Aldermen on Thursday delayed a vote on whether to add new liquor licenses at Millennium Park. And leaders of the Cook County Land Bank Authority described their strategy ahead of this month’s Scavenger Sale. 

A key committee is scheduled on Thursday to vote on adding new outdoor liquor licenses to Millennium Park. Another committee will hear about contractors’ use of minority- and women-owned businesses. And city public health officials announced they may lift vaccination and mask mandates by the end of February. 

Andrea Kersten speaks during a committee meeting on Wednesday. 

Members of a key committee on Wednesday voted narrowly to send Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s nomination to head the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) to the full City Council for a final vote later this month. And committee members got a first look at a proposal to allow the agency’s administrator to redact names of officers killed in the of duty from future reports. 

Opening arguments in Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson’s (11) federal criminal trial began on Tuesday. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

In opening arguments during his federal criminal trial, attorneys painted different pictures of Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) on Tuesday. The alderman’s lawyer portrayed him as often unorganized and “frazzled,” while an assistant U.S. attorney saying the real estate attorney and alderman knew what he was doing in allegedly underreporting his income and lying to banking regulators. 

Lawyers for indicted Ald. Ed Burke (14) argued during a critical evidentiary hearing on Tuesday that key secret recordings by former Ald. Danny Solis should be thrown out as evidence in Burke’s upcoming extortion trial. A key City Council committee is set on Wednesday for the second time in less than one month to consider the appointment to head the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability. City leaders unveiled members of a new Museum Campus working group on Tuesday. And the Chicago Board Ethics released a list of lobbyists who have been fined for late registration. 

The Aldermanic Black Caucus filed paperwork on Monday to create a political action committee to support caucus members and the work of the caucus. And city leaders held a news conference to update residents on efforts to curb carjackings. 

Snow covers a sidewalk and part of a crosswalk in Logan Square [Erin Hegarty / The Daily Line]

A proposal organized by Chicago residents asking city leaders to consider the clearing of snow from sidewalks as a municipal service is getting attention from some aldermen who are asking city officials to take a look at costs and logistics of such a service. 

Menu dollars helped fund a new fieldhouse at Maplewood Park in the 1st Ward. [Chicago Park District]

Aldermen across the city’s 50 wards routinely use their $1.5 million in annual discretionary funding to pay for projects like improvements to Chicago Park District parks, CPS playgrounds and fencing, and landing pads for CTA buses.

With the signing of an executive order, Mayor Lori Lightfoot formalized Chicago’s first Food Equity Council on Wednesday. And the city office that helps people with disabilities is partnering with Microsoft for a new mentorship program. 

The city of issue issued bid requests for a guaranteed income pilot program that could begin issuing checks by the summer. [Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash] 

City officials are hoping the outreach and recruitment processes for a planned $31.5 million guaranteed income pilot program can be launched in March with an initial batch of payments going out to qualifying households as early as May, according to requests from the city published this week. 

Members of the City Council Latino Caucus walk into council chambers on Sunday. 

Even after a more than two-hour Sunday meeting, aldermen did not appear any closer to agreeing on boundaries for the city’s new ward map that will be in effect for the next decade. Leaders of the City Council’s Latino and Black caucuses used the meeting to further dig in their heels on the number of wards each caucus is demanding.

(From left) Ald. Jim Gardiner (45), Ald. Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Carrie Austin (34) all made significant expenditures from their campaign accounts on legal services during the fourth quarter of 2021. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago; Heather Cherone/The Daily Line] 

Chicago aldermen under indictment or federal investigation continued to spend campaign funds on legal fees during the last quarter of 2021 while the Illinois Supreme Court decides whether the practice should be legal.

Following a presentation by zoning attorney Nick Ftikas, Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) urged his colleagues on Tuesday to oppose a 48-residential unit mixed-use development he said does not fit the character of the neighborhood along the 1600 block of North Wells Street in his ward. 

Dozens of zoning-related proposals including affordable housing plans in Humboldt Park and North Lawndale sailed swiftly through a key committee Tuesday, but one alderman pushed his colleagues to reject a 48-unit housing development he says doesn’t fit the character of the neighborhood.

A City Council Committee on Monday approved a measure increasing the minimum wage for some contracted workers at the city’s airports. And another City Council committee is set on Tuesday to revisit a routine measure that was delayed last week when CTA President Dorval Carter was not available to answer questions. 

Aldermen are set on Tuesday to vote on the relocation of Saint Anthony Hospital. 

Aldermen on Tuesday could approve changes to the city’s construction codes and greenlight several new developments including the years-in-the-making relocation of Saint Anthony Hospital within Little Village. 

Aldermen who support two different ward map proposals brought election experts to a public hearing Friday to discuss the merits of each proposal. And a City Council committee will consider revamping labor rules for some airport workers on Monday. 

Andrea Kersten answers questions during a public safety committee meeting. 

Aldermen stalled the approval of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s choice to lead one of the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability over concerns about a report she oversaw recommending discipline for the late Officer Ella French who was killed in the line of duty.

Ald. Matt Martin (47) and Ald. Maria Hadden (49) speak during a committee meeting on Friday. 

If the discussion during a Friday City Council committee hearing was any sign, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to sue gang leaders for their assets faces a tough road ahead. 

Members of the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate gave initial approval to the sale of the former Maxim’s Restaurant. A council committee is set on Wednesday to hear the merits of switching the city’s fleet to electric-powered vehicles. And members of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations are set to consider two budget appropriation tweaks during their Wednesday meeting.

Aldermen are set on Wednesday to consider an ordinance that would crack down on stolen cell phones. [Erik Solheim/Unsplash]

Aldermen are set on Wednesday to consider a proposal meant to curb cell phone theft and secondhand sales of stolen phones and another proposal that would keep pedicabs from playing loud music.