Chicago News
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After some confusion and tangents on ice cream, City Council’s Health and Environmental Protection Committee passed new food inspection language that aligns the Department of Public Health’s mandate with new federal rules. The department is also moving to address a critique from Inspector General Joe Ferguson, who said the food sanitation division was vastly under-staffed and consistently behind on inspections. Without that staff in place, the city could lose out on close to $3 million in grants.
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DEC 07, 2017
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is looking to beef up the city’s restaurant inspection unit after a report from the Office of the Inspector General criticized the city’s public health department for falling behind on checks on food establishments. Rules governing the authority and fee structure of food inspections in Chicago are on the agenda for the City Council’s Health Committee.
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DEC 06, 2017
More than 175 companies have RSVP’d for a pre-bid conference on Chicago’s renewed efforts to build an express train connecting the Loop to O’Hare Airport. That’s the number the Mayor’s office is touting six days after the Chicago Infrastructure Trust (CIT), a private public partnership Emanuel created in his first year as mayor, released the invite.
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Lake County Judge Mitchell L. Hoffman granted Chief Judge Timothy Evans a temporary restraining order in Evans’ case against the county Tuesday afternoon, arguing Evans “has the right to control the manner in which the County’s budget appropriation is applied to the function” of the court.
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Cook County’s crowded 7th district race thinned somewhat, as Cook County Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s (D-7) hand-picked successor, longtime ally Ald. Rick Muñoz (22), filed roughly 1,000 signatures Monday morning, then withdrew them before the end of the day. He threw his support to Garcia’s director of administration, Alma Anaya.
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DEC 05, 2017
Some familiar names from elections past reappeared Monday, the final filing day for anyone interested in getting on the March 2018 primary ballot. Aaron Goldstein, the attorney who replaced long-time 33rd Ward Democratic Committeeman Dick Mell, is running for Illinois Attorney General. He, Sharon Fairley and Jessie Ruiz, president of the city’s Park District Board, now enter a lottery for the last spot on the ballot, the second most coveted placement.
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Late Thursday, Chief Judge Timothy Evans filed a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order against Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Treasurer Maria Pappas seeking to halt layoffs included in the fiscal year 2018 budget. On Friday, the judge assigned to the case issued a continuance until Tuesday at 11:00 a.m.
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Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will be in her home turf, the 4th Ward, to accept the endorsement of several faith leaders Monday morning, while county watchers wait for the final word on who will be challenging her, and who is jumping into the race for Illinois’ 4th Congressional district.
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Correction: This article has been updated to reflect a contested race in the 17th district.
Angeles “Angie” Sandoval filed a D-1 Thursday for a potential run in Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s district. Sandoval listed her address in the Southwest corner of the 7th District, but did not specify which board seat she was running for.
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DEC 01, 2017
UNLOCKEDChicago Public Schools (CPS) announced a new charter school for Grand Crossing while closing another one in Washington Park. CPS said the Architectural Construction and Engineering Technical Charter High School will shutter at the end of the school year due to “poor academic performance.”
Art in Motion, operated by Distinctive Schools, was selected to provide more arts education to high schoolers on the South Side, “providing families with a performing arts school that leverages personalized learning curriculum and rigorous instruction.”
“To ensure students receive the high quality education they deserve, CPS is recommending closure of a poor performing charter, as well as opening a high quality school to meet demand for a performing arts education in the Greater Grand Crossing area,” said CPS CEO Forrest Claypool. “Our priority is ensuring that schools deliver a high quality education and meet a need in the community, and we are confident these decisions are in the best interest of our students.”
The clout-heavy team includes Pastor John F. Hannah With New Life Covenant Church, a one-time member of the city’s Human Relations Board, the Lynn Group, a nonprofit operated by rapper Common, and Whole Foods. Hannah was a member of the city’s 2012 school-closing commission and his church. Since then, his church has purchased several city-owned lots, including the site where the new charter school will be built.
[Art in Motion's Full Application]
Art in Motion’s application offered two potential sites on opposite ends of Grand Crossing Park for the new middle and high school, grade seven through 12.
One is 7600 S. Greenwood Ave., formerly city-owned land the church purchased in 2013 to build a 100,000-square foot mega church with a 4,000‐seat performing arts center, and gallery space. The other option is sharing space at Hirsch Metropolitan High School.
Pending approval by the Board of Education on Monday, the school would open during the 2018-19 academic year with full capacity by 2022-23.
CPS issued a request for proposals for new school operators in December of 2016. [Details of the RFP]. Though nine proposals had been submitted, seven withdrew their application before Thursday’s decision. The completed application from Chicago Classical Academy was denied. -
Mayor Rahm Emanuel tapped a veteran of the Department of Streets and Sanitation to head to the department that manages street cleaning, garbage and recycling pickup, while County Assessor hopeful Fritz Kaegi picked up a major progressive endorsement.
