Flight volume at O’Hare Airport was about 73 percent of pre-pandemic levels this summer, Chicago Department of Aviation Comm. Jamie Rhee said Friday. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

Domestic travel to Chicago’s airports — especially Midway International Airport — is steadily rebounding from its pandemic doldrums, but international travel will take longer to complete its comeback, the city’s top aviation official told aldermen Friday.

Chicago Police Department Supt. David Brown is set to face questions during a marathon budget hearing on Monday.

The City Council is poised on Monday to kick off its final week of budget hearings by picking apart the $1.9 billion proposed budget for the Chicago Police Department, typically one of the longest and most contentious of departmental hearings aldermen attend to each fall.

Chicago Public Health Comm. Allison Arwady answers questions during a budget hearing on Thursday. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare a wide range of racial inequities among Chicagoans, and the leader of the city’s public health department hopes to address those issues as the city moves out of the pandemic, she said Thursday. 

Andrea Kersten, interim chief of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, answers questions during a budget hearing Thursday.

The city agency tasked with investigating police misconduct complaints continues to see an increase in the number of complaints filed, but for the first time in four years, the office has cleared a backlog of cases left behind by its predecessor agency, the office’s interim leader announced Thursday. 

Taste of Chicago, one of the signature events organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, is set to return in 2022 after being canceled two consecutive years. [Facebook/Taste of Chicago]

A parade of aldermen on Thursday rapped Comm. Mark Kelly, the outgoing head of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, for leaving them out of discussions on events being planned in their ward.

Ald. Michele Smith (43) said she plans to introduce an ordinance to further clarify the city's lobbying definition so ordinary citizens don't inadvertently cross ethics rules. [Colin Boyle/Block Club]

A key alderman on Thursday urged a revision in Chicago’s rules on lobbyist registration, saying the current definition of “lobbyist” could put a damper on small businesses soliciting help from their representatives in the City Council.

Leaders from the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications are scheduled Friday to brief aldermen on the office’s 2022 spending plan. [OEMC]

The City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations is scheduled on Friday to ask the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, water department and aviation department to defend their proposed 2022 budgets, which together come out to more than $1.6 billion. Friday’s three department budget hearings will close out day six of the 11-day marathon of budget committee hearings on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed spending plan.  

 

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) asks questions of Department of Assets, Information and Services Comm. David Reynolds during a hearing on Wednesday.

Chicago has already kicked the tires on a decade-long, $400 million endeavor to upgrade its outdated constellation of information technology — but the work isn’t moving fast enough, some aldermen said on Wednesday.

Chief Procurement Officer Aileen Velazquez (second from left) answers questions during a budget hearing on Wednesday 

The share of dollars being awarded to minority- and women-owned companies for city contracts has grown nearly across the board since 2020, but some aldermen continued pushing city leaders Wednesday on ways to grow the work it awards to minority contractors.  

Mamadou Diakhate, executive director of Chicago Animal Care and Control (second from left), answers questions during a budget hearing Wednesday. 

Chicago Animal Care and Control brought in more than 8,400 animals and transferred or adopted out more than 5,400 in the first eight months of the 2021, officials said Wednesday. Department employees also provide medical care for animals and run pet vaccination and microchip programs — all without city dollars dedicated to marketing their services.