Chicago alderpeople welcome a panel of environmental science and justice experts during an April 23, 2025 city council health and environmental joint committee meeting regarding the hazards of single-use plastics. [Screenshot / City of Chicago]

Experts on environmental science and activism – as well as Chicago residents – urged city officials to take immediate action against the production and use of single-use plastics during a city council joint committee meeting this week.

Public commenters talked on Wednesday, both as local environmental leaders and as city dwellers, about the importance of eliminating single-use plastics and common microplastics like polyester fibers, in the name of creating a better Chicago for future generations.

Ald. Maria Hadden (49) asks Environment Comm. Angela Tovar questions at a budget hearing on Dec. 3, 2024. [Livestream]

The Chicago city council’s joint committee on environmental protection and energy, as well as health and human relations, will hold a hearing to set up a future hearing on single-use plastics. 

The meeting is scheduled for 12 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks at a press conference after signing his executive order creating the budget working group Monday. 

Facing a nearly $1 billion shortfall this year and deeper fiscal pain on the horizon, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Monday creating a working group aimed at tackling Chicago’s structural budget challenges. 

By a margin of two votes, the majority of Chicago alderpeople voted on Wednesday to hold the commonly known Green Social Housing ordinance proposal in the council’s joint finance, housing and real estate committee.

Following several development projects that most adversely affect Chicago’s most vulnerable neighborhoods, city officials announced the creation of an ordinance that they call “a bold step towards protecting communities” disproportionately affected by pollution-related burdens, according to a city news release.

Mayor Brandon Johnson, alongside  introduced the Hazel Johnson Cumulative Impacts Ordinance, which is meant to help protect communities of color, which are statistically more likely to be exposed to pollution caused by large-scale manufacturing. The ordinance is named in honor of the late Hazel Johnson, who is widely regarded as the “Mother of Environmental Justice” for her work as an organizer against environmental racism.

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks a the Pullman Community Center in the Ninth Ward Thursday. 

A report from Northwestern University found a 41 percent decrease in gun violence rates in Chicago and Cook County communities targeted by the state-backed Peacekeeper Program. 

The study area which focuses on 79th street from Ashland to the Metra

The Chicago Plan Commission reviewed two planning initiatives aimed at revitalizing the South Side Thursday, the 79th Street Corridor Plan and the South Branch Connectivity Framework. Both proposals emphasize equitable development, infrastructure improvements, and stronger community ties.

The City Council on Wednesday approved measures prohibiting people convicted of participating in the Jan. 6 U.S.Capitol riot from city employment, assisting two downtown office-to-residential conversion projects and reining in “rogue towers.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting on Dec. 16, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council on Wednesday will consider numerous appointments, legal settlements and ordinances to prohibit the hiring of people convicted of participating in the U.S. Capitol riot and to prohibit discrimination by association with a protected group.

A proposed apartment tower in Old Town was approved by the zoning committee Thursday. [Chicago Department of Planning and Development]

The City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards on Tuesday approved a new apartment tower in Old Town and a rezoning of a business corridor in Rogers Park.

111 W. Monroe St. and 208 S. LaSalle St., where adaptive reuse projects are planned. [City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development]

The City Council Committee on Finance on Monday advanced two measures to provide millions in financial assistance for two downtown office-to-housing conversion projects.

Kafi Moragne-Patterson and Princella "Jaribu" Lee, on the bottom right, appear at an education committee meeting Monday. [Livestream]

The City Council Committee on Education and Child Development on Monday approved two appointments to the seven-member Board of Trustees for City Colleges of Chicago.

The Committee on Finance meets Friday. [Livestream]

The City Council Committee on Finance on Friday approved two legal settlements but blocked a third related to a police shooting. The committee also approved tax increment financing (TIF) funds for park district projects and a measure to continue funding the preservation of single-room occupancy (SRO) housing

The Committee on Police and Fire meets Friday. [Livestream]

The Committee on Police and Fire on Friday approved a new appointment to the city’s civilian police oversight board.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle gives her 2024 budget address in October 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The Cook County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution Thursday to create eligibility criteria for the recently created Cook County Homeowner Relief Fund, which will assist homeowners whose property taxes have spiked in recent years by providing one-time $1,000 payments.