Comm. Kevin Morrison (D-15) speaks during a county board meeting in March 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Cook County committees moved a retail ban on flavored nicotine products closer to codification Wednesday and approved a measure to outlaw employment and housing discrimination related to people’s decisions about reproductive or gender-affirming care. 

The new City Council will meet for the first time in council chambers Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

When the City Council meets for the first time this term Wednesday, not only will the excitement of the first meeting as alderman for 13 members fill the air, but the body will be asked to vote on a critical measure to close a $51 million funding gap for newly arrived migrants.

Activists and elected officials held a news conference at City Hall Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Community activists and aldermen are calling on Mayor Brandon Johnson to commit to expanding a community policing strategy that currently operates as a pilot program in select police districts to one that operates citywide.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle calls the May 23, 2023 meeting of the Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners to order. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line] 

The Board of Commissioners for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County approved two intergovernmental agreements Tuesday related to trail improvements and vacant site restoration and referred to committee several measures to increase fines and impose restitution costs for littering, pollution and illegal dumping. 

The board’s meetings were held at the Sagawau Environmental Learning Center in Lemont instead of the usual meeting place on the fifth floor of the county building in downtown Chicago.

Comm. Maggie Trevor (D-9) speaks during a Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting in March 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Two Cook County Board committees will hold hearings Wednesday on proposals to ban the sale of flavored nicotine products and to outlaw discrimination based on decisions about reproductive and gender-affirming care. 

Meetings begin at 9 a.m. in the board chambers on the fifth floor of the county building in downtown Chicago. 

A woman runs on a trail in the Cook County Forest Preserves [File photo]

The Board of Commissioners of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County will convene Tuesday to consider code amendments that would raise the maximum fines for littering and polluting on forest preserve property. Commissioners will also consider intergovernmental agreements with the City of Park Ridge and the Cook County government. 

Commissioners will hold a slew of committee meetings followed by a regular meeting of the full board. Meetings will be held at the Sagawau Environmental Learning Center in Lemont instead of the usual meeting place on the fifth floor of the county building in downtown Chicago.

Members of the City Council were sworn in last week. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line] 

When the new City Council meets for its first full meeting Wednesday, aldermen are scheduled to vote on committee assignments and leadership and council rules for the next four years. But as of Friday, committee assignments had not yet been solidified. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a new deputy role focused on implementing his progressive vision for public safety and the person to fill it. Cook County Health will soon launch a program that places behavioral care coordinators in public housing communities.

Concept art for the development of the area surrounding the future 130th St. Red Line station [Chicago DPD]

The Chicago Plan Commission held an in-person meeting for the first time in about three years Thursday and approved guiding plans for the South Side Red Line train extension and the 18th and Peoria Development. The plan commission also approved a proposal for mixed-use development to be built in the Fulton Market Innovation District. 

Meetings had been held virtually since about the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

File photo of the Chicago skyline.

The city announced a two-year partnership with the White House on an effort to get homeless individuals off the streets.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is sworn in during an inauguration ceremony at Credit Union 1 Arena on Monday [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The process to replace Mayor Brandon Johnson on the Cook County Board of Commissioners is underway. 

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, Democratic Committeeperson for Oak Park Township, announced the application process to fill Johnson’s seat Wednesday. Johnson resigned from his position representing District 1 on the board on May 13, two days before he was sworn in as Chicago’s 57th mayor. 

A proposed development from Sterling Bay. [Chicago Plan Commission presentation]

Members of the Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday are expected to vote on a two-phase, mixed-use development from Sterling Bay that would bring more than 700 residential units to the Near West Side. Commissioners will also vote on the proposed Red Line Extension development plan. 

Thursday’s 10 a.m. meeting marks the first time the Plan Commission will meet in person in City Council Chambers since the COVID-19 pandemic began. 

Kimberly Neely du Buclet replaces Lamont Robinson in the Illinois House’s 5th District. [Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago]

The inauguration of a new Chicago mayor and all 50 aldermen also brought with it a newly appointed state representative to replace now Ald. Lamont Robinson (4), who resigned his 5th District seat in the Illinois House for a spot on the City Council.  

Chicago Democrats on Saturday selected former Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Comm. Kimberly Neely du Buclet to replace Robinson in the House. Robinson had served in the House since 2019. 

Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr. speaks about the Immigration Division within the public defender's office becoming permanent during an event Tuesday. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle joined officials to announce that a pilot program that provides legal representation to immigrants with ties to Cook County who cannot afford counsel will become a permanent fixture within the public defender’s office. 

Speaking at a news conference at The Resurrection Project in Pilsen Tuesday alongside Cook County Comm. Alma Anaya (D-7), county Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr. and others, the board president said the solidification of the program represented the opening of a door “to the halls of justice.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson was sworn into office on Monday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line] 

Brandon Johnson was sworn in as Chicago’s 57th mayor Monday as he promised to invest in a variety of issues including housing, mental health, youth jobs and economic development across the city.  

Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court Timothy Evans issued Johnson’s oath of office at the Credit Union 1 Arena Friday morning.