Members of the City Council Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety met Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

With 17 days until NASCAR drivers descend upon Chicago’s downtown streets, alderpersons finally had the opportunity to ask race officials and city leaders questions publicly about the safety precautions and closures surrounding the event. 

The NASCAR street race, the first of its kind for Chicago, was controversial from the get-go when former Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced plans for the race weekend without seeking approvals from the City Council. But alderpersons’ concerns seemed softened during Wednesday’s hearing. 

A rendering of a proposed mixed-use development at 1300 W. Lake St. in Fulton Market. [Chicago Department of Planning and Development presentation]

The Chicago Plan Commission will meet Thursday to consider rezoning requests to facilitate the construction of a large mixed-use development in Fulton Market, to accommodate holiday-themed festivities in the Goose Island area and to allow for the creation of a new entertainment venue in West Town. The commission will meet at 10 a.m. at City Hall.

A key City Council committee will consider two proposals for new community gardens in the 10th and 28th wards. The council’s license committee will consider routine proposals related to alcoholic liquor and packaged goods licenses on Thursday. 

Members of the finance committee will meet Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Members of the City Council Committee on Finance will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday to consider approving four settlements totaling more than $9 million and proposals for tax-increment finance funding for developments across the city. 

Wednesday will mark the first time the finance committee is meeting under the new leadership of chair Ald. Pat Dowell (3). Ald. Bill Conway (34) is the vice chair of the committee. 

Ald. Daniel La Spata (1), the new chair of the City Council Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety, is seen during a council meeting in March 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line] 

The City Council Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety will hold a hearing Wednesday on downtown closures to accommodate the upcoming NASCAR street race event, with a focus on how planned street closures and event setup will impact the safety of motorists, pedestrians and active transportation users downtown.

The City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development on Tuesday approved five appointments and reappointments to Special Service Areas across the city. Chicago Department of Public Health officials on Tuesday reported the city’s first mosquito batch to test positive for West Nile Virus.

The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate met in council chambers on Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Members of the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate on Monday approved a proposal to expand a program that currently provides purchasing assistance in particular areas of the city. 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks at an event in Dixmoor on June 12, 2023. [Livestream]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle traveled to the village of Dixmoor Monday to celebrate the groundbreaking of a water main infrastructure improvement project that is backed by federal funding and money allocated by the county board of commissioners. Preckwinkle was joined by U.S Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), U.S Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development will meet Tuesday to consider appointments to various Special Service Areas across the city. The Committee on Workforce Development on Monday approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County for land management services provided through Greencorps Chicago. 

The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate will meet in council chambers at 11 a.m. Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate on Monday will consider expanding a program that offers purchasing assistance in particular areas of the city to a citywide program. 

Monday’s 11 a.m. meeting marks the first time the housing committee will meet under the new leadership of Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25). 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks about shortages of chemotherapy drugs with Sen. Dick Durbin during a news conference on June 9, 2023. [Cook County President's Office Facebook]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle joined officials from Cook County Health and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) at a news conference Friday to speak about shortages of crucial medications to help cancer patients.

Participants receive their bikes through CDOT’s "Bike Chicago” program. [Photo provided by Chicago Department of Transportation]

A little over one year since the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) announced it would give away 5,000 bikes, the program has distributed 913 free bikes to Chicagoans. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and CTU President Stacy Davis Gates during a news conference Thursday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

City, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) leaders on Thursday announced plans to extend a program similar to the city’s parental leave policy that guarantees 12 weeks paid leave to birthing and non-birthing parents to all CPS employees by the start of the 2023-2024 school year. 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle addresses the Basic Income Guarantee Conference in Chicago on June 8, 2023. [President Toni Preckwinkle's Facebook page]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle delivered the keynote address at the 21st annual Basic Income Guarantee Conference Thursday morning and called the county’s guaranteed basic income pilot program an example of the government's role in righting historical wrongs. This year the conference was held in Chicago’s West Loop. 

The Cook County Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot is in its seventh month of distributing monthly cash payments to more than 3,000 households, and Preckwinkle’s speech Thursday coincided with the release of an online report highlighting some of the residents who have been assisted.

Since the beginning of May and with about three weeks of leading the city under his belt, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s has reported more than $830,000 in donations — much of it coming from unions that previously backed or donated to Johnson’s mayoral challengers. 

Johnson was sworn in May 15 along with all 50 alderpersons. On the same day, Johnson issued four executive orders, one creating the role of deputy mayor for labor relations. The new deputy mayor position is expected to coordinate on fostering and developing “the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of Chicago, in addition to improving working conditions, advancing new job opportunities for employment, and protecting workers’ rights,” according to a news release.  

Related:  

• Johnson sworn in as Chicago’s 57th mayor, says he is ‘deeply optimistic’ about city’s future 
• Johnson signs assortment of executive orders on first day of work