CTA buses saw a 50 percent decline in trips between 2019 and 2020. [Lee Edwards/Block Club]

Mass transit became an immediate casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, as nationwide stay-at-home orders and crowding concerns drove Americans away from trains and buses.

The drop-off did not spare Chicago-area transit networks, which saw a freefall in ridership in April and May 2020, according to a March 25 report from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute. Even as the region began to partially reopen in June, CTA buses saw a 50 percent decline in trips compared to 2019, while CTA trains suffered a loss of 77 percent and Metra lost 89 percent of its riders.

News in brief: CTA tests electric buses; Pritzker signs CTU bargaining bill 

News in brief: Emissions decline from large buildings, but schools lag; Chicago ‘probably will’ see delay in Johnson & Johnson vaccine: Arwady 

News in brief: Emissions decline from large buildings, but schools lag; Chicago ‘probably will’ see delay in Johnson & Johnson vaccine: Arwady

Instead of fusing all their ideas together, proponents of two competing proposals to enact civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department struck a compromise last month by asking voters to chose which version they like better.

The new proposed measure, called the Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance, is endorsed by advocates of the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA) and Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) proposals — neither of which is supported by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

News in brief: City opens ‘state of the art’ West Pullman firehouse; Lightfoot says she wants casino ‘entertainment district;’ BACP fires warning shot at businesses 

News in brief: City opens ‘state of the art’ West Pullman firehouse; Lightfoot says she wants casino ‘entertainment district;’ BACP fires warning shot at businesses

The city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department continue to miss deadlines set out in the federal consent decree established in March 2019, a semi-annual report from Independent Monitor Maggie Hickey shows.

Planning department Deputy Comm. Kathy Dickhut presenting an update on the “We Will” plan during a March 18 Chicago Plan Commission meeting

---

Ald. Pat Dowell (3), a former city planning official who now chairs the City Council’s Committee on Budget and Government Operations, had a simple question for leaders of the Department of Planning and Development about their forthcoming “We Will” plan during a budget hearing last fall.

“We will what?” Dowell asked planning department Comm. Maurice Cox in November. “Plan for a better downtown? We will plan for a better neighborhood? …That's not clear.”

News in brief: Two new mass vaccination sites to open April 5; City launches human trafficking awareness campaign 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot (middle), Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson (right) and Ald. William Burnett (left) observe a classroom during their tour Feb. 11 at William H. Brown Elementary School. AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar, Pool

CPS CEO Janice Jackson also said the district will soon announce how families will be able to opt in for in-person learning when CPS' fourth quarter starts.

CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot aMayor nd public schools chief Janice Jackson celebrated as some students returned to classrooms Thursday, the first day kids are back after officials struck a deal with the Chicago Teachers Union to reopen schools.

The deal was called a “disgrace” by CTU President Jesse Sharkey, who said it didn’t go far enough to protect teachers, students and school communities during the coronavirus pandemic. The union said 67.5 percent of its members who voted approved of the plan, and the majority of CPS families are opting to keep their students at home for now.

News in brief: Two new mass vaccination sites to open April 5; City launches human trafficking awareness campaign

The chair of the City Council Committee on Public Safety abruptly canceled two consecutive monthly meetings after stating an intention at the beginning of the year to meet more frequently. Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29) told The Daily Line on Tuesday he still plans to meet twice per month, but grappling with other committees to schedule virtual meetings has  presented more challenges than scheduling in-person meetings.

The committee responsible for considering significant new legislation on civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department and reforms to police search warrant procedures has not met since January.

Cook County may pause on ‘long overdue’ ethics overhaul as state legislation hangs in wait 

Cook County commissioners and at least one government watchdog praised a raft of updates officials have in store for the county’s ethics code, but they may hit pause while they wait for a cue from state lawmakers, they said Monday. 

Cook County Comm. Larry Suffredin (D-13) said at the end of Monday’s brisk 30-minute meeting of the county board’s Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee that he plans to introduce a “new draft” next month of his ordinance (20-4404), which would tighten county rules on nepotism, sexual harassment and other ethical red flags. 

City, unions launch new vaccination site; Lightfoot says stimulus spending plan may not go before City Council until June