President Joe Biden’s proposed $5.8 trillion budget aims to provide more money for police, education, public health and housing — while at the same time slimming the federal deficit.

A WTTW News review of public records has also found that Aurora taxpayers are on the hook for tens of millions in tax incentives to two other development companies that have donated thousands to Richard Irvin and political funds connected to him.

The state’s reparations task force tackled the divisive issue of which Black residents should be eligible — it narrowly decided in favor of limiting compensation to the descendants of free and enslaved Black people who were in the U.S. in the 19th century.

The lawsuit alleged that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a law enforcement agency in the Justice Department, awarded the license to JA Industries, renamed from Jimenez Arms, after it violated federal firearms law.

Led by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who is the vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, Illinois Democratic leaders unveiled their plan to bid for the convention on Wednesday. At an unrelated news conference Thursday morning, Lightfoot began showcasing Chicago’s attributes.

Rosemont police said the 18-year-old is suspected in the Friday night shooting that killed 20-year-old Joel Valdes at the Fashion Outlets of Chicago in Rosemont, just northwest of the city.

A Cook County Judge set bail at $250,000 for 33-year-old Javier Martinez, who has been charged with a single count of criminal trespass to a restricted area in an airport.

The plan calls for offering residents 50,000 prepaid cards that will cover $150 worth of gas as well as 100,000 passes that will cover $50 worth of CTA fares. 

The White House said Biden is also calling on Congress to impose financial penalties on oil and gas companies that lease public lands but aren’t producing. And he intends to invoke the Defense Production Act to encourage the mining of critical minerals for batteries in electric vehicles, part of a broader push to shift toward cleaner energy sources and reduce the use of fossil fuels.

Two sources told WTTW News that Lightfoot will ask the Chicago City Council to confirm Deborah Witzburg as the city’s inspector general. Witzburg resigned as Chicago’s deputy inspector general for public safety on Nov. 1, saying she would apply for the top job.

The city’s street sweeping program kicks off April 1, which also means the return of “no parking” restrictions.

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to stop a portion of Jackson Park from being transformed into the home of the $500 million Obama Presidential Center.

A new city watchdog could be named soon, our Spotlight Politics team has that and more on political donations to gubernatorial candidate and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin. Plus, theater with Hedy Weiss.

Chicago theater is in full bloom for the spring season with a number of new productions and a return of some classic favorites. Hedy Weiss, theater critic for WTTW News, joins “Chicago Tonight” to share her must-see recommendations. 

A deeply blue city in the center of an increasingly red Midwest could give Democrats a chance to reach voters in nearby swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin, both of which proved crucial in President Joe Biden’s victory over former President Donald Trump in 2020.