Chicago News
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OCT 17, 2017
UNLOCKED
Aaron Bailey, our new CTO.
Today we’re excited to announce that Aaron Bailey is joining The Daily Line as our Chief Technology Officer. This is a significant step for us as we prepare work to bring more data and better overall services to our subscribers.
Especially for our readers, the future of news is in providing more and better data, since you tend to be already highly informed and are often just looking for that one piece of information that will change your decision making. We already have excellent data journalists on our team, as Rae Hodge just earned a Master’s Degree focusing on data journalism, and Claudia Morell has been employing some great tools as part of her regular reporting.
We’ve got some big plans that involve adding new services for subscribers, so we’re bringing in Aaron, who has the development experience to bring them everything together.
Our team first got to know him in 2004 as one of Chicagoist’s first writers and Aaron has an extensive background in digital news. He spent the last two decades at the intersection of media and technology, directing digital strategy for companies such as National Review, NBCUniversal and Washingtonian Magazine. Most recently, he founded and then sold 601am, a digital agency and software startup that provided solutions to media organizations and large publishers.
Thank you again for reading and subscribing to The Daily Line. We love what we do, and we’re looking forward to bringing you some exciting work!
Mike Fourcher
Publisher -
City budget plans provided to selected aldermen and advocacy groups by members of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration over the last two weeks indicate plans to increase amusement taxes for larger venues, a possible increase in rideshare fees, and expected savings from a new borrowing structure approved by City Council last week.
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L to R – Joanna Klonsky, John Dunn, and Victor Reyes at WGN studios to discuss the mayor's 2018 budget. Credit: A.D. Quig
This week on The Daily Line’s Aldercast, Publisher Mike Fourcher sits down with three City Hall insiders to talk about what’s coming down the pike with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2018 budget, set to be released Wednesday Oct. 18.
They discuss whether the spending plan might address the city’s debt load and what impact Chicago's Amazon bid might have on the mayor’s plans. Aldermen have already approved a slew of tax increases since the Emanuel's second term and, as Cook County’s beverage tax repeal has made clear, Chicagoans are tired of taxes. So, where can the mayor turn next? Our guests this week:- Victor Reyes, a city lobbyist and partner at Reyes Kurson, and a one-time director of intergovernmental affairs for Mayor Richard M. Daley.
- John Dunn, a city lobbyist, partner at McGuireWoods, and (also) a one-time director of intergovernmental affairs for Mayor Richard M. Daley.
- Joanna Klonsky, who heads up Joanna Klonsky Communications Strategies and advises numerous groups, including the City Council Progressive Caucus.
Have comments, questions, or pitches? Email us: [email protected]. -
Another challenger to Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios has emerged. Andrea Raila, a senior tax analyst for Raila PC, a real estate tax appeals firm founded in 2013, submitted a D-1 earlier this week.
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Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has tapped John Roberson as her new director of external affairs–the person who serves as go-between with outside and community groups. Roberson, who has a long history in the Daley administration, replaces Jonathan Buckner. Roberson’s previous gig was as chief of staff to Ald. David Moore (17).
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OCT 12, 2017
City Council created a new, independent finance authority to issue debt using sales tax receipts on the city’s behalf on Wednesday. Credit: Claudia Morell
In a divided roll call vote of 43 to 5, the Chicago City Council authorized the creation of a new, independent finance authority to issue debt on the city’s behalf. The ordinance takes effect immediately and authorizes the first round of borrowing, up to $3 billion in bonds secured by city sales tax revenue. -
"I can only make recommendations to how separately elected officials make cuts within their budgets, I cannot make the final call," President Toni Preckwinkle told reporters Wednesday.
Wednesday’s Cook County Board meeting was anticlimactic, as commissioners affirmed by a simple voice vote the repeal of the sweetened beverage tax.
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Following months of subject matter hearings and re-writes, the City Council’s Finance Committee quickly approved an ordinance from Finance Chair Ed Burke (14) that would restrict the number of prescriptions pharmacists can fill. The initiative, born out of a Chicago Tribune investigation, attempts to give pharmacists more time to warn patients of potential deadly drug interactions and reduce the number of inaccurately filled prescriptions.
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OCT 11, 2017
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OCT 11, 2017
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The Cook County Board meets at 9:00 a.m. to take up regular business delayed by the all-day consideration of a beverage tax repeal on Tuesday. The final vote on the repeal, which passed the Finance Committee 15-1, takes place in the full Board meeting. Commissioners will also consider Ammar Rizki’s appointment to take over as Chief Financial Officer, William Barnes Jr’s appointment to head the troubled Department of Homeland Security, and a $5 million medical malpractice settlement.
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Members of Cook County's Finance Committee meet to vote on a repeal of the sweetened beverage tax on October 10, 2017. Credit: A.D. Quig
On Tuesday, Cook County commissioners voted by a wide margin, 15-1, to repeal the penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages. The tax has been in effect little over two months, and will sunset at the end of the fiscal year on Nov. 30, 2017. The measure now faces a vote at the full board of commissioners, and starts the clock for county officials to find a way to fill a $200 million projected gap in the 2018 budget.
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Twelve Cook County commissioners are poised to strike down the county’s short-lived sweetened beverage tax in Finance Committee on Tuesday (SO 17-4704).
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OCT 09, 2017
Finance Committee will consider, and may finally vote on, proposed pharmacy work rules and several direct introductions from Chair Ed Burke (14). He also wants large gathering places in Chicago to adhere to stricter signage rules following the death of a teenager in a Rosemont hotel walk-in freezer.
Three City Council committees are scheduled to meet Tuesday, two of which, Housing and Finance, concern unfinished business ahead of Wednesday’s meeting of the full City Council. The Housing Committee will consider a change to the affordable housing pilot program approved two weeks ago, along with an acquisition of the former Kennedy-King City College campus in Englewood.
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As Chicago pushes hard for Amazon’s new headquarters, a local law on the books concerning drones may impact the city’s bid, particularly since Amazon has an interest in the technology.
In November of 2015, the City Council approved regulations for where hobbyists could fly drones, setting prohibitions over homes, airport airspace, and public gathering places such as schools and hospitals.Chicago was one of the first cities in the country to impose such rules.
