Chicago News
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APR 27, 2020
During a chaotic and free-wheeling virtual meeting Friday, the City Council approved a measure granting Mayor Lori Lightfoot temporary emergency spending powers and rebuffed an alderman’s proposal to meet more often, narrowly overriding more than 20 aldermen who fought the mayor on both fronts.
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APR 27, 2020
Cook County is staring down a budget hole of at least $260 million this year — and that’s under the “best-case scenario” in which the economy returns mostly to normal in June, officials said Friday.
The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act passed by Congress last month is likely to ease the county’s financial burden by covering some $100 million in expenses for items directly related to fighting Covid-19 in Cook County, but that does nothing to address the steep drop-off in taxes and other revenue the county is already tallying. -
APR 24, 2020
photo courtesy of the Cook County Board of Commissioners
Cook County leaders on Thursday narrowly approved a measure to expand the county’s contract with an independent consultant hired to help boost participation in the U.S. Census, shaking off opposition from commissioners who lashed the company for its handling of the multimillion-dollar outreach effort. -
APR 24, 2020
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APR 24, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled a Covid-19 Economic Recovery Task Force on Thursday comprising elected officials, CEOs, labor leaders and nonprofit chiefs.
The task force will advise the Lightfoot administration over the “the next several weeks” and will be led by Sam Skinner, a Republican and former Chief of Staff to President George H.W. Bush. Skinner has served as the “point person for numerous emergencies and crises”, including natural disasters and terrorist bombings, according to a press release from Lightfoot’s office accompanying the announcement. -
APR 23, 2020
The Chicago City Council passed just two items from its 119-page agenda for their virtual meeting Wednesday before Mayor Lori Lightfoot moved to delay the meeting in light of what she called a “shameful” and “selfish” backlash to an ordinance that would have concentrated her administration’s power to approve coronavirus-related expenses. -
APR 23, 2020
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APR 23, 2020
UNLOCKEDThe Cook County Board of Commissioners is set to take stock of the devastation that the coronavirus crisis has wreaked on the county’s finances when it reconvenes for the first time in more than a month on Thursday.
Board members are scheduled to accept a report (20-1114) on the first-quarter operations of the Cook County Health and Hospital system when they gather for a virtual meeting via Microsoft Teams at 10 a.m. Thursday. Commissioners are scheduled to get back together at 1 p.m. Thursday for a meeting of the Cook County Forest Preserve District board. -
APR 22, 2020
City buildings department officials are temporarily letting the developer behind the botched Little Village smokestack demolition get back to work. Event planners announced a wave of festival cancelations for May and June. And Mayor Lori Lightfoot rolled out $7.5 million in funding for community groups for “violence interruption” efforts.
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APR 22, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is set to introduce a $3 million grant program on Wednesday aimed at propping up owners of affordable housing properties as she continues to spar with the City Council over the best way to help both tenants and landlords who are struggling to hold onto their homes.
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APR 22, 2020
This story was originally published by ProPublica Illinois
Combative and, at times, dismissive, Chicago’s first-term mayor gathers power as she leads the city’s fight against the coronavirus.
No one questioned that Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been firmly in charge of Chicago’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But during a briefing Lightfoot had with the city’s aldermen on March 30, she made it clear anyway. -
APR 21, 2020
Acting Chicago Police Supt. David Brown pledged to surpass the requirements of a federal consent decree and vowed to stay politically neutral on city policymaking during a marathon virtual confirmation hearing Monday ahead of a full confirmation vote in front of City Council Wednesday.
Acting Chicago Police Supt. David Brown during a virtual meeting of the City Council's Committee on Public Safety on Monday. [screencapture via Zoom]
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APR 21, 2020
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APR 21, 2020
The City Council budget committee is likely to host a lively debate Tuesday when aldermen consider a proposal boosting Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s emergency spending powers. Lightfoot gave an update Monday on the work of the racial equity task force she launched earlier this month. And the Cook County Board of Commissioners laid out their own plans for virtual meetings.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot during a press conference Monday. [Screencapture]
