Chicago News
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Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson presents findings from an OIG audit of the Chicago Police Department's overtime practices on October 3, 2017. Supt. Eddie Johnson stands behind. Credit: A.D. Quig
Just weeks before Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson is set to make his 2017 budget request to aldermen, Inspector General Joe Ferguson released an audit blasting the department’s overtime practices.
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OCT 04, 2017
Ald. Anthony Beale (9) has updated his plan to require fingerprinting of Uber and Lyft drivers and impose caps on surge pricing ahead of Wednesday’s meeting of the City Council’s Transportation Committee, which he chairs. The new ordinance is scheduled for a direct and introduction and vote.
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OCT 04, 2017
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Ald. Michelle Harris (top row, fourth from left) and Human Rights Commissioner Mona Noriega stand on the Council chambers’ steps after the Workforce Committee passed the so-called “Hands Off, Pants On” ordinance on Oct. 2, 2017. Credit: A.D. Quig
Hotel workers clad in red UNITE HERE shirts broke into applause Monday morning after quick passage of an ordinance mandating hotels outfit their employees with panic buttons they can push in case of sexual harassment or assault from guests. Hotels must also create an anti-sexual harassment policy and post it publicly. The Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL), UNITE HERE Local 1 and lead sponsor Ald. Michelle Harris (8) celebrated the move as a union-business victory to protect workers who are largely women of color and immigrants.
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A proposal from Mayor Rahm Emanuel would impose stiffer penalties on companies or individuals caught illegally dumping trash. The proposal is one of two from the mayor on the Health and Environmental Protection Committee's agenda Tuesday. The second item aims to promote healthier food purchases by city departments.
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OCT 03, 2017
UNLOCKEDThe City Council’s Committees on Aviation and Finance are having a second meeting near Midway Airport to discuss the Department of Aviation’s program to soundproof nearby homes.
One ordinance requests the presence of Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans to detail how CDA is addressing those concerns. The other ordinance requests an explanation from Evans for not attending the previous off-site meeting.
The latter item, co-sponsored by Finance Chair Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Marty Quinn (13), is in response to Evan’s absence at similar Aug. 23 hearing held at the Hale Park gymnasium. “Such an obstruction in a legal setting may elicit a finding of contempt within the applicable jurisdiction and venue,” the ordinance reads.
Tuesday’s meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Mayfield Banquet Facility. More than 10,000 homes near Midway have taken advantage of the Residential Sound Insulation Program (RSIP) administered by CDA. Residents have recently issued complaints of odors emanating from windows installed as part of the program. -
Union West, a pair of 15-story high-rises with a total of 358-units, is among several project for the West Loop and Near West Side awaiting review by the City Council’s Zoning Committee Tuesday. A joint venture of ZOM Living and Verde Communities is behind the project that has garnered a significant amount of public opposition from neighborhood residents, including at the September Plan Commission meeting.
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The Council’s Workforce Committee meets this morning to consider an ordinance that would require hotels to equip some of their employees with panic buttons. Under the proposal, hotels would have to provide the buttons free of charge to all employees who work in guests’ rooms. It’s aimed at protecting housekeepers and other hotel workers who work alone in guest rooms and restrooms from being sexually assaulted by guests.
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This week on The Daily Line’s Aldercast, we go back to our original format to bring you three of the week’s big stories. Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill ensuring abortion access if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, but outraged members of his own party and in the anti-abortion community. Cook County Comm. Richard Boykin announced he’s not challenging Toni Preckwinkle for Board President in 2018, and Ald. Walter Burnett (27) scuffles with aldermen opposed to a pilot anti-gentrification program.
Have comments, questions, or pitches? Email us: [email protected]. -
Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin (right), brushes a tear after announcing he would not run for Cook County Board President Thursday. Credit: A.D. Quig
Surrounded by a group of pastors, volunteers, and fellow politicians, Cook County Comm. Richard Boykin (D-1) announced he would not to take on Toni Preckwinkle in a race for county board president in 2018. He opted to remain in his commissioners seat, describing it as his “highest and best use” to stay, and that he sought unity overall.
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With 21 days left before the close of Amazon’s open request for cities to bid for their second U.S. headquarters, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is living up to his "all hands on deck" pledge by forming a coalition of the city and state’s most prominent elected officials, business, nonprofit and faith leaders to market Chicago as the best choice for the multi-billion dollar tech giant.
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A sparsely-attended Aviation Committee meeting led to quick passage of an expanded and extended lease for the Transportation Service Administration (TSA) at the city’s airports. Chair Michael Zalewski (23) told other aldermen the ordinance was so routine it did not need the usual briefings beforehand, but the committee would have “quite a few” issues to be briefed on in coming weeks.
