Up to three companies would be allowed to operate e-scooters in Chicago under an ordinance set to be proposed by an alderman and city transportation officials on Friday. [Hannah Alani/Block Club Chicago]

Reinstated renter protections, a permanent citywide e-scooter program and two proposals meant to combat systemic racism in home lending are among the dozens of new measures set for introduction at Friday’s City Council meeting. The raft of new legislation was set to be rolled out on Wednesday, until the meeting abruptly adjourned following a dispute over the appointment of Corporation Counsel Celia Meza.

Ephraim Martin details a compromise on the renaming of outer Lake Shore Drive during a news conference Thursday.

The City Council will try again Friday to get through its agenda originally planned for earlier this week after Wednesday’s meeting ended prematurely amid rancor and parliamentary maneuvering.  

Wednesday’s City Council meeting was derailed after Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) (left) joined Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20) to delay a mayoral appointment. [The Daily Line/Don Vincent]

Any semblance of routine was lost from the beginning of Wednesday’s City Council meeting as aldermen tussled to temporarily block a mayoral appointment, approve another, then adjourn before any additional agenda items could be considered. 

The $121 million budget shortfall faced by Cook County represents a sharp decline from gaps ripped open by the COVID-19 pandemic last year. [Cook County Bureau of Finance]

Cook County leaders will have to close a $121.4 million budget shortfall this fall as they prepare to pass a 2022 budget that leaves the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the rear-view mirror. They’ll do so with the help of a $1 billion allotment from the federal government via the American Rescue Plan, a windfall that county budget officials will work to weave into their budgets during the next three years.

Cook County Comm. Kevin Morrison (D-15) speaking during a virtual news conference Monday to promote his “Gender Inclusive Documents and Forms” ordinance [Facebook]

Ordinances designed to make Cook County paperwork more sensitive to genderqueer people and help suburban workers secure time off to get vaccinated are among dozens of measures set to be taken up by the county’s Board of Commissioners during its first semi-in-person meeting in 15 months Thursday.

Ald. David Moore (17) said he has the votes to pass an ordinance to rename Lake Shore Drive after Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable. [The Daily Line/Alex Nitkin]

One month after a vote on their proposal was blocked, sponsors of an ordinance to rename Lake Shore Drive after Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable plan to call their proposal back for a vote Wednesday. And they believe they have the votes to pass it. 

Ald. Tom Tunney (44) (left) and Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) during a zoning committee meeting on Tuesday

A City Council committee moved on Tuesday to effectively quash a controversial apartment complex proposed next to the Cumberland CTA Blue Line station, overriding the advice of city attorneys who said the move may invite a legal challenge.

Ald. Daniel La Spata (1) speaks during a Right to Recovery news conference in Daley Plaza Tuesday morning [Facebook/Chicago Democratic Socialists of America]

A dozen progressive aldermen rolled out a pitch on Tuesday to spend $1.9 billion in incoming federal aid on childcare supports, housing assistance, non-police violence prevention and a host of other city resources designed to help the city’s most vulnerable.

Aldermen agreed to spring two-dozen measures out of the City Council Committee on Committees and Rules, putting them back on track. And Cook County commissioners signaled they’re moving full-steam on a plan to ask county voters to raise their own property taxes to fund the Cook County Forest Preserve District.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28) (left) and city attorney Renai Rodney on Monday before aldermen approved a $1.83 million payment to settle a lawsuit brought by five female paramedics alleging sexual harassment in the Chicago Fire Department.

Aldermen on Monday gave initial approval for the city to spend $1.83 million to settle a lawsuit brought by five female paramedics alleging patterns of sexual harassment, and in some cases retaliation, in the Chicago Fire Department.

LG Development's plan to build a 665-unit apartment complex near the intersection of Lake Street and Racine Avenue is set for zoning approval on Tuesday. [Department of Planning and Development]

Updated 8:21 a.m. Tuesday: A nearly $4 billion plan to build a 48-acre housing, office and life sciences campus on the former site of the Michael Reese Hospital was set to take another step forward on Tuesday as aldermen were scheduled to consider a zoning change for the project — until Ald. Sophia King (4) asked for a delay.

A proposal to set an upper limit on surge pricing could come up for a vote next month after being reassigned to a new committee on Tuesday. [Uber] 

A proposal designed to rein in price-gouging by ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft is among two dozen ordinances set to be put back on course Tuesday, a month after they were diverted to a committee where legislation can languish indefinitely.

Hilco. General Iron. MAT Asphalt. You've likely heard about high profile clashes between industry and the health and well-being of the people who live nearby their facilities. These incidents have ignited another spark in the fight for environmental justice across Chicago. Daily Line reporter Caroline Kubzansky spoke with Ald. George Cardenas (12) and Alfredo Romo of Neighbors for Environmental Justice about recent development decisions, the work that remains for lawmakers in ensuring clean air and water for Chicagoans and the challenges the city faces as it starts to adapt to climate change. 

Listen here

From left: Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29), Ald. Harry Osterman (48) and Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38) during a public safety committee hearing on Friday.

Aldermen on Friday blocked discussion on a new version of the grassroots-led proposal for civilian oversight of the police department, further stalling the establishment of a long-promised community oversight commission.

Second-installment 2020 tax bills are on track to be sent to property owners in early August.

Second-installment property taxes are on pace to be sent to Cook County property owners about a month behind schedule this year, county officials confirmed. And county Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s late start on reassessments this year could be putting the county on pace for an even later tax collection next year, prompting fears that the county’s tax offices could skid back into an old cycle of temporary budget holes for municipalities and school districts that rely on prompt tax revenues.