Chicago News

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    Perennial candidate Dr. Willie Wilson has apparently joined the 2019 fray for mayor, while Cook County Comm. Richard Boykin (D-1) steps down in a close race and aldermen consider a new diversity task force and a number of gun measures.

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    Heralding it as the “largest projection installation of its kind in the world,” aldermen unanimously approved the new public art project “Art on theMART” Monday, as well as changes to how much personal information condo board members would have to disclose to unit owners, and a land sale in the city’s 18th Ward that was amended behind the scenes.

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  • City Council’s budget committee meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday to increase the limit of Neighborhood Opportunity funds available to be disbursed to $12.5 million (O2018-1032). Mayor Rahm Emanuel has so far doled out $6.4 million to businesses on the city’s South, Southwest and West sides. There’s millions more available – the fund has received $76 million in density bonus payments since July 2016.

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    Aldermen on the Special Events and Cultural Affairs committee held a rare meeting in the cloak room off of City Council Chambers Monday. Both the chambers and Room 201A were booked. That didn’t stop them from approving the city’s special events ordinance, O2018-1139, and three open space projects.

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  • A measure designed to force Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios to reassess the value of seven Downtown commercial buildings is expected to emerge from the limbo of the City Council’s Rules Committee at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday.

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  • The City Council’s Zoning Committee has a packed agenda for its meeting set to start at 11 a.m. Thursday.



    The “Edens Collection” retail center proposed in Mayfair near I-97 and the Weber Spur Trail project will be considered by the Zoning Committee. Credit: Chicago Department of Planning and Development

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  • Aldermen gave the green light Monday to $4 billion in borrowing (O2018-1104) to get the $8.5 billion expansion of O’Hare Airport project off the ground — but not before nearly a dozen aldermen expressed displeasure with the amount of work going to firms owned by blacks, Latinos and women.

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  • Aldermen will vote on the city’s annual special events ordinance, which gives the commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events the ability to manage and execute the city’s biggest events, O2018-1139.

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  • Aldermen on the Housing Committee will consider a 30-year deal to project art on the side of the Merchandise Mart, a $1 million land sale to a well-known South Side church to build a family center, and a lease agreement with the group Mothers Against Senseless Killings.

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  • Ward organizations, once vaunted powerhouses to turn out votes for endorsed candidates, have lost some of their shine since patronage reforms took effect. Now, get out the vote efforts require a mix of a charismatic figure, union backing or cash from a candidate who needs help. Here’s a glimpse at which ward and township committeeman delivered for their candidates (or themselves) in the March 20 primary. Take these all with a grain of salt, as all candidates and wards are different, and candidates had other institutional backing or neighborhood advantages.

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    Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, fresh off her 20-point victory last Tuesday, announced she is seeking to lead the Cook County Democratic Party at its next meeting on April 18.

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  • City Council's Finance Committee is set to put the final pieces of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed $8.5 billion airport expansion, O2018-1124, in place before a final vote on Wednesday by the full council.

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  • Several weeks after the departure of its leader, Laura Kunard, the Public Safety division within the Chicago Office of the Inspector General released its first list of initiated projects. Those projects include closer looks at CPD’s gang database and strategic subject list, whether the city is complying with its video release and body camera policies, and officers’ “secondary employment.”

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  • Aldermen on a Joint Committee of Economic, Capital and Technology Development and Pedestrian and Traffic Safety approved a scaled down pilot program for free floating cars spearheaded by Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1), O2017-8622. The pilot will bring 400 of the cars to Chicago streets. While the hope is to reduce congestion and private car ownership over time, two North Side aldermen suggested it would be a “nightmare” on already-crowded residential streets.

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  • Companies with more than 15 employees that have city contracts have until the end of June to put a policy prohibiting sexual harassment in place — or face losing the ability to do work for the city, under a measure approved Thursday by the Workforce Development and Audit Committee.

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