Chicago News
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With Gov. JB Pritzker’s goal of expanding broadband access, a new study set to be released to the General Assembly examines the cost of providing free broadband internet to all Illinois households.
Providing free broadband Internet access to every Illinois household would cost between $3.3 billion and $4.2 billion each year, according to a new report that is set to be presented to the Illinois General Assembly. -
DEC 21, 2020
Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner during a virtual budget hearing in November. Flessner resigned on Sunday.
The city’s top lawyer resigned Sunday amid ongoing turmoil over the botched 2019 police raid on social worker Anjanette Young’s home and city leaders’ subsequent attempts to keep a video of the incident under wraps.
Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner tweeted on Sunday afternoon that he “offered my letter of resignation as Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago. It has been an honor to work alongside my friend [Mayor Lori Lightfoot] for the last two years.” -
DEC 21, 2020
An ordinance introduced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot would more than double fines for companies that violate the city’s air pollution rules.
Proposals aimed at cracking down on polluters and adding protections for undocumented immigrants were among the dozens of new measures set to fall on the City Council’s plate once aldermen return for the new year.
Fines would be increased for large industrial air polluters under a proposal (O2020-6200) introduced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot last week. If approved, the measure would allow the Department of Public Health to lodge larger fines on “industrial facilities and demolition contractors that create dust and risk the health and quality-of-life of residents.” -
DEC 18, 2020
The Cook County Board of Commissioners spent about two hours discussing a contract expansion for the county Sheriff’s Office before voting 14-3 to approve the item.
Cook County commissioners on Thursday spent nearly two hours locked in a tense and at-times chaotic debate before voting to approve a $13 million contract for the county Sheriff’s Office to expand its stockpile of tracking devices for detainees released on electronic monitoring. The conversation opened into a wider skirmish over commissioners’ scrutiny of the sheriff’s office as part of the county’s murky ongoing effort to wind down its spending on law enforcement. -
DEC 18, 2020
The Plan Commission on Thursday approved all five items on its agenda including a $250 million development on the Near North Side.
The Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday approved all five development proposals on its agenda, including a $250 million project on the Near North Side and another to rehabilitate the Wilson Avenue Theater and build an adjacent residential building. -
DEC 18, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Supt. David Brown address reporters in a press conference Thursday
The city will change its policies to make it easier for people to seek information on police incidents that involved them, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday, adding that she will also work to more quickly release videos of potential police misconduct. -
DEC 17, 2020
Fares will be halved on the Metra Electric and Rock Island train lines under the three-year South Cook Fair Transit Pilot
More than a year after it was first rolled out, a Cook County plan to boost options for transit riders in Chicago’s south suburbs is on the verge of being formalized by the county’s Board of Commissioners. -
DEC 17, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot oversees the City Council meeting Wednesday.
Aldermen on Wednesday approved ordinances that legalize accessory dwelling units in five pilot areas, abolish the Pilsen Historic District and allow for a $300,000 settlement to be paid to a resident who alleged she was shoved down two flights of stairs by a police officer stationed at a high school. -
DEC 16, 2020
After months of delays and intense lobbying, a controversial proposal to extend a series of rules for tenants and landlords across suburban Cook County will wait at least one more month before it gets a vote, its sponsor said Tuesday.
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] -
DEC 16, 2020
Aldermen on Tuesday passed a proposal for a 5-story mixed-use development in the 46th Ward.
Aldermen on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposal to build a new mixed-use building in Uptown despite neighbors’ opposition and advanced an ordinance that would increase fines for homeowners who skirt city rules in historic preservation districts. -
DEC 16, 2020
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Doctor Marina Del Rios from UI Health receives Chicago's first COVID-19 vaccination from Dr. Nikhila Juvvadi on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, at Loretto Hospital, a 122-bed medical facility in the Austin neighborhood. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/pool)
Tuesday morning's vaccine kicks off what officials say will be a year-long effort to get as many people as possible vaccinated in Chicago to end the COVID-19 pandemic.
AUSTIN — Chicago’s vaccination campaign has officially begun, marking the beginning of the end of the pandemic, officials said.
The city gave its first dose of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to doctors, nurses and a patient care technician Tuesday morning at Loretto Hospital. It kicked off what officials say will be a year-long effort to get as many people as possible vaccinated in Chicago to end the COVID-19 pandemic. -
DEC 16, 2020
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Chicago Department of Housing policy director Daniel Hertz shows a map of the North pilot area where accessory dwelling units may be added under an ordinance set for approval on Wednesday.
The City Council will convene for its last virtual meeting of 2020 to approve dozens of licensing measures, development approvals and new policies while officially discontinuing the controversial Pilsen Historic Landmark District two years after its creation.
Among the ordinances set for approval will be a long-brewing measure to legalize the construction of coach houses and basement conversion apartments, also known as accessory dwelling units, in five “pilot areas” around the city.
Related: Coach house ordinance returns with smaller footprint after hitting City Council resistance -
DEC 15, 2020
Finance Committee chair Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) and SomerCor CEO Manny Flores during a meeting of the City Council Committee on Finance on Monday
Aldermen voted on Monday to expand a city-backed grant program that officials said could help a growing number of small businesses recover from the economic devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. -
DEC 15, 2020
Ald. Leslie Hairston says the administration has rejected a proposal arrestees have access to a phone within an hour of being detained.
Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) on Monday said Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration has “rejected” her proposal to require police to provide arrestees with access to a phone and a list of free legal counsel options within an hour of being taken into custody, but the alderman is not backing down.
