Chicago News
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DEC 22, 2020
State Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas was sworn in during a semi-virtual meeting Monday after Democratic Party officials appointed her to fill the seat vacated by Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez.
Northwest Side Democratic officials voted unanimously Monday to appoint Cristina Pacione-Zayas, an education policy advocate and member of the Illinois State Board of Education, to fill the Illinois State Senate seat vacated by Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez. -
Rep. Ann Williams and Sen. Robert Martwick are sponsoring a new bill that would allow the General Assembly to conduct business remotely.
A new bill filed on Monday seeks to allow the General Assembly to conduct business remotely during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and future emergencies.
Sponsored by Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago) and Sen. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago), the legislation (HB 5868) comes months after a similar measure narrowly failed in the House and just weeks ahead of the legislature’s anticipated return to Springfield. -
DEC 22, 2020
A coalition of housing organizers and some aldermen are rallying in support of new city legislation proposed to help maintain affordable homes in the Pilsen and 606 area, but they say the measure’s impact will be muted unless merged with another plan that has been languishing without a vote in the City Council since July.
Small apartment buildings near the 606 Bloomingdale Trail in the Humboldt Park neighborhood [photo courtesy of Steven Vance] -
DEC 22, 2020
UNLOCKED
Chicago Budget Director Susie Park during a virtual 2021 budget hearing
In the 2021 Chicago budget approved last month, city budget documents attributed $43 million of a $93.9 million property tax increase to a "loss in collection" shortfall.
At a November presentation, city Budget Director Susie Park said that this was “the result of a lawsuit that the city lost." -
DEC 22, 2020
Lightfoot addresses the press on Monday.
Aldermen are expected on Tuesday to grill representatives of city departments including the police department and Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) during a hearing on search warrants and search warrant procedures. -
With Gov. JB Pritzker’s goal of expanding broadband access, a new study set to be released to the General Assembly examines the cost of providing free broadband internet to all Illinois households.
Providing free broadband Internet access to every Illinois household would cost between $3.3 billion and $4.2 billion each year, according to a new report that is set to be presented to the Illinois General Assembly. -
DEC 21, 2020
Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner during a virtual budget hearing in November. Flessner resigned on Sunday.
The city’s top lawyer resigned Sunday amid ongoing turmoil over the botched 2019 police raid on social worker Anjanette Young’s home and city leaders’ subsequent attempts to keep a video of the incident under wraps.
Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner tweeted on Sunday afternoon that he “offered my letter of resignation as Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago. It has been an honor to work alongside my friend [Mayor Lori Lightfoot] for the last two years.” -
DEC 21, 2020
An ordinance introduced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot would more than double fines for companies that violate the city’s air pollution rules.
Proposals aimed at cracking down on polluters and adding protections for undocumented immigrants were among the dozens of new measures set to fall on the City Council’s plate once aldermen return for the new year.
Fines would be increased for large industrial air polluters under a proposal (O2020-6200) introduced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot last week. If approved, the measure would allow the Department of Public Health to lodge larger fines on “industrial facilities and demolition contractors that create dust and risk the health and quality-of-life of residents.” -
DEC 18, 2020
The Cook County Board of Commissioners spent about two hours discussing a contract expansion for the county Sheriff’s Office before voting 14-3 to approve the item.
Cook County commissioners on Thursday spent nearly two hours locked in a tense and at-times chaotic debate before voting to approve a $13 million contract for the county Sheriff’s Office to expand its stockpile of tracking devices for detainees released on electronic monitoring. The conversation opened into a wider skirmish over commissioners’ scrutiny of the sheriff’s office as part of the county’s murky ongoing effort to wind down its spending on law enforcement. -
DEC 18, 2020
The Plan Commission on Thursday approved all five items on its agenda including a $250 million development on the Near North Side.
The Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday approved all five development proposals on its agenda, including a $250 million project on the Near North Side and another to rehabilitate the Wilson Avenue Theater and build an adjacent residential building. -
DEC 18, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Supt. David Brown address reporters in a press conference Thursday
The city will change its policies to make it easier for people to seek information on police incidents that involved them, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday, adding that she will also work to more quickly release videos of potential police misconduct. -
DEC 17, 2020
Fares will be halved on the Metra Electric and Rock Island train lines under the three-year South Cook Fair Transit Pilot
More than a year after it was first rolled out, a Cook County plan to boost options for transit riders in Chicago’s south suburbs is on the verge of being formalized by the county’s Board of Commissioners. -
DEC 17, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot oversees the City Council meeting Wednesday.
Aldermen on Wednesday approved ordinances that legalize accessory dwelling units in five pilot areas, abolish the Pilsen Historic District and allow for a $300,000 settlement to be paid to a resident who alleged she was shoved down two flights of stairs by a police officer stationed at a high school. -
DEC 16, 2020
After months of delays and intense lobbying, a controversial proposal to extend a series of rules for tenants and landlords across suburban Cook County will wait at least one more month before it gets a vote, its sponsor said Tuesday.
Cook County Comm. Scott Britton (left) and Comm. Kevin Morrison are sponsors of the proposed Cook County Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance. [Facebook/Commissioner Scott Britton]
News in brief: Pritzker scales back COVID-19 briefings; Census participation exceeds 2010, other populated states; Senate releases 2021 session schedule
