Chicago News
-
OCT 23, 2020
Israel Rocha, Jr. was confirmed Thursday as the next CEO of the Cook County Health system.
The new top executive of Cook County’s behemoth health and hospital system plans to audit bill collections, enroll more patients in insurance plans and work with private hospital systems to keep the county’s public network “financially resilient” as it faces long-term mounting costs amid a historic pandemic, he said Thursday. -
OCT 22, 2020
Cook County Clerk chief legal counsel Sisavanh Baker speaks to commissioners during a meeting of the county board’s Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee on Wednesday.
The union representing employees in the Cook County Recorder of Deeds office is raising an alarm over nearly 80 county workers they say are in danger of losing their jobs when it comes time for their roles to be subsumed into Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough’s office later this year. -
OCT 22, 2020
Developers would have to apply for a special permit before using certain demolition materials under an ordinance set for consideration Thursday.
Cook County commissioners are set Thursday to confirm Israel Rocha, Jr. as the next CEO of the $2.8 billion Cook County Health system and adopt new regulations aimed at protecting residents from demolition dust during their last regular meeting before budget hearings get underway later this month. -
OCT 22, 2020
Businesses won’t have to renew expired licenses until at least Jan. 30 under an ordinance set for consideration by a City Council committee on Thursday.
Businesses will enjoy an extended forgiveness period for expired city licenses under a measure set for consideration Thursday, a small consolation as they brace for a long winter with no federal aid in sight. -
OCT 22, 2020
-
OCT 22, 2020
UNLOCKED
Mayor Lori Lightfoot in her budget proposal plans to shift $55 million in costs to Chicago Public Schools (Photo credit: Stacey Rupolo/Chalkbeat)
In Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s efforts to close a $1.2 billion gap in the city budget, City Hall will shift more costs onto Chicago Public Schools.
In a budget plan detailed Wednesday, which includes a property tax hike and job cuts, the mayor proposed shifting about $55 million in costs onto schools. But she offered a sweetener: additional funds from a tax surplus account, which would ostensibly cover the costs for this year and then some. -
OCT 21, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot Wednesday morning will detail plans for the 2021 budget.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been presented with a task analysts say no other mayor has ever faced in filling a $1.2 billion budget gap amid a pandemic, and the proposal she will present Wednesday is likely to be unpopular to many. -
OCT 21, 2020
UNLOCKEDGAPA coordinator Desmon Yancy and CPAC leader Tamer Abouzeid pitch their competing plans
A pair of coalitions pitching dueling plans for civilian-run police oversight councils faced a grilling from aldermen Tuesday on which proposal holds up better under legal and practical scrutiny, even as neither is likely to get a vote in its current form.
-
OCT 20, 2020
-
OCT 20, 2020
Cook County commissioners meet virtually to confirm Israel Rocha, Jr. (top right) as the next CEO of the Cook County Health system
Israel Rocha, Jr. promised Cook County commissioners on Monday he would leverage his nearly two decades of business, public policy and hospital administration experience to navigate the $3 billion Cook County Health system through the double-crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and a persistent rise in hospital costs. -
OCT 20, 2020
UNLOCKEDChicago's top doctor Dr. Allison Arwady urged people to stop inviting people to their homes as COVID cases soar.
PROVIDEDChicago's averaging 508 new cases per day, a 45 percent increase from just one week ago, though testing has only increased 11 percent.
CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned the city could bring back the restrictions of Phase 3 if the “second surge” of coronavirus doesn’t turn around.
The surge started this month and has quickly gained steam: Chicago’s averaging 508 new cases per day, a 50 percent increase from the start of October. The city’s positivity rate has also jumped to 5.4 percent; the week before, it was at 4.2 percent. -
OCT 19, 2020
New Zoning Board of Appeals chair Timothy Knudsen considers a proposal by Dispensary 33 to open a pot shop at 1152 W. Randolph St.
The Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals on Friday gave its first-ever approval to a cannabis grow operation and endorsed a proposal for a new 6,600-square-foot dispensary in the Fulton Market district, setting off a race between two rival pot companies over who can score a license first from state regulators.
Cook County Board of Review Comm. Dan Patlak (R-1) and Democratic challenger Tammy Wendt
