Chicago first entered into a contract with ShotSpotter in 2017. The controversial technology relies on microphones and sensors to identify the sound of gunfire and alert law enforcement.

Voting machines must be updated after a local judicial candidate was knocked off the ballot by an appellate court.

Confusion over the end of the city’s ShotSpotter contract. State and county leaders agree to spend millions more in migrant care — but did Johnson renege on his commitment?

Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office records indicate Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero’s death was ruled “natural” and attributed to sepsis and other viruses, including COVID-19, adenovirus and rhinovirus/enterovirus.

“I’m going to spend all that money, I can assure you of that,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Consumer advocates are pushing for a change to state law that would bar utilities from collecting money from customers for those expenditures, liability insurance covering executives and for the cost associated with filing rate cases. 

The stunning news — less than a month before an election that will give Putin another six years in power — brought renewed criticism and outrage directed at the Kremlin leader who has cracked down on all opposition at home.

The online portal of entertainment options serves as a reminder of the opportunity for local establishments seeking a bite of the estimated $150-200 million pie the Democratic National Convention is expected to bring.

With early voting kicking off at two downtown locations, election officials are calling on voters to make a plan to vote early. Early voting in all 50 wards will begin March 4. The Illinois primary election is March 19.

After a spirited debate, Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) — once the leading progressive voice on the Chicago City Council — was the only alderperson to change their position since the December vote.

That cost is on top of the $150 million already set aside in Chicago’s 2024 budget, the $100 million earmarked in Cook County’s budget to care for the migrants, and $160 million in state funds Pritzker agreed to spend to care for the migrants in mid-November, officials said.

The person who advocates in court for children who’ve been abused or neglected said the state’s Department of Children and Family Services is not only failing to meet the needs of kids in its care — but that the situation is getting worse.

Voters in two precincts of the 7th Ward will be asked whether Ald. Greg Mitchell (7th Ward) and Mayor Brandon Johnson should “support a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) ordinance to prevent the displacement of renters, condo & home owners in South Shore in light of the impact of the Obama Center and growing development in the area.”

Last week, eight local Teamsters unions representing about 3,800 transportation-related employees authorized strikes amid the ongoing negotiations. A strike can still be avoided despite the authorization votes.

The evening roll call proved tight, with Speaker Mike Johnson’s threadbare GOP majority unable to handle many defectors or absences in the face of staunch Democratic opposition to impeaching Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the first Cabinet secretary facing charges in nearly 150 years.

Chicago will stop using the ShotSpotter technology by Sept. 22 — one month after the Democratic National Convention takes place in Chicago and after the summer months that are often the most violent period of the year, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced.