Nicole Lee was nominated by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to be the next 11th Ward alderman. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Aldermen are set on Monday to approve Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s nomination of Nicole Lee as the new 11th Ward aldermen, making her the first ever Asian American woman ever to serve on the City Council.

“We’ve got to figure out a way that we can do our part to really provide some relief,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said of high gas prices. [Mack Liederman/Block Club Chicago]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration is working on a proposal she says promises to ease Chicago drivers’ pain at the gas pump this year. But following the cancelation of a Monday meeting of the City Council Committee on Finance, it will likely be at least another month before the tax break can take effect.

Members of the City Council Latino Caucus walk into a meeting at City Hall in January. [Erin Hegarty / The Daily Line]

Supporters of the Latino Caucus-backed “Coalition Map” proposal to redraw the city’s 50 wards are hoping for a vote on a modified version of their map during the April City Council meeting. The vote is a last-ditch effort to try to force a restart of the referendum filing process for June 28 ballot so they can incorporate changes to accommodate a new ally, and opposers of the map call the new tactic a “stunt.”

Chicago voters are already set to choose the next ward map during the June Primary Election. But the 15 aldermen led by Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) proposed an ordinance with a tweaked version (O2022-913) of the “Coalition Map” proposal during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Nicole Lee will be nominated by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to be the next alderman for the 11^th Ward. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Less than a day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she needed “more time” to settle on a pick to succeed convicted Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) in the City Council, she announced she had settled on United Airlines executive and Chinatown native Nicole Lee as her pick.

Ald. Tom Tunney (44) and Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) during Wednesday’s City Council meeting [Don Vincent / The Daily Line]

Aldermen voted on Wednesday to create a new special City Council committee to review plans for the forthcoming Chicago casino, but a handful of aldermen didn’t agree with how members of the committee were chosen.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot presides over a meeting of the City Council on Wednesday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Proposals designed to spur redevelopment of single-room occupancy apartment buildings and smooth the path for construction of a controversial semi-affordable development near O’Hare Airport were among the dozens of new ordinances and resolutions submitted to the City Council for consideration during its meeting on Wednesday.

From left: Ald. Felix Cardona (31), Ald. Howard Brookins (21), Ald. Silvana Tabares (23) and Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) speak during a news conference Wednesday to promote their lobbying restriction ordinance. All four have endorsed Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The intensifying race for Illinois Secretary of State spilled over into the Chicago City Council on Wednesday as an alderman who support candidate Alexi Giannoulias rolled out an ethics proposal they acknowledged had been designed to draw attention to recent lobbying foibles by City Clerk Anna Valencia.

O'Hare International Airport [Facebook]

This article first published in Block Club Chicago.

A tollway will be built along the west edge of O’Hare Airport, making it faster to get to the airport from the suburbs.

A September 2021 City Council meeting [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

The City Council is set to take up dozens of rule changes, development approvals, resolutions and appointments during its monthly meeting on Wednesday — but none of them will be the confirmation of a new alderman to represent the 11th Ward on the Near South Side.

Ordinances codifying the city’s divestment from fossil fuel companies and extending the life of a controversial anti-gentrification measure are set to be among the first votes taken through a new electronic voting system being rolled out by City Clerk Anna Valencia’s office. Aldermen approved the change (R2021-1487) last month and were trained on the new system last week.

Related: Remote voting comes closer to reality

Aldermen approved the demolition of a home in the East Village Landmark District.

The City Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmark and Building Standards approved two new Fulton Market towers, rehab work on a Lakeview single-room occupancy building and a new pot dispensary in Wicker Park, sending the proposals to council for final approval on Wednesday.

Bally's proposal to build a casino at the McCormick Place marshaling yards would have yielded lower gaming revenues than any of the other four proposals, city projections showed. [City of Chicago]

The 78 megadevelopment, along with the Tribune Publishing Center and the One Central project site are all in the running to host Chicago’s first casino.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office announced Tuesday the list had been narrowed down from five locations to those three — kicking the Michael Reese megadevelopment and McCormick Place off the lists of potential spots.

Chicago Department of Planning and Development Deputy Comm. Tim Jeffries shows a rendering of the “Salt District” theater makeover project at 1357 N. Elston Ave.

Alderman voted Monday to lend another two years to a controversial demolition fee package designed to slow displacement in two of the city’s most rapidly gentrifying areas, signaling that opposition to the measure has cooled since it went into effect a year ago.

City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin and Ald. Daniel La Spata (1) speaking during a committee meeting on Monday.

Chicago moved one step closer to divesting most of its assets from fossil fuels as a pair of key City Council committees on Monday unanimously approved an ordinance doing just that.

The City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards is set to consider a proposal for a 28-story 305-unit residential building at 1353 W. Fulton St.

The City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards is set to meet Tuesday to consider two proposals for new Fulton Market towers, the rehabilitation of a Lakeview single-room occupancy building and a slew of other developments proposed across the city.

A City Council committee on Monday approved the extension of a tax incentive for a Beverly medical office building. The next 11th Ward alderman is due for approval in committee on Tuesday. And city leaders kicked off a new tourism campaign to welcome travelers back to Chicago airports.