Left: Ald. Michele Smith (43) speaks during a City Council committee meeting on Wednesday. Right: Tyler Quast of Blue Star Properties describes the Salt Shed proposal.

Aldermen on Wednesday steamrolled two of their colleagues to advance an ordinance (O2022-1279) opening the door for mega-event spaces to hold outdoor concerts on a permanent basis. The measure will most immediately give a boost to the “Salt Shed” concert venue that is on the verge of opening on the Chicago River — but two nearby aldermen warned that the legal change could lead to a “slippery policy path” that threatens public and natural access to the river.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks with county officials and Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs at the Chicago Cultural Center on Wednesday

Cook County is pushing forward with a plan to funnel $42 million in federal stimulus money into a guaranteed income pilot program that aims to start sending out checks by the end of 2022, officials announced Wednesday. The program is set to dwarf Chicago’s $31.5 million cash assistance program to become “the nation’s largest publicly funded guaranteed income initiative,” according to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s office.

Speed cameras have captured drivers who exceed the speed limit by 6 mph or more near schools or parks since March 2021. [Anjali Pinto/ProPublica]

After spending more than a year ping-ponging through various stages of City Council purgatory, a proposal by Ald. Anthony Beale (9) to roll back a controversial speed camera penalty is finally set for a vote on Thursday — but only after city transportation officials make their case for why the extra fines should stay in place.

CPS CEO Pedro Martinez speaks during a news conference in November 2021. [Colin Boyle / Block Club Chicago]

Aldermen are set on Thursday to discuss budget cuts to Chicago Public Schools as the city’s public schools continue to see enrollment dips.

From left: Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26), Chicago Department of Housing policy director Daniel Hertz and Ald. James Cappleman (46) speak during a City Council Housing Committee meeting on Tuesday.

The city’s fledgling effort to bless the construction of backyard coach houses and basement dwelling units is working just as housing officials hoped it would, a department leader told aldermen on Tuesday — but plenty of barriers remain that hold the program back from its potential to expand affordable housing options across the city.

City officials and multiple aldermen signaled during a committee hearing on Tuesday that they’re ready to expand the program, but some aldermen remain skeptical of the policy.

A graph shows a potential timeline for CTA’s electrification of its buses.

The process of switching the city’s fleet from diesel to electric-powered vehicles is slow moving as the city makes plans to phase out old vehicles and waits for federal funding to be unlocked to move the process along, according to information presented Tuesday during a City Council committee hearing. Still, the CTA has charted out an aggressive plan to electrify its bus fleet during the course of the next two decades, agency officials said.

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Members of the City Council’s budget committee are set for a packed meeting on Wednesday when they will consider a water meter installation program proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and will hear an update on the city’s finances.

A rendering of the outdoor event space planned for the Salt Shed at 1357 N. Elston Ave., which is lined up to be the first recipient of a new Outdoor Entertainment Venue liquor license from the city. [Lamar Johnson Collaborative]

Large event venues would be able to regularly play music and serve alcohol outdoors — with restrictions — under a new ordinance set for consideration by a City Council committee on Wednesday.

Supporters of the ward map approved by City Council on Monday held a news conference after a special meeting. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Just one week after they reached a compromise over new ward boundaries, 43 aldermen voted on Monday to support a new city ward map just in time to avoid sending the decision to voters in the June 28 primary.

Ald. Daniel La Spata (1) showing an example of public bathrooms some cities have installed.

It would be “doable” and worthwhile for Chicago to build a network of freestanding public toilets around the city, a cluster of progressive aldermen argued in a City Council hearing on Monday. And while the effort has yet to gain the backing of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration or of most aldermen, it may have gained a powerful ally in the chair of a key council committee.

A coach house on Chicago’s Northwest Side. [Lichter Realty]

Chicago property owners have applied to build 361 new basement or attic apartment buildings and 166 new backyard coach houses in the approximately one year since their construction has been legal, city officials said Monday as they weigh whether they should accelerate the legalization push. But while some aldermen point to the numbers as a sign that the new homes — known as Accessory Dwelling Units or Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs) — have been a success, others remain skeptical.

The Chicago Police Department has ordered hundreds of hybrid squad cars, but city leaders have no current plan to electrify all city vehicles. [Jason Lawrence on Flickr; Chicago Climate Action Plan]

City officials are due to update aldermen Tuesday on their efforts to streamline city data-sharing practices — an overhaul that is well underway — as well as efforts to electrify city vehicles, which have barely gotten off the ground. 

Ald. Michelle Harris (8), who chairs the City Council’s rules committee, speaks during a Friday hearing on the compromise ward map.

In an anticlimactic end to the city’s monthslong ward remapping process, at least 41 aldermen are expected on Monday to vote in favor of a compromise map, avoiding sending the decision to voters in the June 28 primary.

A rendering of the Butcher & the Burger restaurant set to open in O’Hare’s Terminal 5 as part of a concession agreement that advanced on Friday. [Chicago Department of Aviation]

A $28 million, four-part agreement to bring new shops and restaurants to O’Hare Airport cruised through a City Council committee on Friday as aldermen praised city aviation officials’ efforts to make sure entrepreneurs of color get a substantial piece of the business.

Ald. Daniel La Spata (1) is a lead sponsor on a resolution calling for the city to increase its stock of public bathrooms. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Aldermen are set on Monday to discuss the possibility of a pilot program that would help bring more public bathrooms to Chicago.