“Access to birth control should never be determined by economic status, education or ZIP code. Birth control is a basic health care service. It should be treated as such and readily available for all,” said state Sen. Melinda Bush, a co-sponsor of the bill. 

As the battle over control of business sign permits concludes, a new front in the struggle over aldermanic prerogative opened Wednesday over the future of the city’s ward superintendents. 

With just two votes to spare after a contentious debate of nearly two hours, the Chicago City Council voted 36-13 to create an elected board of Chicago residents to oversee the Chicago Police Department, enacting the most far-reaching police reform ordinance in the country.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected two Republicans tapped by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, a decision the Republican denounced as “an egregious abuse of power.”

Senate Republicans rejected an effort Wednesday to begin debate on the big infrastructure deal that a bipartisan group of senators brokered with President Joe Biden. But supporters in both parties remained hopeful of a better chance soon.

The bipartisan infrastructure deal senators brokered with President Joe Biden is hanging precariously ahead of a crucial Wednesday test vote as senators struggle over how to pay for nearly $1 trillion in public works spending.

The governor launched his reelection campaign Monday, touting his leadership of the state through the COVID-19 pandemic. But Republican opponents used the occasion to bash what they have called a “disastrous” tenure. 

Chicago is on the brink of enacting the most far-reaching police reform ordinance in the country after a proposal to create an elected board of city residents to oversee the Chicago Police Department cleared a key city panel late Tuesday. A final vote is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The site of the long-defunct hospital is poised to be transformed into a new Chicago neighborhood offering 4,800 homes, plus offices, research facilities and stores as part of a $4 billion redevelopment. “This has been a long time coming,” said Ald. Sophia King.

The more transmissible delta variant now accounts for approximately 44% of all confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Chicago, said Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the Department of Public Health.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has picked five Republicans to sit on the new select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, signaling that Republicans will participate in the investigation that they have staunchly opposed. 

A proposal to create an elected board of Chicagoans to oversee the Chicago Police Department is likely to pass easily, now that it has the backing of a coalition of community groups and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, several aldermen told “Chicago Tonight” on Monday.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, 56, has announced he will run for a second term as Illinois governor and put his response to the COVID-19 pandemic at the center of his bid for reelection.

Pierre Loury was shot and killed by police Officer Sean Hitz after a brief chase in April 2016. The City Council’s Finance Committee voted Monday to advance the proposed settlement, which is set for a final vote Wednesday by the full City Council.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday made American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson a commander of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award, for helping “change the destiny of the United States” and with it, the world. 

The agreement could end years of contentious debate over how best to ensure that the Chicago Police Department no longer routinely violates the constitutional rights of Chicagoans.