Chicago News
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APR 29, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled a new grant program Tuesday targeted at keeping “micro-businesses” afloat during the stay-at-home order. Meanwhile, Cook County leaders announced they will extend their grace period for tax and fee collection by another month. And Chicago planning officials delayed scheduled meetings of the Chicago Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals for the fourth time since March.
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APR 28, 2020
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APR 28, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday announced the launch of Chi COVID Coach, a new resource to help people experiencing Covid-19 symptoms access testing and other forms of help. Meanwhile, a federal judge ordered Cook County officials to suspend multiple-person cells at the County Jail in most cases. And city health officials said dust from the planned demolition of the Crawford power station showed no signs of asbestos, but the site did test positive for traces of some toxic metals.
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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
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 23, 2020
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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.