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Local Sanders Group Endorses Kaegi – Kaegi, candidate for Cook County Assessor against incumbent Joe Berrios, received the endorsement of the Illinois Chapter of Our Revolution, the group continuing the mission of the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign on Wednesday. Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-7) and Cook County Clerk David Orr, who have both already endorsed Kaegi, were both on hand, as was Executive Director Clem Balanoff at the Hotel Allegro, a location Hotel Allegro, a symbolic location for old Chicago power. On Monday at petition filing, Kaegi hinted such a big name endorsement was on the way. “People are grabbing our petitions out of our hands to sign them, including in the 31st ward,” said Kaegi. Ward 31 is Berrios’ own political home base. Kaegi said he turned in more than 22,000 signatures for verification. “Fritz will fight for the working families of Cook County, vows to eliminate the regressive and racist ‘Berrios Tax’ -- and will work tirelessly to correct the current unjust property tax assessment system,” Our Revolution IL’s Facebook announcement read. It’s the first Illinois endorsement the group has made.
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Leadership Shuffle At Streets And San – Emanuel announced Wednesday morning he appointed “John Tully, a 23-year-veteran of the City of Chicago, as the new Commissioner of the Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS).” Tully will replaces Charles Williams, “who plans to retire,” effective immediately. Williams, a former police officer, oversaw the city’s switch to grid trash collection, “which accounts for nearly $30 million of operational savings each year” and freed up crews to work on graffiti, tree trimming, and rat complaints. Tully first joined Streets and San as fiscal administrator in 1994, then through a series of positions at the Bureau of Sanitation, and most recently as first deputy commissioner. Tully's appointment is subject to City Council approval, but he serve as interim in the meantime.
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Beverage Tax Opponents To Celebrate – The “Can the Tax” coalition, a group of business interests who worked to repeal Cook County’s sweetened beverage tax, will “toast the end” of the tax at a press event this Friday. The penny per ounce tax pushed up the price of a 12 pack of soda by $1.44. Revenues from the tax “With the beverage tax gone, the group will declare ‘Cook County is open for business,’ and urge county residents and consumers to come back to Cook County to shop and eat in their stores and restaurants,” a release sent Wednesday says. The event will take place at Food Market La Chiquita in Cicero. Shop owners said the combination of the sales tax, bag tax, cigarette and gas taxes, and beverage tax were pushing customers outside the county for their shopping. 15 of 17 Cook County commissioners voted in October to sunset the beverage tax at the end of the 2017 fiscal year, Nov. 30. Comm. Richard Boykin (D-1) and Comm. Peter Silvestri (R-9), who both voted for the repeal, will attend.
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A Battle Begins In Cook County’s 7th District – Alex Acevedo, a pediatric nurse and the son of former State Rep. Eddie Acevedo, turned in signatures for Cook County’s 7th District race Wednesday morning, less than 24 hours after current Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia formally announced he’d be running for Congress. Acevedo, who according to his LinkedIn directed Latino outreach for Gov. Pat Quinn’s 2014 race and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2015 race, lost his own bid to replace his father as state Representative for the Second District to Theresa Mah in 2016. His father expressed interest in taking on Sheriff Tom Dart in the 2018 Democratic primary, and has received a $5,000 donation from the PAC that represents correctional officers at the jail, but has not yet submitted his petitions.
- Council’s Econ Committee Cancels Meeting – City Council’s Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development meeting set for today has been rescheduled for Dec. 11. The agenda included four resolutions in support of four property tax breaks in the 34th, 25th, 23rd, and 11th wards. On Tuesday, Committee Chair Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) of Wicker Park announced plans to challenge Garcia for U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez’s seat. Moreno, and everyone else vying for the seat, has until Monday to file signatures to get on the ballot.
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Local Sanders Group Endorses Kaegi – Kaegi, candidate for Cook County Assessor against incumbent Joe Berrios, received the endorsement of the Illinois Chapter of Our Revolution, the group continuing the mission of the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign on Wednesday. Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-7) and Cook County Clerk David Orr, who have both already endorsed Kaegi, were both on hand, as was Executive Director Clem Balanoff at the Hotel Allegro, a location Hotel Allegro, a symbolic location for old Chicago power. On Monday at petition filing, Kaegi hinted such a big name endorsement was on the way. “People are grabbing our petitions out of our hands to sign them, including in the 31st ward,” said Kaegi. Ward 31 is Berrios’ own political home base. Kaegi said he turned in more than 22,000 signatures for verification. “Fritz will fight for the working families of Cook County, vows to eliminate the regressive and racist ‘Berrios Tax’ -- and will work tirelessly to correct the current unjust property tax assessment system,” Our Revolution IL’s Facebook announcement read. It’s the first Illinois endorsement the group has made.
