A key committee approved an ordinance that would allow sports betting at Chicago stadiums and ballparks, including Wrigley Field. [wallyg on Flickr]

Chicago came one step closer on Monday to allowing sports betting facilities to open at stadiums and ballparks — a proposal owners of the city’s professional sports teams backed in full force this week as casino owners continue to caution against it. 

Aldermen are set on Tuesday to rescue two proposals form the City Council Committee on Committees and Rules. The City Council Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight is scheduled Tuesday to confirm a new member of the Chicago Board of Ethics. And the council’s economic development committee dropped a disputed tax break proposal. 

Chief Procurement Officer Aileen Velazquez speaks during a Friday committee meeting. 

After hitting a delay, aldermen gave initial approval to a measure that will allow the city’s chief procurement officer to make emergency payments of up to $1 million without City Council approval. 

Residents from Chicago’s 11th and 25th wards dominated public comment on the city’s ward remap Friday, urging aldermen to keep their communities intact. And a key City Council committee approved two new appointments to the Police Board. And aldermen are set to make another attempt at passing an ordinance to legalize stadium-based sports betting in Chicago. 

Chicago Department of Public Health Comm. Allison Arwady answers questions during a committee hearing on Thursday. 

Aldermen urged city public health officials Thursday to move quicker on a possible vaccination requirement for high-risk public settings, pushing for a mandate similar to one that recently took effect in New York City. 

Aldermen green-lit the extension of a popular outdoor seating permitting program. Members of the City Council Committee on Public Safety are set to consider the appointments of two new members to the Chicago Police Board. The council’s budget committee is set to reconvene to consider an ordinance giving emergency powers to the chief procurement officer. And a final 2021 public hearing on the ward remap is set for Friday. 

Chief Procurement Officer Aileen Velazquez and Ald. Jason Ervin (28) speaking during a budget committee meeting on Wednesday.

Aldermen on Wednesday vehemently shot down a proposal from the city’s procurement department that would allow the chief procurement officer to make emergency payments of up to $1 million without City Council approval. The measure would double the current threshold requiring council approval, which is set at $500,000, specifically to allow officials to replenish a low supply of water treatment chemicals, they said. 

Aldermen who support the City Council’s rules committee map hold a press conference on the ward remap Tuesday. 

As Chicagoans piled critiques on ward map proposals during a Tuesday public hearing, including by suggesting the city push for a referendum, the alderman overseeing the ward remap cautioned that sending the remap decision to voters would only add to a “difficult election cycle.” 

Lincoln Towing's impoundment lot in Uptown. A City Council committee is set on Wednesday to consider an ordinance related to towing storage lots. [The Daily Line/Alex Nitkin]

The City Council Committee on License and Consumer Protection is scheduled on Wednesday to consider a mayoral proposal related to towing lots, and members of the council’s budget committee are set to hear an update on this year’s spending to date. 

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi is set to go before aldermen to answer questions on commercial property tax assessments. 

City officials are set Tuesday to update aldermen on the lending patterns of banks that hold city investments, and Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi will be in the hot seat as aldermen ask about commercial property tax assessments. 

A public hearing on the city’s ward remap process is set for 3 p.m. Tuesday. 

The City Council Committee on Committees and Rules is set to convene at 3 p.m. Tuesday for a public hearing on the ongoing ward remap.

Burt Odelson [top right] speaks during a Press Box even on Friday. 

An attorney representing the City Council Latino Caucus is prepared to challenge the constitutionality of the proposed ward map unveiled last week by a key City Council committee, he said Friday.

The City Council Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation approved the nomination of Erin Harkey as the new head of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Aldermen unanimously approved a measure to beef up city worker protections. The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate approved four ordinances related to city land transactions. And a follow-up report from the city’s Office of Inspector General found that public health officials are making progress on improving security around the COVID-19 contract tracing program. 

Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) holds a copy of the rules committee ward map introduced on Wednesday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Aldermen blew past a critical Wednesday deadline to approve new ward boundaries, all but foreclosing any possibility of a new Chicago ward map until 2022 as a key aldermen called on her colleagues to “start over.” 

Members of Asian Americans Advancing Justice speak during a news conference on Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Advocates calling for aldermen to include the city’s first Asian American-majority ward in a new ward map made a final push on Tuesday for better representation in City Council. 

Ald. Michelle Harris (8) and Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) speak during a Monday Rules Committee hearing on ward mapping. 

An apparent plan to unveil a city-backed ward map proposal was scuttled Monday, just two days before a critical deadline to approve a new map as aldermen dug into each other in a fracas over the process by which the map is being drawn. 

A map of Chicago's existing 50 wards. Aldermen have until Wednesday to approve a new 

Updated November 29, 7:52 a.m. The Chicago City Council is set to hold a flurry of public meetings this week to hammer out a new ward map — but the council's Caucus pulled back on special meeting it had called for Monday morning.

Ald. David Moore (17) earlier this month proposed a measure that would establish an anti-littering campaign in the city. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

A proposal from a South Side alderman would direct the city’s chief sustainability officer to establish a citywide campaign to combat littering — an issue regularly broached by aldermen during city budget hearings.

Members of the Aldermanic Black Caucus announced their ward map proposal on Monday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The Aldermanic Black Caucus on Monday unveiled its proposal to draw 17 majority-African American wards — a concession after caucus leaders had vowed to keep the 18 majority-Black wards drawn in 2012. But their plan still only maps out 14 majority-Latino wards, a setup the Latino Caucus calls “problematic.” 

Aldermen listened to a presentation on the proposed Coalition Map spearheaded by the City Council Latino Caucus.

With 12 days until a critical deadline to vote on a new map, aldermanic debate over the city ward remap on Thursday broke out into the public sphere for the first time since the behind-the-scenes process got underway.