Chicago News
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The city’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund launched in the summer of 2016 with fanfare and some worries about it becoming a slush fund. Close to two years on, the NOF is on track to bring in roughy $77 million from developers, and give out $12.5 million to small businesses. DPD announced this week it’s planning to take on larger requests from its pool of 800 applicants.
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MAR 29, 2018
One of the leaders of an effort pushing to impose community oversight on the Chicago Police Department called a pair of rival ordinances from one of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s aldermanic allies a “slap in the face” that threatened to waste two years of work.
Ariel Reboyras (30) defends his community police oversight ordinances that critics called a "slap in the face." Photo: AD Quig, The Daily Line
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Former 13th Ward campaign staffer turned campaign manager Alaina Hampton asked the Chicago Office of the Inspector General and the Chicago Board of Ethics Wednesday investigate Ald. Marty Quinn (13) for failing to protect her from harassment while she worked in his political organization.
Alaina Hampton appears at a brief press conference to announce she has asked city officials to investigate whether Ald. Marty Quinn (13) failed to stop sexual harassment in the 13th Ward's political organization. Photo: AD Quig, The Daily Line
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In between celebrating the impending appearance of the Loyola University Chicago men’s basketball team and the NCAA tournament run by the DePaul women’s basketball team, the City Council unanimously approved an $8.5 billion expansion of O’Hare Airport (O2018-1124) hailed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel as a major accomplishment that he lavished with praise.
Ald. Joe Moore (49) gave all his colleagues Loyola University caps to cheer on the Ramblers in style. Credit: Heather Cherone, The Daily Line
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The city’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, which takes density bonus payments from downtown developers to give grants to small businesses, has a pipeline of over 800 waiting applicants – so many the city won’t re-open the application process. With tens of millions of dollars filling city coffers in coming months, the Department of Planning and Development is now looking to fund larger projects – some worth millions of dollars themselves.
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MAR 28, 2018
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The City Council will gather Wednesday for its March meeting, where aldermen are expected to approve an $8.5 billion expansion of O’Hare Airport (O2018-1124) that appears to have navigated through turbulence that greeted the deal hailed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel as a game changer for the airport. To get the eight-year effort off the ground, aldermen will also consider O2018-1104) borrowing $4 billion, to be paid back with increased fees and rent paid by the airline.
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New COPA head announced – Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced late Tuesday that he planned to name Sydney Roberts to lead the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Roberts, the director of Secretary of State Department of Police, was the unanimous choice of the search committee formed by Emanuel after Sharon Fairley resigned to run for Illinois Attorney General, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
Roberts’ appointment came the same day as the Tribune and Sun-Times reported that Police Supt. Eddie Johnson disagreed with COPA’s finding that officer who shot and killed Bettie Jones and Quintonio LeGrier in December 2015 should be fired. Johnson found shooting was justified and consistent with department policy, the newspapers reported. Also being introduced today: the ordinance sponsored by Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) and Harry Osterman (48) establishing a civilian oversight body with the power to appoint COPA’s next head. -
MAR 27, 2018
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Heralding it as the “largest projection installation of its kind in the world,” aldermen unanimously approved the new public art project “Art on theMART” Monday, as well as changes to how much personal information condo board members would have to disclose to unit owners, and a land sale in the city’s 18th Ward that was amended behind the scenes.
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City Council’s budget committee meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday to increase the limit of Neighborhood Opportunity funds available to be disbursed to $12.5 million (O2018-1032). Mayor Rahm Emanuel has so far doled out $6.4 million to businesses on the city’s South, Southwest and West sides. There’s millions more available – the fund has received $76 million in density bonus payments since July 2016.
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Aldermen gave the green light Monday to $4 billion in borrowing (O2018-1104) to get the $8.5 billion expansion of O’Hare Airport project off the ground — but not before nearly a dozen aldermen expressed displeasure with the amount of work going to firms owned by blacks, Latinos and women.
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The City Council’s Zoning Committee has a packed agenda for its meeting set to start at 11 a.m. Thursday.
The “Edens Collection” retail center proposed in Mayfair near I-97 and the Weber Spur Trail project will be considered by the Zoning Committee. Credit: Chicago Department of Planning and Development -
MAR 27, 2018
Aldermen on the Special Events and Cultural Affairs committee held a rare meeting in the cloak room off of City Council Chambers Monday. Both the chambers and Room 201A were booked. That didn’t stop them from approving the city’s special events ordinance, O2018-1139, and three open space projects.
