other bureaucracy and requirements.

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    Housing Chair Byron Sigcho-Lopez is pictured during a City Council meeting on Sept. 18, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

    The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate will vote on an ordinance Tuesday that would advance Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “Cut the Tape” Initiative, which seeks to speed up housing and commercial development by eliminating some processes and reducing other bureaucracy and requirements.

    The housing committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. in Room 201A at City Hall.

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    Ald. Andre Vasquez (40) is pictured during a City Council meeting on Sept. 18, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

    The City Council Committee on Public Safety on Tuesday will hold a subject matter hearing on a resolution (R2024-0010357) sponsored by Ald. Andre Vasquez (40) that calls on the city to develop a better plan to keep Chicagoans safe during extreme temperatures, with a specific focus on people experiencing homelessness. 

    The public safety committee will meet at 10 a.m. in council chambers.

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    CPS CEO Pedro Martinez provides testimony at a Chicago Board of Education meeting on Sept. 26, 2024. [Livestream]

    The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Board of Education didn’t act on CPS CEO Pedro Martinez’s contract or on a proposal to take out a high-interest loan to help shore up its budget at its Thursday evening meeting, but it did vote on a school closure moratorium following allegations from the teachers union that Martinez was looking at closing or consolidating schools.

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    Public Safety chair Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) is pictured during a City Council meeting on April 17, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

    Data collected related to the acoustic gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter is incomplete and messy, creating contradictory conclusions and resulting in an insufficient amount of information to make an educated decision about its future, experts told alderpeople on Thursday.

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    Public Safety chair Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) is pictured during a City Council meeting on April 17, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

    A joint City Council panel will hold a hearing on the Chicago Office of the Inspector General’s report on ShotSpotter just days after the technology went offline in the city and as the company dismantles the sensors around the city.

    The Joint Committee on Public Safety and Police and Fire will hold two subject matter hearings during a Thursday afternoon meeting that kicks off at 12:30 p.m. in council chambers.

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    CPS CEO Pedro Martinez speaks at City Hall on Nov. 16, 2021. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

    The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) House of Delegates, the union’s elected governing body, issued a unanimous vote of no confidence in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Pedro Martinez on Monday night, the latest development in a reported effort to oust the CPS executive. But Martinez has earned a flurry of public support as the mayor and teachers union try to get rid of him.

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    The city’s watchdog issued a report calling on additional municipal campaign finance reforms following passage of an ethics ordinance by the City Council last week, and the county announced millions of dollars in grant awards to help cannabis businesses start and operate.

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    Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting on Sept. 18, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

    The acoustic gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter went offline Sunday night, and Mayor Brandon Johnson that same day announced the city had issued a request for information (RFI) from companies to begin to evaluate potential replacements.

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    Cook County Comm. Bridget Gainer (D-10) chairs a workforce committee meeting on Sept. 18, 2024. [Livestream]

    The Cook County board is considering the creation of a relief fund for property taxpayers whose bills have spiked beyond what they are able to pay.

    At a County Workforce, Housing and Community Development Committee hearing on Wednesday, commissioners talked about the idea as something the county can do in the short term to address increasingly unaffordable property tax hikes for some residents while potential action at the state level plays out.

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    CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. speaks at City Club of Chicago on Sept. 19, 2024. [Livestream]

    Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) President Dorval Carter Jr. gave a speech at City Club of Chicago on Thursday afternoon in which he touched on his desire to establish a network of dedicated bus lanes citywide, recent instances of gun violence on the system and efforts to hire more staff and obtain more funding from the state to improve service. 

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    Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting on Sept. 18, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

    The mayor said he plans to veto the City Council’s latest attempt to retain the acoustic gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter — an ordinance approved Wednesday. 

    “Clearly, the legal dynamic of this ordinance has left me of no choice but to veto it,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said during a news conference after the vote. "But I am committed to making sure that we are coming up with a collaborative approach to find systems that will actually work."