The above shows an example of GardaWorld’s soft-sided shelters. [City of Chicago contract document] 

With Chicago's inking of a nearly $29.4 million contract with GardaWorld last week to provide temporary housing for migrants, city officials are planning to move migrants currently housed at police district stations and O’Hare and Midway airports into the potential new shelters before temperatures drop. 

Proponents of eliminating the tipped minimum wage held a news conference Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

With approval from a key committee Wednesday, the City Council will vote early next month on a proposal to phase out the so-called subminimum wage for tipped workers in Chicago over the next five years.

Cook County lawmakers hold a meeting in March 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Following two hours of discussion and despite some concerns, most county commissioners Wednesday voted to authorize a program that provides assistance to residents with past-due water bills and helps municipal water utilities reduce their own debts to their suppliers.

A rendering of the building proposed for 200-208, 222 N. Halsted St. in the 27th Ward. [City of Chicago presentation] 

The Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday is set to consider a short agenda that includes a proposal for a 36-story building with more than 400 residential units near the intersection of Lake and Halsted streets on the Near West Side. 

The flag of Cook County flies outside the county building in downtown Chicago. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The Cook County Board of Commissioners will meet Thursday and consider approval of grant funding to assist asylum seekers, a program to coordinate health and social services and numerous collective bargaining agreements.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) speaks during a news conference in June. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Members of the City Council on Wednesday are expected to take a first vote on a tweaked proposal to phase out the so-called subminimum wage that is currently paid to Chicago’s tipped workers.

A seal for the Forest Preserves of Cook County is pictured on a podium during a July 2023 board meeting. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

The Board of Commissioners for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County met at the Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington Tuesday and approved a contract to complete various picnic shelter repairs, approved the purchase of more than two dozen new vehicles and approved the latest report on model policing under the forest preserves’ police department.  

The board also introduced new legislation, including changes to the preserves' ban on bottled water purchases and an extension of the district’s fee schedule.

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during a news conference Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Pollution disproportionately affects Chicago’s South and West sides, and polluter industries are moving from the city’s white neighborhoods to Black and Latinx communities, a report released Monday shows.

Cook County’s flag is pictured flying outside the county building in downtown Chicago. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Various county committees will meet Wednesday to consider new rules for the county ethics board and a program to assist residents with unpaid water bills. Committees will also receive reports on the COVID-19 pandemic and on efforts to recruit and retain county employees.

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during a news conference last week. [City of Chicago livestream]

Among the dozens of measures proposed during last week’s City Council meeting, Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced an ordinance creating a working group to study a program that would send mental health professionals to calls of people in crisis instead of police. 

A podium with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County seal pictured in July 2023. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

The Board of Commissioners for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County will gather at the Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington Tuesday and hold a slew of committee meetings followed by their regular board meeting.

During the regular board meeting, commissioners are expected to introduce an ordinance that amends the district’s existing ban on using public funds to buy single-use water bottles in most cases. The regular board meeting will begin no earlier than 10 a.m. and after committee meetings have concluded. The committee meetings will begin at 9:30 a.m. and continue in succession. 

The City Council met at City Hall on Thursday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council on Thursday approved a measure allowing Chicago to accept $33 million in federal grants to help the city pay for shelter and services for migrants, and a separate measure granting the city permission to purchase property on the Northwest Side that could house up to 550 migrants. 

The federal grant funding ordinance spurred a brief discussion as some alderpeople raised concerns that the city has not received federal grants for other urgent issues facing Chicago including flood damage from July storms. 

Ald. Debra Silverstein (50) introduces a measure that updates the city's hate crimes ordinance during a news conference Sept. 14, 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Ald. Debra Silverstein (50) was joined by numerous other alderpersons and human rights organizations Thursday morning to present a measure that updates the city’s anti-hate crimes ordinance for the first time in more than 30 years. 

Among the changes in the so-called Chicago vs. Hate Ordinance (O2023-0003932) the most notable are the addition of a new, more inclusive term that accounts for non-criminal hate incidents, new tracking mechanisms for hate crimes, non-criminal incidents, graffiti and vandalism and expanded requirements for city officials to keep and share reports on instances of hate.

Ald. Desmon Yancy (5) speaks during a news conference before his introduction of an ordinance to codify a community benefits agreement for South Shore residents affected by the Obama Presidential Center. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

A coalition pushing for the creation of a community benefits agreement (CBA) to mitigate and prevent displacement for South Shore residents affected by the construction of the Obama Presidential Center rallied outside City Hall Thursday morning ahead of the regular City Council meeting, during which an ordinance that would enact their demands was introduced.

Ald. Desmon Yancy (5), who introduced the ordinance, said during the news conference his family has lived in South Shore on and off since the 1970s and “I was really honored to be able to stand here in support of an ordinance that helps preserve housing for people in South Shore.” 

During its first meeting back from the summer break and as the city is about to enter the throes of budget season, the City Council on Thursday will vote on whether to approve a $25 million payment to settle a lawsuit brought by two men who were wrongfully convicted of murder in 1993 and were later issued certificates of innocence after one man spent 22 years in prison and the other spent 12 years in prison. 

The City Council during its 10 a.m. meeting is also set to vote on a measure that would allocate $33 million in federal grants to fund a portion of the city’s cost to provide shelter and services for migrants.