The Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy will meet Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Officials from Chicago’s Department of Public Health on Wednesday will update alderpersons on an ongoing study assessing the effects of exposure to environmental, health and social stressors across Chicago’s various communities. 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks during a virtual preliminary budget hearing on July 11, 2023. [Office of the President livestream]

The mood was mostly warm and grateful during a virtualy and livestreamed public hearing Tuesday night on the preliminary Cook County budget forecast for 2024, but advocates still asked the county to keep their organizations in mind when crafting the annual spending plan. 

Cook County is anticipating an $85.6 million budget gap for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2024 budget, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and county officials said last month.

Members of the City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development met Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

A proposal introduced last month calling on state lawmakers to allow alderpersons to hold hybrid meetings failed a critical committee vote Monday after alderpersons said they were concerned the resolution didn’t have strict enough parameters for attending meetings virtually.

Members of the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate met Monday. [City of Chicago livestream] 

Plans to establish a pilot program for housing stabilization at a former motel on Chicago’s North Side took a step forward Monday after a City Council committee unanimously approved the city’s purchase of the former motel. 

The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability will meet Thursday to vote on a list of three names they will send to Mayor Brandon Johnson as candidates for the new superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The City Council Committee on Public Safety will meet Tuesday for the first time under its new leadership of Ald. Brian Hopkins (2). 

Two City Council committees will meet at City Hall Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Chicago alderpersons are asking state lawmakers to consider expanding opportunities for members of the City Council to attend meetings virtually, harkening back to what was allowed during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A decades-old anti-patronage case concluded last week when the final government body bound by a consent decree was freed from monitoring, and the governor made a historic appointment to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s governing body.

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during a news conference Thursday. [Facebook livestream]

Mayor Brandon Johnson should bring back the city’s Department of Environment and dedicate at least $5 million to fund the standalone department, a report from the mayor’s transition team recommended in a report published Thursday. 

The 223-page mayoral transition report titled “A Blueprint for Creating a More Just and Vibrant City for All” comes from the nearly 400 people who worked on 11 subcommittees over the past few months to make policy recommendations for Johnson. The report is meant to serve as a guide for the new administration. 

Amazon was Chicago’s top non-government employer in 2022 for the second year in a row, the city’s recently published annual financial report shows. 

The tech company first took the top non-government employment slot in 2021 when for the first time in recent years Chicago’s top spot did not belong to a healthcare system. Since first breaking into the top 10 non-government employers list in 2017, the tech company has steadily grown its employment base in Chicago each year. 

Cook County Comm. Kevin Morrison speaks during a news conference in the Cook County building in May 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The Cook County Board of Commissioners will consider a proposal that would allow county government employees to take sick leave for mental health and wellness reasons. 

The board will also consider changes to the county’s code regarding discrimination and human rights.

CPD Interim Supt. Fred Waller speaks during a news conference Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The typical illicit July 4 fireworks displays, weekend violence, NASCAR’s first-ever street race and a deluge of rain kept Chicago’s first responders busy over the long holiday weekend, but the challenges were “addressed in collaboration and head on” among city departments, Jose Tirado, acting director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC), said Wednesday. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson is seen during a Chicago City Council meeting in May 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Brandon Johnson announced six new appointees to the Chicago Board of Education Wednesday, including a new school board president.  

The appointments mark the final time the mayor will have total say over the makeup of the school board before it begins its transition into an all-elected body in 2024, according to the mayor’s office.

The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability met Thursday. [CCPSA Facebook livestream]

The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability voted for the first time Thursday to fill a vacant seat on one of the city’s 22 Police District Councils after not enough candidates ran to fill the district council’s three positions during the Feb. 28 election. Members also gave an update on the search for a new police superintendent. 

Members of the commission voted unanimously to recommend Marcel Bright fill the vacant position on District Council 1, which largely covers Chicago’s downtown. The recommendation now goes to Mayor Brandon Johnson for his approval. 

Cook County's Forest Preserve District commissioners met on Tuesday to discuss changes that would increase the penalties for illegal dumping on forest preserve property.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners met Thursday to approve a range of proposed items including resolutions protecting gender-affirming care and measures to mitigate maternal morbidity/mortality rates.