Sponsors of the so-called “Coalition Map” and the CHANGE Illinois-backed “People’s Map” held a press conference before the February City Council meeting [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

As ward remap negotiations among competing groups of aldermen have ground to a halt, a group of aldermen that has already filed paperwork to put their map to voters in a referendum wants to make modifications to the map they originally proposed to accommodate a new group of supporters. 

But legal teams representing multiple agencies and parties are discussing whether or how the proposed “Coalition Map,” which is backed largely by the City Council Latino Caucus and filed to be placed on the June 28 Primary Election ballot as a referendum question, can be legally changed, Chicago Board of Elections spokesperson Max Bever told The Daily Line on Wednesday. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants Russia’s status as one of Chicago’s “Sister Cities” to be suspended. And city licensing officials tallied the hundreds of citations they issued during the nearly two months the city required masks and proof of vaccination in most public indoor settings. 

Chicago Department of Public Health Comm. Allison Arwady speaks during a committee hearing on Monday. 

As masks and proof of vaccination are no longer required in most indoor settings and the number of new COVID-19 cases continues trending downward, Chicago has graduated to a “new phase” of the pandemic, the city’s top doctor told aldermen on Monday. 

Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10) and public health Comm. Allison Arwady speaking during a committee hearing in January.

On the same day the city is set to lift both its indoor mask mandate and requirement that people show proof of vaccination at restaurants and entertainment venues, public health department Comm. Allison Arwady is set to brief aldermen on the city’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Former 11th Ward Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson resigned last week. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line] 

Just over a week ago, Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) submitted his official letter of resignation from City Council as he was required to do after a federal jury found him guilty of lying to federal banking officials and filing false income tax returns. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a plan on Wednesday to fill Thompson’s 11th Ward seat, a process over which she has final say. But in the interim, the 11th Ward is without an aldermen, and some of Thompson’s previously introduced legislation hangs in limbo without an aldermanic sponsor.  

Related: With Daley Thompson ‘guilty’ verdict, clock begins ticking to appoint new 11th Ward alderman 

Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29) (left) moved to defer and publish Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s gang asset forfeiture proposal during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to sue gang leaders and seize their assets hit a snag on Wednesday when two supporters of the proposed ordinance moved to temporarily delay a vote on the matter, a move widely interpreted as a sign that it lacked enough support to pass. 

Ald. Sophia King (4) and the Department of Law’s Mark Siegel speak during a committee meeting on Tuesday.

After terse discussions pitting legal concerns against aldermanic involvement in the special events permitting process, aldermen on Tuesday gave initial OK to a proposal that would lengthen the advance notification period required for special events and require city officials to make an extra effort to notify aldermen of upcoming fairs or festivals planned in their own wards. 

Aldermen are set on Tuesday to lay the groundwork for electronic voting during City Council meetings. And another council committee is scheduled to consider an ordinance that would give aldermen more notice for special events in their wards. 

A slide from a presentation by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events shows renovation plans for the restaurant in Millennium Park.

After a delayed vote earlier this month, a key City Council committee on Friday sent a proposal to award two new liquor licenses in Millennium Park to the full council for approval this week. 

From left: Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), Ald. Jason Ervin (28) and Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38) speaking during a committee meeting on Thursday. 

In a split vote, aldermen gave initial approval to a more than $1.6 million payment to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman who alleged that her constitutional rights were violated when police officers pulled her by her hair from a car and placed a knee on her neck at the Brickyard Mall in May 2020. 

A City Council committee is scheduled on Friday to consider allowing new liquor licenses in Millennium Park. And the city’s Department of Housing on Thursday released a plan for eliminating barriers to fair housing. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended her proposal to sue gang members during a post-City Council meeting news conference in September. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]

Aldermen are set on Thursday to revisit Mayor Lori Lightfoot's controversial proposal to sue gang leaders and seize their assets and will take up a pair of proposals to tweak rules for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. 

Members of a City Council committee approved the appointment of a new Chicago Park District commissioner and gave an OK to this year’s special events calendar. The Chicago Plan Commission will hear an update on the city’s “We Will” plan on Thursday. And the council’s budget committee approved a slew of new grants on Wednesday. 

Members of the City Council Latino Caucus walk into Council Chambers for an in-person ward map meeting in January. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Supporters of the independent commission that drew its own ward map proposal announced on Wednesday its endorsement of the City Council Latino Caucus-backed “Coalition Map.” The joining of forces and creation of a new ballot initiative committee show supporters of the map are “taking the step in moving toward a campaign,” the Latino Caucus chair said on Wednesday. 

This year’s special events calendar is set to include the Taste of Chicago. [Facebook/Taste of Chicago]

The City Council Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation is set to discuss a special events calendar that includes staple Chicago events like the Air and Water Show and the Taste of Chicago. 

Chicago is still likely on track to lose its mask mandate at the end of February, the city’s top doctor said. A key City Council committee on Tuesday approved a property tax incentive for Siegal Steel in Brighton Park. And the council’s budget committee will approve receipt of an untold number of grant funds on Wednesday. 

Aldermen gave initial approval to a resolution supporting the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine. And a City Council committee is set on Tuesday to approve a property tax incentive for the rehabbing of an industrial facility on the city’s Southwest Side.

Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) speaks during a January 2022 City Council meeting. [Don Vincent / The Daily Line] 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has approximately two months to choose a new alderman of the 11th Ward after a federal jury on Monday decided Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) is guilty of lying to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and undervaluing his income on tax returns. 

The Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse [Erin Hegarty / The Daily Line] 

Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) confirmed on Friday he will not testify in his federal jury trial as his defense attorneys called its final round of witnesses close to Thompson to vouch for him as someone who is willing to “help anyone” but is “not a details person.”

Ald. Jason Ervin (28), left, and Ald. Pat Dowell (3) speaking during a committee meeting on Thursday. 

Aldermen on Thursday probed city officials on whether the program that awards fixed-price, competitive bid construction contracts works with enough minority- and women-owned businesses.