The Chicago Plan Commission gave an initial OK to an affordable housing development along Fifth Avenue in East Garfield Park. 

A proposal to build affordable apartments and condos side-by-side in East Garfield Park cleared a key hurdle on Thursday by nabbing the endorsement of the Chicago Plan Commission. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a news conference on Wednesday. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]

Aldermen gave the Chicago Police Board the go-ahead on Wednesday to draw up an appeal process for people who want their names removed from a new system intended to replace the Chicago Police Department’s controversial Gang Database.

Aldermen are set to meet on Wednesday for the first regular City Council meeting since approving the 2022 budget. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

During the first regular City Council meeting since passing the 2022 budget, aldermen on Wednesday are set to approve nearly $3 million for five police-related settlements and loosen rules allowing dogs in some Chicago bars, among dozens of other measures.  

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) announced on Wednesday plans to run for Congress in Illinois’ new 3rd District. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) on Wednesday became the first candidate to officially throw his hat in the ring to run to represent Illinois’ newly drawn 3rd Congressional District.  

Ald. Michelle Harris (8) speaks during Tuesday’s public hearing on ward remapping.

With three weeks left until the City Council's deadline to vote on a new ward map, city officials this week rolled out a tool that lets residents draw their own ward maps and submit them to the City Council Committee on Committees and Rules.  

The City Council housing committee approved an extension of an agreement for the city to use 175 rooms in Hotel Julian for congregate living. 

A key City Council committee on Tuesday unanimously approved extending a $540,000-per-month agreement for the city to use rooms in the downtown Hotel Julian to shelter homeless residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Traffic crash fatalities have risen over the past two years, according to data presented to aldermen Monday by Chicago Department of Transportation Deputy Comm. Vig Krishnamurthy.

Traffic deaths in Chicago have been on the rise during the past two years despite a city initiative whose goal is to bring the number of fatalities down to zero, city transportation officials said Monday. 

A City Council committee is set on Monday to discuss Vision Zero Chicago. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety on Monday is set to hold a hearing on the city’s initiatives to eliminate fatalities from traffic crashes. 

With a budget allowing for 30 tree trimming crews next year, the city is planning to shift the way it handles tree trimming. [Joe Ward/Block Club Chicago]

By more than doubling the city’s brigade of tree trimming crews in next year’s budget, Chicago is set to begin shifting toward a block-by-block or “grid” system to trim its parkway trees, replacing its complaint-based program that has been widely blamed for months-long backlogs. 

The City Council Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation approved $75,000 in Open Space Impact Fee funds to expand an urban farm. And public hearings on three Special Service Areas draw support for extensions. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2022 budget proposal is set for a final vote Wednesday. 

The City Council is set Wednesday to take its final vote on a freshly amended version of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed 2022 budget, potentially setting next year’s spending plan one month ahead of the city’s normal schedule. 

Aldermen attend Monday’s City Council meeting at City Hall. 

Aldermen seized on a relatively short City Council meeting on Monday to banish their colleagues’ vaccine mandate-related proposals to the rules committee, delaying votes on the contentious proposals. 

Ald. Pat Dowell (3) presides over Friday’s budget committee meeting. 

Aldermen on Friday gave quick approval to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed $16.7 billion budget plan with some added changes from the City Council, including the creation of an oversight subcommittee to monitor the city’s spending of federal stimulus money. 

Budget Director Susie Park [left] and Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett answer questions during a finance committee meeting on Thursday. 

Several aldermen initially balked on Thursday before advancing an ordinance giving the city the greenlight to borrow $660 million to help fund Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed Chicago Recovery Plan, saying they don’t trust city officials to fully carry out plans for the money in their respective wards. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed ordinances to fund next year’s spending plan are set to face a committee vote on Thursday. 

Aldermen are set on Thursday to take an initial vote to approve the funding mechanisms for Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed $16.7 billion spending plan. And while the plan may not technically include new fines, it does propose to capture revenue from hiked fines for environmental violations and a modest property tax increase.