More than a dozen aldermen who also serve as Democratic committeepeople saw a cash infusion from Gov. JB Pritzker during the first three months of this year. [Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash]

Several Chicago aldermen who also serve as their ward’s Democratic committeeperson saw donations ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 from Gov. JB Pritzker during the first quarter of this year.

Julian "Jumpin" Perez (left) intends to challenge Ald. Roberto Maldonado in the race for 26th Ward alderman. [Facebook; Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

Popular Chicago DJ and producer Julian “Jumpin” Perez has leaped into the race for 26th Ward alderman, signaling a possible challenge for Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26), who has held the seat for more than a decade.

Deborah Witzburg and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) speak during a committee meeting on Wednesday.

With a key committee’s unanimous approval, Deborah Witzburg is on track to become Chicago’s next inspector general.

Deborah Witzburg served as Chicago Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety between May 2020 and November 2021.

Aldermen are set on Wednesday to take an initial vote on whether to confirm Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s pick of Deborah Witzburg as the city’s next Inspector General.

Supporters of the “People’s Coalition Map” held a news conference at City Hall in February. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Chicago has yet to adopt a new ward map, as it’s tasked with doing every 10 years, but some aldermen are already looking ahead to change the remapping process ahead of the 2030 Census, from adjusting the number of votes needed to pass a map to taking the map drawing out of City Council’s hands completely.

Jason McGregor / Crain’s Chicago Business, and iStock photo

As COVID-19 cases have declined, Chicago’s downtown is beginning to transform from a pandemic ghost town into a bustling hub. And as more and more workers around the city face calls to return to the office, Chicago’s civic leaders are asking themselves: Can we really get more work done in person?

For much of the past two years, the City Council has met virtually, with aldermen implementing an historic new police oversight board, renaming DuSable Lake Shore Drive and passing a budget — all from the comfort of their homes, ward offices and even the dentist chair.

Jason McGregor / Crain’s Chicago Business, and iStock photo

Despite pressing issues surrounding education, racial equity and refugees facing Chicago in recent years, the staffed, six-figure City Council committees dedicated to those issues rarely meet, a Crain’s/The Daily Line/WBEZ joint analysis showed.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot reorganized some committees and created two new permanent committees — Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Contracting Equity and Oversight — expanding the number of standing committees to 19, up from 16 under the previous administration.

Aldermen who support the “Chicago United Map” drawn under leadership of the rules committee during a March news conference. [Alex Nitkin / The Daily Line]

As the city’s contentious ward remap feud continues to simmer through a series of letters exchanged between two groups of aldermen who support competing ward maps, the alderman in charge of the process says she plans to look to Springfield to make passing future ward remaps easier. And as negotiations remain stalled, she says she has found the leader of the competing group to be “sexist” in his handling of the negotiating process.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a recent news conference.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has not yet announced whether she plans to run for re-election next year, but recent fundraising hauls show signs of a mighty campaign in the making. The first-term mayor brought in more than $700,000 in donations to her two campaign accounts since the beginning of the year, state board of elections records show.

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) speaks during an event launching his 2023 mayoral campaign. [Erin Hegarty / The Daily Line]

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15), one of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s loudest critics on the City Council, on Wednesday officially announced he plans to run for mayor in 2023. During his official campaign launch at The Plant in Back of the Yard, Lopez said he plans to “focus on safety, rebuilding our economy and supporting our first responders and city employees that serve the taxpayers of the city of Chicago.”

Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett and Ald. Walter Burnett (27) speak during a Wednesday committee meeting.

Aldermen on Wednesday took several zaps at Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to give away $150 gas cards and $50 public transit cards, laying another bump in the road for her plan to help Chicagoans deal with rising fuel costs. The plan did not advance on Wednesday, putting its implementation in flux.

Members of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations are set to consider a proposal to give residents prepaid gas cards and CTA fare cards. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

Aldermen are set on Wednesday to vote on a yet-to-be-made-public plan meant to help Chicago residents pay for transportation as gas prices remain high.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago police Supt. David Brown speak during a news conference on Monday.

City leaders and Chicago Police Department officials on Monday announced a suite of new neighborhood initiatives, including a security camera rebate program, meant to help tamp down crime in the city.

A biker rides in the Milwaukee Avenue bike lane. [Hannah Alani/Block Club Chicago]

Tucked into her speech to the City Club Chicago on Thursday, Chicago Department of Transportation Comm. Gia Biagi announced the city is planning to give away 5,000 bikes, helmets and bike locks to Chicagoans.

Chicago Department of Transportation Comm. Gia Biagi speaks during a City Club event on Thursday.

Chicago is planning to connect and expand its trail and “corridor” system with a dozen pedestrian- and bike-friendly projects that could get underway in years to come, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other city officials said on Thursday.

From left: Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), Ald. Brendan Reilly (42), Ald. Tom Tunney (44) and Ald. Matt O’Shea (19) during Wednesday’s City Council meeting. All four will be members of the new City Council Committee on the Chicago Casino. [Don Vincent / The Daily Line]

One week after the City Council voted to create a new super-committee dedicated to approving a Chicago casino, officials are still clearing up questions over how the committee’s work will be funded and how powerful it will be, including whether it would allow development plans to bypass the city’s Plan Commission.

An announcement is expected soon on which of the six companies that applied to roll out their e-scooters can pursue licenses with the city. And Latino aldermen are demanding more say and better representation in the City Council’s approval of Chicago’s forthcoming casino.

Ald. Nicole Lee (11) speaks during a news conference on Monday. [Erin Hegarty / The Daily Line]

The Chicago City Council made history on Monday when aldermen approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s nomination of Nicole Lee, a Chinatown native and United Airlines executive, as the city’s first Asian American woman to serve on the council.

Nicole Lee was nominated by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to be the next 11th Ward alderman. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Aldermen are set on Monday to approve Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s nomination of Nicole Lee as the new 11th Ward aldermen, making her the first ever Asian American woman ever to serve on the City Council.

Members of the City Council Latino Caucus walk into a meeting at City Hall in January. [Erin Hegarty / The Daily Line]

Supporters of the Latino Caucus-backed “Coalition Map” proposal to redraw the city’s 50 wards are hoping for a vote on a modified version of their map during the April City Council meeting. The vote is a last-ditch effort to try to force a restart of the referendum filing process for June 28 ballot so they can incorporate changes to accommodate a new ally, and opposers of the map call the new tactic a “stunt.”

Chicago voters are already set to choose the next ward map during the June Primary Election. But the 15 aldermen led by Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) proposed an ordinance with a tweaked version (O2022-913) of the “Coalition Map” proposal during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.