Challeger Kari Steele (left) pounced Friday on a Sun-Times investigation that poked new holes in a controversial 2020 assessment policy of Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi. 

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi was back on the defensive Friday over the “COVID adjustment” breaks his office gave homeowners and some businesses in spring 2020, as Keagi back hit against a Sun-Times investigation that poked new holes in the controversial decision.

(From left) Ald. Jim Gardiner (45), Ald. Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Carrie Austin (34) all made significant expenditures from their campaign accounts on legal services during the fourth quarter of 2021. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago; Heather Cherone/The Daily Line] 

Chicago aldermen under indictment or federal investigation continued to spend campaign funds on legal fees during the last quarter of 2021 while the Illinois Supreme Court decides whether the practice should be legal.

The Encuentro Square development at 3745 W. Cortland St. will eventually include three buildings spanning 187 affordable units along the 606 Bloomingdale Trail. [Canopy via Block Club Chicago] 

Plans for a Logan Square affordable apartment complex, a 40-story Fulton Market residential tower and a Bronzeville Chicago Housing Authority development were among the nearly dozen new planned development applications filed with the City Council this week.

Ald. Anthony Beale (9) speaks about his proposal to establish separate legislative counsel for the City Council during Wednesday’s council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Aldermen during the year’s first City Council meeting quickly approved three payments to resolve police-related lawsuits, but a rift emerged between aldermen about how to establish independent legal representation for the City Council.

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) presided over the City Council meeting on Wednesday after Mayor Lori Lightfoot left. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

City licensing officials would have new powers to shut down “nuisance” bars and night clubs under a new proposal introduced to the City Council on Wednesday. It was one of dozens of new ordinances, resolutions and appointments submitted to the council this week, including a measure aimed at fighting wage discrimination in city hiring.

Aldermen attend a City Council meeting on Sept. 14. 2021. The first council meeting of 2022 could feature tense debates on the city’s legal defense policy for police misconduct allegations. 

Chicago’s first City Council meeting of 2022 on Wednesday could set the stage for intense debate on a series of controversial police misconduct settlements as well as a pair of long-stalled proposals to reverse a 2021 speeding crackdown and give the council its own legal representation. 

Following a presentation by zoning attorney Nick Ftikas, Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) urged his colleagues on Tuesday to oppose a 48-residential unit mixed-use development he said does not fit the character of the neighborhood along the 1600 block of North Wells Street in his ward. 

Dozens of zoning-related proposals including affordable housing plans in Humboldt Park and North Lawndale sailed swiftly through a key committee Tuesday, but one alderman pushed his colleagues to reject a 48-unit housing development he says doesn’t fit the character of the neighborhood.

The city collected $76 million for the CTA last year from a real estate transfer tax on sellers. The money will be used to pay down the transit agency’s pension debt. [Flickr/CTA]

Aldermen green-lit a routine budget measure on Tuesday aimed at helping the CTA pay down its pension debt — but not before firing a shot across the bow that the agency’s leaders need to spend more time in the limelight answering for incessant safety and reliability issues.  

Chicago Deputy Corporation Counsel Victoria Benson (left) and Ald. George Cardenas (12) speak during a City Council Committee on Finance meeting on Monday. 

A key City Council committee narrowly voted to reject a legal settlement tied to a fatal 2013 police shooting, setting up a potential standoff over the city’s legal defense policy2 during Wednesday’s meeting of the full council. 

Chicago Department of Housing Comm. Marisa Novara presents details on the “encumbrance ordinance” during a City Council finance committee meeting on Monday. 

Aldermen and city housing officials expressed hope on Monday that a pending ordinance will help spur private efforts to rehab long-abandoned properties on the city’s South and West Sides. 

Aldermen are set on Tuesday to vote on the relocation of Saint Anthony Hospital. 

Aldermen on Tuesday could approve changes to the city’s construction codes and greenlight several new developments including the years-in-the-making relocation of Saint Anthony Hospital within Little Village. 

A City Council Committee on Monday approved a measure increasing the minimum wage for some contracted workers at the city’s airports. And another City Council committee is set on Tuesday to revisit a routine measure that was delayed last week when CTA President Dorval Carter was not available to answer questions. 

Andrea Kersten answers questions during a public safety committee meeting. 

Aldermen stalled the approval of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s choice to lead one of the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability over concerns about a report she oversaw recommending discipline for the late Officer Ella French who was killed in the line of duty.

Ald. Matt Martin (47) and Ald. Maria Hadden (49) speak during a committee meeting on Friday. 

If the discussion during a Friday City Council committee hearing was any sign, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to sue gang leaders for their assets faces a tough road ahead. 

The Chicago Police Department was budgeted $82 million for legal settlements and judgements in 2022. [Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash]

A City Council committee is set to approve a $14 million payout to settle a pair of lawsuits stemming from an overturned 1991 murder conviction, already gobbling up nearly 20 percent of the entire amount city attorneys budgeted for police misconduct settlements in 2022.