IRMA's Featured Retailer
We Are Retail: M.D. Trains
M.D. Trains in downtown Woodstock is a full-service hobby shop owned by Matt Drennan, offering model trains, cars, and collectibles for hobbyists of all ages.
The store has become a welcoming community hub for those with a passion for railroading and model building. From vintage finds to modern supplies, M.D. Trains has it all for nostalgic and creative collectors.
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NOV 03, 2021
Cook County Health psychiatry department chair Joyce Miller [left] and Comm. Dennis Deer (D-2) during a meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Health & Hospitals Committee on Tuesday.
Cook County commissioners faced grim statistics on the county’s mental health crisis on Tuesday, as several department heads stressed surging demands for services and fears of potential burnout among city staff.
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NOV 03, 2021
Aldermen were set to consider a property tax incentive for the developer of the property at 2017 N. Mendell St., but the item was pulled from the agenda on Wednesday. [Department of Planning and Development/Twitter]
A tax incentive for a developer looking to bring a “cannabis farm” or dispensary to a property along the North Branch of the Chicago River near the Lincoln Yards mega-site that aldermen were set to approve Thursday was pulled from the agenda on Wednesday.
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NOV 02, 2021
Chicago Department of Public Health Comm. Allison Arwady and Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez answer questions during a Facebook Live Q&A on Tuesday. [Facebook/Chicago Department of Public Health]
Cook County health officials are planning to roll out vaccinations for children as young as 5 starting on Monday, and Chicago vaccinations could get underway by the end of this week, officials said on Tuesday.
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NOV 02, 2021
The city’s Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett addressed City Club members during a meeting Tuesday.
Chicago’s Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett boosted various components of the city’s newly approved 2022 budget — including its moves to climb the city’s pension and debt ramps — to members of the City Club of Chicago during a Tuesday meeting.
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NOV 02, 2021
Left: Ald. Jim Gardiner Right: Local business owner James Suh poses for a portrait across the street from the Clarendale development, 4747 W. Irving Park Rd., at the Six Corners in Portage Park on Sept. 8, 2021. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]
A business owner and Old Irving Park resident is suing Ald. Jim Gardiner (45) after leaked text messages showed the alderman used city resources in a revenge plot against him.
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NOV 02, 2021
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday that the Fraternal Order of Police is not “serious about getting a deal done” to get their members vaccinated.
A Cook County judge hit pause Monday on a requirement for Chicago’s police officers and supervisors to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of 2021, staking a partial but powerful legal victory for the Fraternal Order of Police in its challenge of the city’s vaccination rules.
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NOV 02, 2021
UNLOCKED
Bike advocates talked about bike lanes and bike share programs on The Daily Line’s CloutCast podcast. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
Chicago workers are pushing toward the city’s goal to add or improve 100 miles of bike lanes between this year and 2022, but some transportation advocates are warning not all bike lanes are created equal and that improving bike safety is critical to getting more people to try travel on two wheels.
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NOV 01, 2021
Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26) was one of 25 aldermen who spoke up on the city’s vaccination rules during a special City Council meeting on Friday. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
The City Council voted overwhelmingly on Friday to reject an insurgent push to revoke Chicago’s vaccination mandate and tighten the council’s control of city human resources policy after more than two hours of impassioned debate over the measure’s legal, practical and moral implications.
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OCT 29, 2021
Cook County Forest Preserve District Supt. Arnold Randall speaks during a Forest Preserve District board meeting on Oct. 5
The $136.6 million proposed budget for the Cook County Forest Preserve District will allow county officials to rebuild forest trails, repair picnic shelters and restore thousands of acres of natural habitat. But financial storm clouds will keep gathering on the district’s horizon while leaders wait to hear if voters throw it a financial lifeline next year, district Supt. Arnold Randall told county commissioners on Thursday.
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OCT 29, 2021
Dozens of people gathered outside City Hall on Monday to rally against the vaccine mandate for city workers. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]
The City Council is set to meet Friday for a special meeting at the behest of aldermen leading the effort to repeal Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s vaccination mandate for city employees.
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OCT 29, 2021
Cook County Chief Financial Officer Ammar Rizki and Toni Preckwinkle chief of staff Lanetta Haynes Turner speak during a county budget hearing on Thursday.
Cook County leaders are leaning on an “executive leadership council” made up of department heads and consultants to iron out the details of how the county will spend its $1 billion windfall from the American Rescue Plan. But the ideas won’t be presented for public approvals until December — and even then, only “near-term initiatives” will be ready for consideration, county finance officials told commissioners Thursday.
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OCT 27, 2021
Cook County Comm. Brandon Johnson (D-1) questions Sheriff Tom Dart during a budget hearing on Wednesday
Police districts are stretched thin across Cook County, and the county Sheriff’s office is straining to keep them covered, Sheriff Tom Dart told county commissioners during an hours-long budget hearing on Wednesday.
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OCT 27, 2021
UNLOCKED
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2022 spending plan was approved on Wednesday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]
Aldermen approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $16.7 billion so-called “recovery budget” for 2022 with plenty of votes to spare, as many aldermen touted the spending plan as a “progressive” use of the federal stimulus money that sets standards on how the city should allocate dollars in the future.
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OCT 27, 2021
County leaders are hoping the 2022 budget for the Cook County Forest Preserve District is the last annual appropriation before voters approve a tax hike to shore up the district’s finances. [Facebook/Cook County Forest Preserve District]
Cook County commissioners will get a long-awaited chance on Thursday to grill county finance officials on their still-developing plans to spend the $1 billion on tap from the American Rescue Plan as the county’s annual budget hearings wrap up on Thursday.
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OCT 26, 2021
Clockwise from top left: Cook County Health CEO Israel Rocha, Comm. Donna Miller (D-6), Cook County Health Chief Strategy Officer Andrea Gibson and Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Shannon Andrews speak during a virtual budget hearing on Tuesday.
The Cook County Health system is set to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic on solid financial footing and will even grow its offerings after years of cutbacks and financial uncertainty, officials told county commissioners during a budget hearing on Tuesday.
