Chicago News
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OCT 28, 2020
The Chicago Fire Department is projected to see a $60 million increase to its budget under the mayor’s proposal.
Budget hearings are scheduled to continue on Wednesday as aldermen dig into the $985 million combined budgets of the Chicago Fire Department, Chicago Public Library system, Commission on Human Relations and the Office of Emergency Management & Communications. -
OCT 28, 2020
Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin speaks to aldermen during a budget hearing on Tuesday
Pressed by aldermen Tuesday on how to leverage the city’s $8.5 billion in investment assets to battle systemic racism in the banking industry, Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin turned the tables back on the City Council, urging them to widen the landscape of lending institutions where the city can park its funds. -
OCT 28, 2020
Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia on Tuesday answered questions on the department’s 2021 budget during a hearing overseen by Ald. Pat Dowell.
Aldermen on Tuesday raised concerns about vacancies in the Office of the City Clerk as the department going into 2021 will begin modernizing the City Council management system and continue its issuance of city stickers, residential parking permits and CityKeys to residents in need. -
OCT 28, 2020
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Patrons purchase beverages from Old Crow Smokehouse's curbside bar on Clark Street in the Wrigleyville neighborhood on June 27, 2020 during the first weekend of Illinois in Phase Four of reopening amid the Coronavirus pandemic. | Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
The state's new rules for Chicago include stopping indoor drinking and dining, limiting gathering sizes and putting a curfew on bars and restaurants.
CHICAGO — Bars and restaurants must stop indoor service starting Friday morning, and Chicago is facing other restrictions under new orders from Gov. JB Pritzker.
Chicago is joining six other regions of Illinois under what Pritzker has dubbed “enhanced mitigations.” The mitigations include stopping indoor drinking and dining and imposing an 11 p.m. curfew on bars and restaurants. -
OCT 27, 2020
Hearings on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed 2021 budget resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Aldermen will hear from the Office of the City Clerk, Office of the City Treasurer, Board of Election Commissioners and License Appeal Commission.
A Chicago elections worker sorts mail-in ballots. [Facebook/Chicago Board of Election Commissioners] -
OCT 27, 2020
Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett and Budget Director Susie Park respond to questions from aldermen on the 2021 budget proposal on Monday.
Aldermen on Monday took quick aim at Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed $94 million property tax hike and potential city layoffs to help close the 2021 budget gap, urging city officials to look elsewhere for new revenue and savings. -
OCT 27, 2020
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A red light camera in Chicago [DNAinfo Chicago]Mayor Lori Lightfoot and top financial officials in her administration on Monday stood by their proposal to widen the criteria for issuing speeding tickets next year, saying they did so primarily as a public safety measure.
Lightfoot’s plan to close a $1.2 billion gap in the 2021 budget includes a $38.8 million hike in fines, fees and forfeitures over 2020, including by ticketing drivers who exceed the speed limit by more than 6 miles per hour. The $35 citation, first reported by the Tribune, would be sent to drivers who are twice caught by cameras driving between 6 and 9 mph over the speed limit. The first infraction would incur a warning. -
OCT 26, 2020
Faced with plunging ridership and revenues, leaders of the CTA are charging ahead with a $1.6 billion proposed operating budget for 2021 that promises not to raise fares or cut service — as long as the federal government comes through with another rescue package.
The recently-rebuilt Wilson CTA station [Flickr/Chicago Transit Authority] -
OCT 26, 2020
Hearings on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed 2021 budget begin Monday.
Hearings on the 2021 “pandemic budget” proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot last week are set to begin Monday as the city’s top financial officers acknowledge they are looking at so-called scoop-and-toss-measures, in addition to a $94 million property tax hike among other moves, to fill the historic $1.2 billion budget hole. -
OCT 23, 2020
Aldermen Thursday advanced a proposal to sell city-owned parcels for the construction and sale of affordable housing in the 26th Ward.
A proposal to sell multiple city-owned parcels in the 26th Ward for the construction and sale of affordable housing and a proposal for the city to buy land next to the planned Police and Fire Training Academy in the 37th Ward for the construction of two restaurants will both move forward to the City Council for approval following committee votes on Thursday. -
OCT 23, 2020
Israel Rocha, Jr. was confirmed Thursday as the next CEO of the Cook County Health system.
The new top executive of Cook County’s behemoth health and hospital system plans to audit bill collections, enroll more patients in insurance plans and work with private hospital systems to keep the county’s public network “financially resilient” as it faces long-term mounting costs amid a historic pandemic, he said Thursday. -
OCT 22, 2020
Cook County Clerk chief legal counsel Sisavanh Baker speaks to commissioners during a meeting of the county board’s Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee on Wednesday.
The union representing employees in the Cook County Recorder of Deeds office is raising an alarm over nearly 80 county workers they say are in danger of losing their jobs when it comes time for their roles to be subsumed into Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough’s office later this year. -
OCT 22, 2020
Developers would have to apply for a special permit before using certain demolition materials under an ordinance set for consideration Thursday.
Cook County commissioners are set Thursday to confirm Israel Rocha, Jr. as the next CEO of the $2.8 billion Cook County Health system and adopt new regulations aimed at protecting residents from demolition dust during their last regular meeting before budget hearings get underway later this month.
News in brief: Cook County launches $2M cash assistance program; new restrictions in suburban Cook County
