The City Council will consider a packed agenda Wednesday during its final meeting of the year. Aldermen are set to confirm a new 12th Ward alderman and vote on zoning amendments for the Chicago casino and the creation of a new tax-increment financing (TIF) district to fund the Red Line Extension south. 

CTA President Dorval Carter speaks to alderman Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]  

The proposal to create a new tax-increment financing (TIF) district that is expected to fund $959 million of the CTA’s $3.6 billion extension of the Red Line to Chicago’s southern boundary gained nearly unanimous approval from a key City Council committee Monday, teeing the measure up for final council approval Wednesday. 

Concept art for the planned Bally’s casino, hotel and other amenities are shown during the Dec. 12, 2022 Chicago Plan Commission meeting. [Chicago Plan Commission livestream]

The Chicago Plan Commission on Monday approved changes to the planned development for the forthcoming Bally’s casino property at 643-741 W. Chicago Ave. and 641-739 N. Halsted St. The site is proposed to include a casino, hotel, museum and event center.

Attorneys for Willie Wilson and Ja’Mal Green sit at a table for a petition challenge hearing Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Mayoral candidates and their attorneys traded barbs Monday as the Chicago Board of Elections kicked off hearings for challenges to candidates’ petition signatures to get on the Feb. 28 municipal election ballot.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot picked Anabel Abarca as the next 12th Ward alderman. [Friends of Anabel Abarca/anabelfor12.com]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot picked Anabel Abarca to serve as the next 12th Ward alderman, marking the fourth appointment to the City Council Lightfoot has made this term.

Maps show the areas in dark-gray where property tax increment will be used to pay for the Red Line Extension. [CTA/SB Friedman Advisors] 

A proposal for a new tax increment financing (TIF) district to fund $950 million for the CTA’s extension of the Red Line train south from 95th Street to 130th Street could gain initial approval Monday as a key committee is scheduled to vote on the proposal ahead of Wednesday’s City Council meeting.   

Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) during a Friday committee meeting. [City of Chicago livestream] 

A Chicago alderman is hoping the city will consider finding ways to help police officers and other city employees pay for “innovative” treatments for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. 

A rendering of Bally’s casino proposal. [Bally’s] 

The Chicago Plan Commission is set to hold a virtual meeting at 10 a.m. Monday, marking the commission’s final meeting of the year with a light agenda that includes a proposed planned development amendment that would bring the Chicago casino one step closer to reality.  https://chicago.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5841535&GUID=7AB25BF5-C37E-402F-9EB7-F688612A338F&Options=Advanced&Search=

Aldermen will meet virtually Friday for a hearing on new ways to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Aldermen are set on Friday to hold a hearing on resources available to police officers and city employees who are dealing with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to make permanent the city’s expanded outdoor dining program was held in committee Thursday after aldermen raised concern that they didn’t have enough involvement in the ordinance. The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability on Wednesday released a statement urging against the police department’s adoption of an overhauled gang database.

Aldermen in City Council chambers during Wednesday’s meeting of the Subcommittee on Chicago Recovery Plan [Erin Hegarty] 

Aldermen were updated Wednesday on the number of trees the city has planted as part of a multi-year plan meant to help Chicago recover from the pandemic.

Chicago Board of Elections Spokesperson Max Bever during the ballot placement lottery Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Ja’Mal Green will be listed first on the Feb. 28 ballot for the Chicago mayoral race so long as he can survive a challenge to the petition signatures he turned in last month.   

A City Council committee on Tuesday approved a property tax incentive for a grocery store in Humboldt Park. The budget committee is set to hold hearings on environmental justice and climate initiatives under the Chicago Recovery Plan. And another committee will consider granting funding for community gardens and school improvements. 

Ja’Mal Green speaks to reporters Monday after filing a challenge against Willie Wilson’s petition signatures. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]  

Five of the 11 candidates hoping to run for mayor in the Feb. 28 municipal election are facing challenges to the petition signatures they turned in last month. Mayor Lori Lightfoot escaped a challenge from any of the 10 people who are challenging her. 

Related: Ten candidates file petitions to challenge Lightfoot in 2023 mayoral election 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle presides over a special meeting to swear in new members of the Board of Commissioners on Dec. 5, 2022. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The 17-member Cook County Board of Commissioners was sworn into office during a special meeting Monday morning. The board features four new faces and one fewer Republican commissioner. 

Board President Toni Preckwinkle took her oath of office shortly thereafter to be sworn in for a fourth term as the county’s top executive. Preckwinkle’s reelection set her up to be the longest serving board president since George Dunne, who served from 1969 to 1990. Preckwinkle took office in 2010.