Chicago News
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NOV 22, 2021
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Chinatown residents held a rally in Chinatown square on Nov. 12 to demand a majority-Asian American ward in the city's next remap. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
Even as the City Council Aldermanic Black Caucus and Latino Caucus drive toward a standoff over their dueling proposals for a new city ward map, the groups have found agreement on at least one point. Leaders of both groups say they’ve submitted proposals to carve out a majority-Asian ward on the city’s Near South Side, bowing to growing calls from Asian American advocacy groups arguing the city’s fastest-growing racial group deserves a louder voice in city government.
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NOV 18, 2021
Civic Federation president Laurence Msall testifies during a meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners on Thursday.
Cook County leaders gave a unanimous final stamp on Thursday to an $8 billion 2022 spending plan praised by a key fiscal watchdog as a responsible and innovative path out of the COVID-19 pandemic. But more budget fights are waiting on deck as the Board of Commissioners prepare to iron out the details of the county’s American Rescue Plan spending and launch a campaign to persuade voters to raise their own taxes for the sake of the county forest preserves.
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NOV 18, 2021
Aldermen listened to a presentation on the proposed Coalition Map spearheaded by the City Council Latino Caucus.
With 12 days until a critical deadline to vote on a new map, aldermanic debate over the city ward remap on Thursday broke out into the public sphere for the first time since the behind-the-scenes process got underway.
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NOV 18, 2021
The Chicago Plan Commission gave an initial OK to an affordable housing development along Fifth Avenue in East Garfield Park.
A proposal to build affordable apartments and condos side-by-side in East Garfield Park cleared a key hurdle on Thursday by nabbing the endorsement of the Chicago Plan Commission.
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NOV 17, 2021
Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a news conference on Wednesday. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
Aldermen gave the Chicago Police Board the go-ahead on Wednesday to draw up an appeal process for people who want their names removed from a new system intended to replace the Chicago Police Department’s controversial Gang Database.
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NOV 17, 2021
The City Council Latino Caucus held a news conference to promote its map proposal on Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]
Members of the City Council Latino Caucus are “locked in” on their insistence that a new city ward map must include 15 majority-Latino wards, putting them on a collision course with the council’s larger Aldermanic Black Caucus with less than two weeks remaining to reach a deal.
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NOV 17, 2021
The Cook County Board of Commissioners is set to approve the county's 2022 budget on Thursday. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
Cook County commissioners are set to give a final stamp on Thursday to county board President Toni Preckwinkle’s $8 billion blueprint (21-5619) to fund the county government in 2022, backed in part by a $1 billion boost from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
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NOV 17, 2021
Developers are proposing adaptive reuse of the historic former Ludlow Typography Company building at 2032 N. Clybourn Ave. [Department of Planning and Development]
A mixed-use campus in East Garfield Park and a residential adaptive reuse planned near the future site of Lincoln Yards are set to headline Thursday’s meeting of the Chicago Plan Commission.
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NOV 17, 2021
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Brewpubs like Goose Island in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor will be able to set up outdoor patio seating under an ordinance set for City Council approval. [Facebook/Goose Island]
Chicago’s proliferation of outdoor restaurant patios will be free to extend into the industrial districts of the city’s Near West and Northwest Side under a rule change set for final approval on Wednesday.
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NOV 17, 2021
Aldermen are set to meet on Wednesday for the first regular City Council meeting since approving the 2022 budget. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]
During the first regular City Council meeting since passing the 2022 budget, aldermen on Wednesday are set to approve nearly $3 million for five police-related settlements and loosen rules allowing dogs in some Chicago bars, among dozens of other measures.
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NOV 17, 2021
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Ald. James M. Gardiner (45) reacts at a City Council meeting where alderpeople voted on the 2022 budget, on Oct. 27, 2021. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]
The city’s ethics board is calling for harsher punishments for alderpeople who violate the council’s code of conduct after Ald. Jim Gardiner (45) allegedly retaliated against constituents who criticized him.
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NOV 17, 2021
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The zoning amendment for the lot near Argyle Street and Long Avenue kills the proposed project by developer American Heritage, which was first introduced in 2014. [provided]
A proposal to bring a 48-unit Northwest Side apartment complex that was already on life support is now officially dead after Ald. Jim Gardiner (45) downzoned a vacant Jefferson Park lot this week, undoing a 2016 zoning decision championed by his predecessor.
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NOV 16, 2021
The City Council Committee on Finance approved nearly $3 million in police-related settlements on Monday, including a $2 million payout related to a woman killed in a high-speed chase in 2018. [UnSplash/Scott Rodgerson]
A City Council committee advanced a $2 million payout on Monday to settle a lawsuit tied to a 2018 high-speed police chase that ended in a woman’s death. But multiple aldermen resisted the deal in the latest sign of the City Council’s growing restlessness with city attorneys over misconduct lawsuits.
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NOV 16, 2021
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A proposed ordinance will allow bar owners to invite pets inside their businesses — but only if they do not serve food. [Lo Rez Brewing/Archie's Rockwell Tavern]
City rules will allow dog owners to bring their companions into some Chicago bars under an ordinance that advanced out of a City Council committee on Monday.
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NOV 16, 2021
A rendering of the LeClaire Courts redevelopment plan proposed by the Chicago Housing Authority and two private development firms [Department of Planning and Development]
A years-in-the-making plan to build 725 new homes and a network of businesses on the former Southwest Side site of the LeClaire Courts public housing complex is set to take one step closer to reality on Tuesday.
