Cook County Comm. Tara Stamps, who filed to campaign to keep her appointed seat Monday, is pictured during a Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting in September 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Competitors in multiple county races to be held this spring filed nominating paperwork with the Cook County Clerk’s Office Monday on the first day of candidate filing. Candidate filing lasts through Dec. 4 for Democratic and Republican party contenders running in the March 19, 2024 primary election. 

After the filing deadline, candidates will have until Dec. 11 to file challenges to other candidates’ nominating petitions.

The City Council Committee on Education and Child Development during a September meeting. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Chicago Public Schools officials on Tuesday are expected to detail to alderpeople how the school district is addressing asylum seekers, transportation and its budget this school year. 

Tuesday’s meeting of the City Council Committee on Education and Child Development will begin at 4 p.m., much later than council committee meetings that usually begin in the morning or early afternoon. 

Members of the Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development met earlier this month. [City of Chicago livestream] 

A Chicago alderperson is working with the mayor’s office in hopes of establishing a permanent a guaranteed basic income program after a yearlong pilot program that has since expired showed the additional payments to households across the city helped people stay in their homes and pay for utilities and food.

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

The Cook County Bureau of Human Resources is hoping the Board of Commissioners authorizes an extension and possible expansion of a $25 million pilot program that provides additional pay to certain jobs within county agencies to help alleviate the hiring challenges the county has faced since the pandemic.

The human resources bureau has reported the Recruitment Incentive and Retention Bonus Pay Program, which is just over a year old, to be a success so far in increasing interest in some of the county’s vacant roles. 

A group of aldermanic and mayoral staffers sent a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson and members of the City Council Tuesday urging them to support a call for a ceasefire in the Middle East.

While the letter was sent by at least 35 staffers Tuesday, by Wednesday morning 54 staffers from aldermanic offices, the mayor's office and other city departments had signed the letter, according to an email from the group.

County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, pictured in October, declared a local disaster following the flooding in September in parts of Cook County. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

President Joe Biden on Monday approved a disaster declaration for parts of Cook County that experienced severe flash flooding in September, opening additional avenues to receive financial assistance for those affected in addition to existing state and county assistance. 

Ald. Bill Conway (34) during a September City Council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council last week delayed a vote on a proposal that would create a quiet zone around a West Loop clinic that provides abortions, but ordinance sponsor Ald. Bill Conway (34) is working with the city’s Law Department on potential tweaks to the ordinance to further strengthen the proposal’s enforceability before it comes back for a vote sometime after the new year. 

The county will gather additional research before the board of commissioners considers approving a new paid leave ordinance again next month, and the county board president attended an indigent burial ceremony.

Mayor Brandon Johnson initially announced the new 60-day shelter stay limit for migrants during a news conference last week. [City of Chicago livestream]

Shelter stays for migrants arriving in Chicago will be limited to 60 days under new policy details Mayor Brandon Johnson announced on Friday.  

Migrants who arrived in 2022 and are currently in shelters — about 50 people — were issued 60-day notices on Friday, and migrants arriving in shelters on or after Friday are also receiving the 60-day stay notices. The 50 people who have been in shelters since 2022 are spread among only three of the city’s 25 shelters.

A little over a week after the company defended its record-high rate hike request in front of a committee that included multiple skeptical City Council members, Peoples Gas Company was denied its request for a nearly $404 million rate increase on Thursday.

Some alderpeople and utility watchdog group representatives celebrated the decision by the Illinois Commerce Commission to rein in the hike by pausing the pipeline replacement program that Peoples Gas said accounted for over half of the revenue being sought.

The ICC reduced Peoples Gas’ request by $101 million and also approved a 9.38 percent return on equity (ROE) for the company, down from the company’s requested 9.9 percent ROE, cutting shareholders’ profitability.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle presides over a vote to approve the 2024 budget during a special board meeting Nov. 16, 2023. [Livestream]

The Cook County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $9.26 billion annual budget for 2024 during a special meeting Thursday.

Commissioners approved a budget with almost two dozen amendments to Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s original proposal. Amendments included additional funding for maternal health, oral and dental staff within Cook County Health and a new disaster response fund that next year will help the county care for migrants.

Cook County Comm. Dennis Deer (D-2), who sponsored the "Food is Medicine" resolution, is seen during a county board meeting in September. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The Cook County Board of Commissioners on Thursday confirmed the appointment of an interim Cook County Health (CCH) executive, two information technology contracts, acquisition of land to construct a new hazardous waste facility and changes to the county’s vacation and personal leave policy.

The board also approved a resolution to create an ad campaign and programs aimed at increasing healthy eating and reducing food insecurity.

A rendering of the affordable housing development proposed for South Shore. [City of Chicago presentation]

A proposal for a new six-story, 43-unit affordable housing development in South Shore heads to the City Council’s zoning committee after the Chicago Plan Commission gave an initial OK to the development Thursday. 

The City Council approved Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first budget as mayor on Wednesday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $16.6 billion budget, his first as mayor, won easy approval from the City Council Wednesday despite concerns from some alderpeople that the $150 million dedicated to addressing the migrant crisis relies too heavily on funding from the state and federal government that is not guaranteed. 

Cook County Comm. Dennis Deer (D-2) chairs the county's Health and Hospitals Committee on Nov. 15, 2023. [Livestream]

A Cook County committee unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday that calls for the county to promote healthy eating and implement programs to improve residents’ nutrition. But some commissioners also indicated their desires for the county to go further in improving access to healthy food in a number of ways, including partnerships with other local governments and organizations.