City Hall is pictured. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The Chicago Department of Environment on Thursday launched a revamped energy benchmarking program for city buildings, which will include an expanded workforce and an online portal to streamline the reporting process for the affected businesses.

Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry speaks at a news conference flanked by Mayor Brandon Johnson on Oct. 9, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The city’s law department said it would review an incident in which the department refused to give the Chicago Office of the Inspector General (OIG) access to hiring records for certain top employees but turned them over in response to a public records request when it didn’t know the OIG was behind it, according to a new advisory from the OIG.

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) is pictured at a City Council meeting in January 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Public Safety on Tuesday approved an ordinance hiking fines for animal cruelty and voted down a measure to enhance penalties for minors that violate curfew and engage in other disruptive, destructive and illegal behavior and hold parents more accountable. 

The committee did not decide on a measure to enhance penalties for behavior that disturbs the peace where an offender conceals their identity.

A Peoples Gas truck is pictured. [Provided]

The city’s gas utility told the City Council Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy on Tuesday that the state’s directive for the company to retire and replace aging pipeline infrastructure necessitated their latest rate hike request.

A Peoples Gas truck is pictured. [Provided]

Alderpeople on the City Council Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy on Tuesday will hold a hearing on Peoples Gas’ rate hike request and its new program to identify and replace pipes that are most at risk of a failure.

The environment committee will meet at 11 a.m. in Room 201A at City Hall.

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15), pictured at a City Council meeting in January 2025, has three ordinances before the public safety committee Tuesday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Public Safety on Tuesday will consider an ordinance hiking fines for animal cruelty, a measure to enhance penalties for minors that violate curfew and engage in other disruptive, destructive and illegal behavior, while seeking to also hold parents accountable, and a measure to enhance penalties for behavior that disturbs the peace where an offender conceals their identity. 

The public safety committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. in council chambers.

Finance Chair Pat Dowell (3) is pictured during a City Council meeting on June 12, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Finance on Friday advanced a proposal to create a new local taxing district within the city’s busiest tourist areas to generate revenue to be reinvested in the promotion of the city’s tourism and convention industries.

City Hall is pictured. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Two rating agencies downgraded the city of Chicago’s credit this week, citing continued under-reliance on structural fiscal solutions to its budget gaps, growing pressure on city finances due to pension obligations and uncertainty from a number of unproven revenue sources passed in the City Council-driven budget plan.

Finance Chair Pat Dowell (3) is pictured during a City Council meeting on June 12, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Finance on Friday will hold a hearing and vote on a proposal to create a local taxing district to help promote the city’s tourism and convention industry.

Chicago Animal Care and Control Executive Director Susan Cappello speaks at a city animal shelter press conference next to Mayor Brandon Johnson on Feb. 25, 2026. [Livestream]

The mayor and several alderpeople traveled to Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC) on Wednesday to extol the leadership and qualifications of the agency’s newly appointed director, whose selection has drawn some criticism.

Earlier this month, Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed CACC Executive Director Susan Cappello following a long tenure as the agency’s interim leader, which predated Johnson’s ascension to the fifth floor. Cappello has worked for the city for 36 years — including more than two decades with the animal control agency — and previously served as a deputy CACC director.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg speaks to City Club of Chicago on Aug. 26, 2025. [Livestream]

As Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s tenure comes to an end in a little over a month, a committee of experts and stakeholders are evaluating candidates to fill the position.

Chicago City Hall is pictured. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

About a week after the City Council passed a measure intended to circumvent the Johnson administration and notify the state about the city opting in to the legalization of video gambling, the Illinois Gaming Board said Tuesday it still hadn’t received any notification. City Clerk Anna Valencia’s office said it would meet its obligations to notify them this week. 

From left, Comm. Frank Aguilar (D-16), Miranda Hernandez and Berwyn City Clerk Letty Garcia are running for District 16 on the Cook County Board of Commissioners [Provided]

Comm. Frank Aguilar (D-16) is being challenged for his seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners this spring by two opponents in his party, and one of them is raising far more funds than he has.

The incumbent commissioner is a former Republican state representative who was appointed to the board in 2020, after changing his party affiliation about six or seven years earlier, to replace Comm. Jeffrey Tobolski. He was elected in 2022 to a full term.

A rendering of the proposed building at 215 N. Racine Ave. [Department of Planning and Development]

The Chicago Plan Commission last week approved large residential projects in Lake View and the West Loop, including one project that was approved by the body despite the disapproval of the city’s zoning administrator. 

State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke attends the 2025 Machine Gun Conversion Device Summit in June 2025. [Cook County State's Attorney's Office]

A couple weeks after Mayor Brandon Johnson issued an executive order that directs the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to investigate potential crimes committed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal immigration agents in the course of their duties and refer them to the state’s attorney’s office for possible prosecution, the state’s attorney’s office has issued its own guidance after questioning the viability of the mayor’s directive. 

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s office said the new guidance, dubbed the Federal Immigration Enforcement Action Response Protocol, became effective Thursday.