Stories by Heather Cherone

The Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards voted 12-6 Thursday to advance a revised measure that was crafted by critics of Mayor Brandon Johnson on the City Council and is supported by landlord groups and the city’s business community.

The Committee on Housing and Real Estate voted 12-9 to advance a revised measure designed by Mayor Brandon Johnson to shift the balance of power toward renters from landlords.

In all, the city has banked $2.6 million in revenue from the tickets, records show.

The deal requires Stonepeak to sell Omni Air International, which has a contract with the Trump administration to carry out deportations, according to the City Council members.

“We can’t go backward,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said, accusing his rivals of wanting to close schools and “militarize our streets.”

Snelling received his first monthly pension payment of $15,744.73 on Aug. 31, and they will continue for the rest of his life, according to records obtained by WTTW News from the Policeman’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago.

NetChoice, a trade association representing the tech industry, sued to block the social media and digital advertising taxes approved as part of the state’s 2026-27 spending plan, which take effect Jan. 1, records show.

Chicago taxpayers have paid $7 million to resolve three federal lawsuits alleging misconduct by Officer Michael Donnelly, including the 2019 improper raid of Anjanette Young’s home, records show.

Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $46 million since the start of 2026 to resolve eight lawsuits brought by people who were injured or on behalf of those killed during police pursuits, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.

The total cost of defending and settling lawsuits naming disgraced former Chicago Police Detective Reynado Guevara topped $191.8 million in May, according to a WTTW News analysis.

After more than three and a half hours of tense questioning, the dispute triggered by the City Council’s decision to green-light video gambling terminals in every Chicago bar and restaurant remained deadlocked.

The Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight unanimously voted to advance a revised package of reforms first introduced in May 2024, sending it to the full City Council for a final vote on Sept. 23.

Approximately 6,527 people in Chicago lacked a permanent place to sleep on Jan. 22, according to the annual “point-in-time” count, which sends volunteers out to count the number of unsheltered people on the city’s streets on a single night.

“We have difficult and consequential decisions ahead of us as we work to address the structural financial challenges that have confronted Chicago for decades,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Campaigning at Chicago Fire Department stations appear to violate the city’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance, which bans candidates for city office from “intentionally (using) any city property or resources of the city in connection with any prohibited political activity.”

Tax Increment Financing Districts “reinforced the city’s historic economic inequities instead of reducing them — and all of this happened with little transparency or accountability from city planning officials,” according to the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago.

“Your war and your tariffs are squeezing Illinois farmers with higher costs they cannot control and never asked for,” Gov. JB Pritzker wrote. “They should not be forced to pick up the tab for your decisions.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s order requires contractors to certify that they have not committed a “public integrity violation, antidiscrimination or wage theft violation” during the previous five years.

Until the Supreme Court rules, 31 cases will remain in limbo — including three that seek to terminate officers who caused the deaths of Chicagoans, record show.

The terms of two members of the board expired last month, including Vice Chair Ryan Cortazar, who has led the board since former Chair William Conlon stepped down in July 2025, and Board Member Sarah Jin.

“We cannot continue to govern by searching for loose change in the couch, or every time that there’s a budget challenge, we revert back to proclivities that have caused tremendous harm to working people in this city,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Less than 24 hours after Chicago officials recommended he be fired, Officer Joseph Vecchio was arrested and charged with a felony count of aggravated domestic battery and is being held in Cook County jail, records show.

Lawyers for the city of Chicago have appealed that verdict, the largest ever in a lawsuit alleging misconduct by members of the Chicago Police Department.

Taxing agencies — including schools, parks, libraries and cities — sent property tax bills totaling $19.9 billion in 2025, 3.9% more than in 2024, according to a new analysis from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ research team.

Chicago DSA declined to endorse Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) because he would not tell the group he considers himself an anti-Zionist and Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) because she supported reversing a 2023 City Council vote to phase out the tipped minimum wage and voted against spending on the migrant crisis.

Chicago and Atlanta were eliminated in the first round of cuts made by officials with the Democratic National Committee, leaving Boston, Philadelphia and Denver to battle it out to host the gathering planned for Aug. 7-10, 2028.