Cyril Nichols, a senior athletics administrator with City Colleges of Chicago, was sworn in Thursday as the newest member of the Illinois House of Representatives. [Caroline Kubzansky / The Daily Line]

Democratic Party officials on Thursday appointed Cyril Nichols, a 55-year-old senior administration official at City Colleges of Chicago, to represent a slice of Chicago’s South Side and southwest suburbs in the Illinois General Assembly for the next 21 months.

Democratic committeepeople whose jurisdictions overlap with the 32^nd House District chose Nichols from a slate of five candidates vying to replace Rep. Andre Thapedi (D-Chicago), who stepped down last month after 12 years in the seat.

Cook County Comm. Deborah Sims (D-5), consultant Peter Creticos and election data scientist Kim Brace during a hearing on Thursday

Cook County commissioners on Thursday solidified the team they’ll use to redraw all 17 of their districts as they look to complete a no-drama remap with enough time to kick off their reelection campaigns this fall.

During the first-ever meeting of the county board’s 2020 Census Redistricting Committee, commissioners voted unanimously to approve a $193,000, one-year contract (21-1963) with consultant Peter Creticos, putting him in the driver’s seat for the county’s fourth consecutive redistricting cycle.

News in brief: Aldermen approve ordinance protecting Chicago’s 16 ‘traditional parades;’ Arwady: ‘Big drop’ in vaccine doses driven by ‘spoiled’ Johnson & Johnson batch

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Tuesday that she still intends to hold the April 22 City Council meeting in person at City Hall despite concerns from some aldermen about accessibility and safety amid increasing cases of COVID-19 in the city.

At the end of the March 24 City Council meeting, Lightfoot opened the door to holding the first in-person meeting since COVID-19 landed in Chicago. Mayor’s office staffers briefed aldermen in the weeks following the meeting on plans to meet in council chambers, but some say they still have questions about the plan.

A Metropolitan Water Reclamation District staffer, a college sports administrator, a radio commentator, a political communications professional and a former state government worker are set to vie on Thursday for the chance to fill the Illinois House seat vacated by Rep. Andre Thapedi (D-Chicago) last month.

Thapedi signaled in January that he would step back after 12 years representing the serpentine 32^nd District, which winds from Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood out to suburban Hickory Hills. But the representative submitted his formal resignation on March 17, opening a 30-day window for local Democratic Party officials to pick his replacement.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot responds to results of the Chicago Index survey during a news conference on Wednesday

The city is headed in the wrong direction and its political leaders likely aren’t helping, according to the results of a new statistical survey of more than 2,000 Chicago-area residents published Wednesday.

With just 16 percent of respondents rating her “good or excellent,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot got the poorest marks of almost any public official included in the inaugural report of the Chicago Index, a quarterly sentiment index produced by The Daily Line, Crain’s and ABC7.

Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez speaks at a press conference at the Daley Center on Wed., April 7.

Via Injustice Watch

Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez has walked back a campaign pledge to give the public more access to records from her office under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

The clerk is the official record keeper for the Circuit Court and is responsible for collecting and distributing tens of millions of dollars in court fines and fees. But the agency is not subject to the state’s open record laws. That exclusion means the public has largely been kept in the dark about the operations and funding of one of the largest unified court systems in the country.

Party leaders voted 51-5 to support elected school board legislation during a meeting of the Cook County Democratic Party’s Central Committee.

Dozens of top Cook County Democratic Party officials threw their support on Wednesday behind a legislative effort to democratize Chicago’s school board, giving the effort a powerful symbolic boost and handing a defeat to Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

The county party’s Central Committee voted 51-5 on Wednesday to endorse a resolution sponsored by 35^th Ward Committeeperson Anthony Quezada voicing the party’s official support for an Illinois House of Representatives bill (HB2908) that would end Lightfoot’s power to hand-pick members of the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education. The House bill and its Senate counterpart — also named in the party resolution — would direct the state legislature to draw 20 districts whose voters would populate the board.

News in brief: Dowell launches Secretary of State election campaign; aldermen to consider parade ordinance; Lightfoot announces 10 libraries with expanded Sunday hours

News in brief: Dowell launches Secretary of State election campaign; aldermen to consider parade ordinance; Lightfoot announces 10 libraries with expanded Sunday hours 

Advocates of an elected Chicago Public Schools board rallying downtown in January [Justin Laurence/Block Club]

Chicago-area power brokers are poised on Wednesday to take two symbolic but potentially meaningful votes, setting up a test of the Cook County Democratic Party’s influence.

The party’s Central Committee is set to meet virtually at 5 p.m. Wednesday to vote on a resolution in support of a long-fought state bill (HB2908) that would transition the mayoral-appointed Chicago Public Schools Board of Education into a fully elected body. They will also vote on whether to publicly admonish Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) for endorsing a Republican in a competitive partisan race last year.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Supt. David Brown addressed the fatal police shooting of a 13-year-old boy.

One week after police fatally shot a 13-year-old boy in Little Village, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday said she wants the Chicago Police Department to revisit its policy on foot pursuits “before the summer,” but neither she nor Supt. David Brown offered details on how the policy should change.

Lightfoot made the announcement from New Life Community Church in Little Village, representing her and Brown’s first in-person remarks on the fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo that occurred March 29 in the same neighborhood.

News in brief: Pritzker signs Chicago firefighter pension bill; Pritzker promotes program to combat learning loss

News in brief: Pritzker signs Chicago firefighter pension bill 

News in brief: CTA tests electric buses; Pritzker signs CTU bargaining bill