Both Chicago and the state of Illinois will move to Phase 4 of their respective reopening plans Friday, but in Chicago, some guidelines will be stricter.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday announced his plan for moving the state toward more normal activity in certain industries. Indoor dining will be allowed, but at 25 percent capacity and limited groups of 10 or fewer with tables spaced at least six feet apart.

Pritzker’s framework also allows several segments, including movie theaters, museums and zoos, to open to greater capacity, from a 10-person limit to showings and guided tours of 50 people or fewer.

The governor noted Illinois will enter Phase 4 as the statewide positivity rate for new Covid-19 cases has hovered around 2.5 percent for the past week.

“Science and data are the overarching guardrails for how Illinois will keep moving forward. By continuing to wear face coverings and following the guidance from health experts we can continue to safely reopen our economy and move forward together,” he said in a statement.

About 400,000 Illinoisans are expected to return to work after Friday.

In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot also announced her own reopening plan Monday, but it was one that was more guarded.

Unlike the state, face coverings will be required both indoors and outdoors , while certain businesses and public amenities will have increased restrictions. For example, there are currently no plans to allow conventions and sporting events to take place and public pools as well as beaches along the lakefront will remain closed. (The state is allowing outdoor spectator sports to resume with 20 percent capacity.) Live performance venues, like music clubs, will also be exempt from reopening plans.

Indoor restaurants and bars can open with an indoor capacity of 50 people.

Speaking with reporters Monday, Lightfoot said the exemptions are in place because Chicago “is denser, more people take public transit, and we’re an international air hub.”

She also said the city is prepared should there be a surge in coming weeks. Currently, the city has achieved a week-long average of 167 new cases per day, which Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady said moves the city past its latest benchmark of having 200 or fewer positive cases in a single day.

“The goal is to move ahead just as quickly as it is relatively safe to do so with all of our industries,” she said. “I feel good about fact we are moving forward.”

However, Arwady warned that there remained a 15 percent chance that a gathering of 50 people within city limits will likely include someone with an active Covid-19 infection. For that reason, Lightfoot said the city would not hesitate to return to phase 3 should there be a surge in positive cases.

“Under no circumstances should our move to Phase Four be construed that his crisis is over,” Lightfoot said. “Covid is very much part of our presence in Chicago and it will be in the foreseeable future.”

In Phase 4, the city will reopen museums, the Lincoln Park Zoo , some performance venues and summer camps.

Art Institute of Chicago Director of Partnerships and Tourism Nora Gainer told reporters the museum will not require reservations, but “online booking will be recommended.” That isn’t the case at the Lincoln Park Zoo where director Megan Ross said reservations will be required. The museum will remain free to visitors, however.

Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar said 200,000 workers are expected to reenter the workforce starting Friday.

A full rundown of Chicago guidelines is here. For the state, visit here for full reopening plans.

As Chicago and the state gets set to move into phase 4 of its reopening plan, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce released a 26-page report outlining what it believes is essential for businesses to recover.

The report, released Friday by the chamber’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force, offers several recommendations for both small and large businesses. Many of the recommendations were deemed essential. The report also noted that along with the pandemic, the renewed calls for racial equality sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis is another “seismic shift” businesses are grappling with. With its report, the chamber is calling on businesses to pledge to buy locally, hire locally, invest locally and listen and learn.

In response to increased calls from some aldermen to remove police officers from public schools, Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson said Monday that she is in favor of allowing principals and local school councils to be the ones who make the final choice on whether or not to have police in their buildings.

The issue may be decided Wednesday as the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education will vote on a motion to terminate the current agreement between CPS and the police department at its next virtual board meeting, according to its online agenda.

Similar actions have already taken place in Minneapolis and other cities since protests for greater equality began a month ago, sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man from Minneapolis.

In Chicago, Black Lives Matters protesters and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) are demanding that CPS cut ties with the local police department just a year after CPS approved a $33 million budget to employ Chicago Police officers in schools. To date there are 144 officers in schools, 48 mobile officers, and 12 sergeants.

