Chicago News
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APR 20, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared on Friday that the developer overseeing demolition of the Crawford coal plant is solely responsible for the dust cloud created by the implosion, but some aldermen believe the mayor deserves at least some of the blame. Meanwhile, the City Council is gearing up for its first full week of virtual meetings, starting with a committee meeting to advance the nomination of Chicago’s next police superintendent.
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APR 20, 2020
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough must overhaul hiring protocols until an independent monitor is satisfied that political patronage has been totally purged from her office, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough and attorney Michael Shakman [Heather Cherone / The Daily Line; provided]
In one of his last court opinions before he retires at the end of April, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier wrote that anti-patronage attorney Michael Shakman found evidence to “suggest the improper use of political considerations” in Yarbrough’s office, violating the terms of a 1972 consent decree and subsequent 1991 court order that stemmed from Shakman’s long-running lawsuit against Cook County government.
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APR 17, 2020
Frank Aguilar, community affairs & special projects director for the Town of Cicero, was selected to fill an open seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
Democratic party officials this week tapped longtime Cicero political operative and former State Rep. Frank Aguilar (R-Cicero) to fill the Cook County Board of Commissioners seat formerly held by Comm. Jeffrey Tobolski (D-16), angering west-suburban progressives who will be represented by the former Republican until at least December 2022.
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APR 17, 2020
Retail tax collection at the city level will be delayed until June 1, allowing businesses to keep the tax revenue to stay afloat until then, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Thursday. Meanwhile, Cook County has launched an online portal to track the coronavirus pandemic’s disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities and the city’s Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals have delayed meetings for a third time.
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APR 16, 2020
Cook County leaders on Wednesday announced a new program to provide hotel rooms for first responders, people experiencing homelessness and other patients who are recovering from the coronavirus, mirroring similar efforts already underway at the city and state level.
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APR 16, 2020
Despite some expected hiccups, members of the Chicago City Council did what they set out to accomplish during their first-ever fully virtual meeting in the era of coronavirus on Wednesday.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot presides over the first all-virtual City Council meeting Wednesday. [Screenshot via Zoom]
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APR 16, 2020
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APR 15, 2020
A group of west-suburban Democratic Party officials is scheduled to consider nearly a dozen candidates to replace former Cook County Comm. Jeffrey Tobolski (D-16) during a semi-virtual meeting Wednesday evening.
Berwyn Mayor Robert Lovero, who is the Democratic committeeperson for Berwyn Township, will oversee what he called “social distancing protocols” in light of the coronavirus pandemic when he hosts the meeting at 7 p.m. at the Italian American Civic Organization of Berwyn. -
APR 15, 2020
Members of the Cook County Democratic Party who supported candidates outside the party’s official slate during this year’s primary elections are set to be booted from the top tier of the organization’s leadership on Wednesday.
Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, who also serves as party chair, will announce the shake-up during the party’s annual convention Wednesday afternoon, she told The Daily Line on Tuesday.
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APR 15, 2020
The City Council is set to hold its first-ever virtual meeting on Wednesday to test the waters for resuming city business under the state’s stay-at-home order.
Aldermen are scheduled to log onto a videoconference platform at 10 a.m. Monday morning for an “abbreviated” meeting to “adopt rules addressing meetings by videoconference,” according to city officials. The meeting will be broadcast on chicityclerk.com -
APR 14, 2020
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APR 14, 2020
Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson has opened an investigation into a partial factory demolition that blanketed nearby homes in a cloud of dust on Saturday and prompted two days of fury and finger-pointing from city officials, a spokesperson for the office confirmed on Monday.
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APR 14, 2020
Representatives of Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart detailed new social distancing measures, a new “rapid test” for COVID-19 and a distribution regime for cleaning supplies in a legal brief submitted Monday to update a federal judge on efforts to fight the virus inside the Cook County Jail.
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APR 13, 2020
The Chicago City Council will meet for the first time in nearly two months on Wednesday, but the Council Chambers will be empty.
Instead, aldermen will meet virtually via videoconference to adopt new rules to permit the City Council to meet with no aldermen present. The City Council had been scheuled to meet March 18, before Gov. JB Pritzker ordered that gatherings of more than 10 people be banned. -
APR 13, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered a citywide moratorium on demolition permits while the Chicago Department of Buildings conducts a “top-to-bottom city review” of how its permitting policy may have led to a coal plant demolition that blanketed the Little Village neighborhood in a cloud of dust on Saturday.
