Mayor Brandon Johnson is backing the creation of a new subcommittee to study reparations and is agreeing to earmark $500,000 in his 2024 spending plan to fund the panel’s work.

The newly created Department of Reentry would have a budget of $5 million and four employees charged with helping formerly incarcerated individuals in Chicago get what “they need to thrive in this city,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Abortion rights supporters won an Ohio ballot measure and the Democratic governor of beet-red Kentucky held onto his office by campaigning on reproductive rights and painting his opponent as extremist.

“I felt like I was back in the South,” said Ald. Emma Mitts, who grew up in Arkansas, during the era of Jim Crow. “I felt like everything in me was shaking.”

The end to mayoral control of the Chicago Board of Education could come sooner than expected.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said the resolution of the fraught debate is an example of his collaborative approach to governance, and that he would continue to work with Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st Ward) and residents to address any problems that arise.

The upgrade came from Fitch Ratings, the last remaining holdout of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies to advance the state’s status to “A” grade. Collectively, Fitch, S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service have given the state nine credit upgrades since 2021.

Supporters say the plan would generate approximately $100 million annually to address the root causes of homelessness by building new permanent housing that offers wraparound services.

The selection process, which began slowly Monday morning, has continued at a leisurely pace throughout Tuesday. No jurors have yet been officially seated to hear the case.

Under the version approved, Chicago employers would have to give workers five sick days and five days of paid time off for any reason. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first spending plan eliminates a $538 million shortfall and prioritizes new investments in affordable housing, mental health services and environmental justice.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa said in a statement that he allowed tensions at Thursday's special City Council meeting “to get the better of me and act in a way unbecoming of a leader.”

Former Ald. Ed Burke entered the Dirksen United States Courthouse for the first time since June 2019 accompanied by his wife, former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Burke, and a phalanx of attorneys.

For many Chicagoans, the quiet pre-dawn hours are regularly interrupted by the sound of noisy — and illegal — early morning pickups by private garbage hauling companies. A proposed ordinance aims to fix that. 

A federal lawsuit awaiting a judge’s ruling says city of Aurora terms for Revv Aviation illegally disadvantage one of their competitors at the Aurora Municipal Airport. Revv’s owners have donated to Mayor Richard Irvin’s campaign fund and hosted a fundraiser for him. 

Former Ald. Ed Burke, once the most powerful member of the City Council, is scheduled to go on trial starting on Monday at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on 14 charges of bribery, extortion and racketeering — charges that are usually brought against members of the mob or street gangs.