On Monday, Jackson said that choice should be left up to individual schools.

“We are a school district that supports principal autonomy…Principals and local school councils know and understand their unique school communities and they are best equipped to make those decisions. This is not an issue where a top-down mandate will best serve our communities,” Jackson said.

Noting the calls to unilaterally pull out student resource officers, commonly referred to as SROs, from the schools, Jackson said, “there are real concerns that must be addressed, and we are committed to hearing from all stakeholders. She promised that if the local school councils and principals vote to remove the officers from any school, “we will remove them.”

“We will support them in creating a plan to ensure the safety of all of their students. Likewise, if [they] vote to retain SROs, we will affirm their decisions and confirm that the continued reforms are implemented,” she said.

Pastor Chris Harris of Bright Star Church in Bronzeville agreed and urged people not to make abrupt decisions.

“We have to take a step back and not be recklessly fueled by current events and misguided passion that might force us all into making quick so-called solutions that might create larger problems later on,” he said.

In response to Monday’s press conference, the Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) issued a statement saying that the concerns of young people are not being heard by CPS or Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

“Young Black organizers throughout our city—and country—are transforming the nation with uprisings against police brutality and cries to remove municipal police departments from their school buildings,” they said. CPS “continues to exclude those voices.”

The union also said that local school councils do not have the power to cancel any contract between CPS and the police department. They are calling on school boards to be elected instead of appointed by the mayor.

“The question is spending $33 million on police officers in schools or spending that money on more trauma support, more wraparound services, more restorative justice coordinators,” CTU spokesperson Chris Geovanis told The Daily Line.

“The mayor said … that she supported the premise of replacing Chicago Police officers in schools with initiatives like restorative services which has a lot of data behind it and a proven program and a very positive alternative to having officers in schools,” Geovanis said.

Earlier this month, Lightfoot said she would not reduce funding from the police department and its contract with CPS will remain in place, saying “Yeah, we’re not gonna do that.”

On Monday, Jackson said the LSC’s will soon vote again on whether to allow officers in their schools.

She also said reforms over the last few years with SROs and students include the elimination of zero tolerance policies, annual revisions to the student code of conduct and revising or eliminating codes that disproportionately impact Black and Brown students and have resulted in a 30 percent reduction in suspensions and 80 percent reduction in expulsions.

Jackson said for the year ahead, one of the districts main goals is to make sure screening process to examine the disciplinary history of student resource officers is beefed up.

“Let’s be clear, we will not have any officers in our schools who do not meet this criteria,” Jackson said.

She added that LSC’s voted last summer to retain police officers but will be required to vote again to ensure all evolving beliefs are considered.

Additionally, while the Board of Education plans to vote on the issue on Wednesday, the CTU has organized a protest and rally that day that will travel from Federal Place to CPS headquarters.

HOUSING TASK FORCE ‘WRAPPING UP’ — A 20-member task force charged with reimagining a crucial piece of Chicago’s affordable housing policy is set to issue its final recommendations in the coming weeks, housing department Comm. Marisa Novara said Friday. Speaking during a virtual panel event hosted by the Chicago Area Public Affairs Group, Novara said Covid-19 forced the department to “push the timeline back a bit” for monthly meetings of the city’s Inclusionary Zoning Task Force, a diverse group of housing organizers and real estate professionals who were convened by city officials last fall to brainstorm changes to the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance. “But we are wrapping up this month in terms of task force recommendations, and we hope to have a new or revised ordinance in the fall,” Novara said. Also participating in the panel was Department of Planning and Development Comm. Maurice Cox, who said his department plans to issue Requests For Proposals in August for the 12 South and West Side commercial corridors targeted in the city’s INVEST South/West initiative. The corridors were hit hard by looting earlier this month, Cox said. (Alex Nitkin)

