Chicago News
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DEC 02, 2020
Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez and planning department Comm. Maurice Cox speaking during a zoning committee meeting
Aldermen voted unanimously on Tuesday to expire the 2-year-old Pilsen Landmark District but rejected a separate proposal to temporarily freeze demolitions in the neighborhood, delivering a mixed verdict to Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) and his supporters. -
DEC 02, 2020
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Avondale's Milwaukee Avenue. MINA BLOOM/BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
It's the latest in a long-running battle between the prominent landlord and Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), who is driving the rezoning plan.
LOGAN SQUARE — A key city committee on Tuesday approved most of the Milwaukee Avenue rezoning plan, an anti-gentrification measure crafted by Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) to block dense development along the stretch.
But one set of properties in line to be rezoned was temporarily dropped from the plan after it was revealed the property owner — prolific landlord Mark Fishman — is threatening to sue the city, the latest in a long-standing battle between him and the alderman. -
DEC 02, 2020
The City Council Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity on Wednesday will consider extending the minority- and women-owned business contracting program. Ald. Carrie Austin (34) is chair of the committee and Ald. David Moore (17) is vice chair of the committee.
Aldermen on Wednesday will consider extending the city’s diverse hiring rules for construction programs through September 2021 while a consultant completes a “disparity study” on the program. -
DEC 01, 2020
A controversial proposal to cement a historic landmark district in Pilsen is set to meet its fate on Tuesday, potentially ending a nearly two-year battle that has pitted neighbors against city planning officials over the future of the neighborhood.
A nearly 2-year-old historic landmark district in Pilsen could come to an end following a vote by the City Council zoning committee on Tuesday. [Department of Planning and Development] -
NOV 30, 2020
Alds. Andre Vasquez (40) and Daniel La Spata (1) are among aldermen who plan to continue pitching alternative revenue plans.
The City Council approved a $94 million property tax increase as part of the $12.8 billion budget last week, but some aldermen are already planning to find alternate revenue for the 2022 budget now that the holiday weekend is over. -
NOV 30, 2020
Attorney Tammy Wendt is racing to prepare for her swearing in as the newest commissioner for the Cook County Board of Review.
On Wednesday, Nov. 4, defense attorney Tammy Wendt sat down to write a concession statement acknowledging that she had failed in her longshot bid to unseat Cook County Board of Review Comm. Dan Patlak (R-1). Leading by about 37,000 votes, Patlak appeared headed for a fourth term on the board, whose decisions wield massive power over tax bills assigned to the county’s nearly 2 million properties. -
NOV 25, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot oversee the City Council meeting on Tuesday during which aldermen approved her pandemic budget.
The $12.8 billion plan that has been referred to as the city’s pandemic budget, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed $94 million property tax increase, was approved Tuesday after a divided City Council voted to pass the plan in a narrow margin not seen on a budget in decades. -
NOV 25, 2020
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks during a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
Cook County commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to lock down a $6.94 billion budget (20-4595) for the 2021 fiscal year, a plan they lauded as a life raft to keep the county’s finances afloat through the COVID-19 pandemic without raising the burden on taxpayers. -
NOV 24, 2020
Cook County commissioners are poised on Tuesday to close the book on the county’s 2021 budget by approving a nearly $7 billion spending blueprint that reverses some previously planned cuts to court and health services.
Amendments to the Cook County 2021 budget restore some funding to the county’s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. [Erik Unger/JJIE] -
NOV 24, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot oversees Monday’s City Council meeting.
A cap on delivery fees for takeout orders is now effective indefinitely in Chicago following a 49-0 City Council vote to approve the legislation as a way to help restaurants struggling financially due to the pandemic. -
NOV 23, 2020
Cook County leaders are pressing forward with an effort to extend a version of Chicago’s tenant protection laws to the rest of the county, but work on the legislation has slowed to a crawl amid a tidal wave of opposition from the real estate industry.
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] -
NOV 23, 2020
Aldermen are expected to vote on the proposed 2021 budget on Tuesday, and Alds. Andre Vasquez (40) and Maria Hadden (49) last week explained why they plan to vote “yes.”
While the proposed 2021 city budget is on the Monday City Council agenda, aldermen are poised to call for a procedure that would delay discussion and a vote until the next City Council meeting on Tuesday.
The parliamentary procedure to “defer and publish,” which aldermen have called “routine,” requires the support of at least two aldermen and would delay a vote on the proposed budget until the next City Council meeting, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the Monday meeting. -
NOV 23, 2020
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PharmaCann got city approval to open a dispensary at 60 W. Superior St. in River North (left) and The Herbal Care Center got a permit to open at 222 S. Halsted St. in Greektown. GOOGLE
The Herbal Care Center and PharmaCann got Zoning Board approval for new dispensaries. Now, the state has to sign off.
CHICAGO — Following three long and contentious meetings, the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals approved permits for two new weed dispensaries close to Downtown without any objection Friday.
The Herbal Care Center, at 222 S. Halsted St. in Greektown, and PharmaCann, at 60 W. Superior St. in River North, received special-use permits at the monthly virtual meeting of the board. The permits are a city requirement, but the two proposed dispensaries still need a state license before they can open.
News in brief: Public comment period opens for RMG’s East Side metal recycling plant; City shuts down 300-person Wicker Park basement party