INDOOR DINING OPENING — Chicagoans can once again dine and drink indoors starting Friday. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that businesses can open indoor service “under limited capacity” and with social distancing restrictions in place. “Like all Chicagoans, I am personally excited to see them take these new, cautious steps towards safely reopening, and commend their collaboration throughout this unprecedented crisis,” Lightfoot said in a statement. Restaurants and bars are only allowed a maximum capacity of 50 people per room or floor. Tables need to be spaced six feet apart. Only 10 people are fewer per table is allowed. If you’re at a bar, don’t expect to linger. Liquor sales at bars that don’t serve food are cut off after two hours per party. Cut-off for liquor is 11 p.m. For more guidelines, visit here. The city is hosting webinars twice Monday, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., to give bar owners and restauranteurs a full overview. To register, visit here. (Mark Guarino)

PPE IN CITY CABS — Chicago cabbies can now purchase PPE to operate safely in Chicago. The Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection launched a new program Friday to reimburse taxi drivers $200 per taxicab per year for face coverings, gloves, disinfecting products, partitions, and other supplies needed for appropriate Covid-19 safety. "Chicago's taxi industry is a critical component in the City's efforts to provide more accessible transportation options for people with disabilities," said Laurie Dittman, acting commissioner of the Mayor's Office of People with Disabilities. To be eligible, taxicabs must be in good standing with the PACE Taxi Access Program (TAP), through which paratransit customers travel via taxicab at reduced rates for trips originating within the City of Chicago. to apply visit here. (Guarino)

The Chicago Police Department missed just over 70 percent of the court-mandated deadlines for reform measures outlined in a federal consent decree since it was established last March.

Administrators of the Cook County Land Bank Authority (CCLBA) deviated from nationally recognized best practices in the way they kept their books and chose buyers, an independent auditor reported Friday. The report did not find any evidence that the authority violated laws or county guidelines.

The Chicago Plan Commission Thursday approved what was described as the largest industrial development in the city’s history.

After weeks of negotiations to reopen Arlington Racecourse this summer, officials from both the racetrack and the thoroughbred horse racing industry said Thursday they were nearly at an agreement to open the track in late July but needed help from the Illinois Racing Board to get the deal to the finish line.

NONPROFIT LOBBYING RULES DELAYED, AGAIN — A controversial new rule requiring nonprofit groups that advocate on city legislation to register as lobbyists will not take effect until Jan. 1 of next year, leaders of the Chicago Board of Ethics announced Thursday. It marks the third delay for the new rule, which was included in an ethics reform package (SO2019-5305) approved by the City Council in a 50-0 vote last July. The rule became a source of anxiety for nonprofits, even after the board issued three advisory opinions in January to clarify and narrow the scope of the registration requirements. Board of Ethics executive director Steve Berlin wrote in a statement Thursday that delaying implementation until next year — a full year after it was originally supposed to take effect — is “appropriate,” given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The Board and Mayor’s Office continue to be committed to working diligently with non-profit organizations and stakeholders to understand and respond to their concerns about this law, and on working toward amendments that increase transparency in Chicago,” Berlin added. [Alex Nitkin]

A broad coalition of Cook County commissioners telegraphed their support on Thursday for siphoning money out of the county’s $1.2 billion criminal justice operation when it comes time to make tough decisions on next year’s budget.

During a nearly four-hour meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Thursday, 14 out of 17 commissioners spoke up in support of a resolution (20-2867) sponsored by Comm. Brandon Johnson (D-1) calling on the county to “redirect money from the failed and racist systems of policing, criminalization, and incarceration” and reinvest the money in areas like health care, economic development and housing assistance.

Covid-19 and the ensuing economic slowdown have not been enough to stop the steady progression of new development in the Fulton Market district, where a new 14-story office building is set to key a clear regulatory hurdle on Thursday.

One month after the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to extend Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s emergency powers to respond to Covid-19, commissioners are back this month with more proposals aimed at helping residents respond to the pandemic.

The Chicago City Council approved a $1.13 billion Covid-19 spending plan Wednesday that outlines how the city will spend money from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act through the end of the year.

A $1 billion plan to add two new apartment towers to the Chicago’s downtown skyline took a leap forward on Tuesday, heralding an end to the 80-foot hole that has marked one of the city’s most valued pieces of real estate for more than a decade.