Stories by Heather Cherone

Jessica Vasquez, who served as former Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa’s chief of staff when he represented the 35th Ward on the Chicago City Council, will replace Ald. Anthony Quezada, who was tapped to take Ramirez-Rosa’s seat by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability determined that the five officers collectively committed 47 violations of departmental rules designed to protect the rights of Chicagoans during two traffic stops and should be suspended for a total of 91 days, records show.

Black and Latino homeowners were forced to cover “a disproportionate share of the burden,” according to the latest analysis from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ research team.

Nor will another statue of the Italian explorer return to Arrigo Park in Little Italy, under an agreement between Chicago’s Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans and the Chicago Park District to resolve a lawsuit.

After more than five hours of debate, the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee took no action on the plan, backed by Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling but opposed by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The cases are the first to be diagnosed in Cook County since March 8, 2024, when an outbreak of measles that began in a Pilsen shelter for migrants sickened 67 people.

A proposal to allow Chicago Police Department officials to impose a curfew anywhere in the city with just 30 minutes notice is set to face a key test Wednesday amid growing concern the measure is unworkable and unconstitutional.

Mayor Brandon Johnson Johnson declined Monday to say whether Chicago police officers should continue making traffic stops for minor violations to find evidence of an unrelated crime.

City officials agreed in June 2023 to expand the consent decree to include when officers can stop and search Chicagoans, which are officially known as investigatory stops.

Chicago police officers would not be banned from making traffic stops based on minor registration or equipment violations that are designed to fund evidence of “unrelated” crimes, under a new policy unveiled Thursday by Chicago Police Department leaders.

“For too long, the middle class has been centered on the campaign trail but sidelined when it comes to real governance,” newly announced U.S. Senate candidate Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said.

The injunction issued by U.S. District Judge William Orrick does not apply to Chicago or Cook County but is likely to bolster efforts by city officials to prevent President Donald Trump from blowing a $3 billion hole in Chicago’s budget.

The 40-member task force will be charged with developing “Chicago’s first comprehensive reparations study, a critical step forward in acknowledging, addressing and repairing generations of harm experienced by Black communities,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office.

U.S. District Court Judge John F. Kness granted federal prosecutors’ request to hold an evidentiary hearing about whether the former alderperson is healthy enough to stand trial.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Wednesday he will not seek a sixth term in the U.S. Senate, setting off a scramble for a rare open seat that will reshape Illinois politics.

The task force, formed in February, has met twice, and the next meeting is set for Wednesday, Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood said.

“The Emanuel administration had immense disdain for public education, particularly for Black, Brown and poor children, and he was vocal about it,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “And now he is prancing around this country, asking people to reconsider him. It is not just frustrating. It is beyond offensive.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday sounded the alarm about the financial crisis facing the city, warning that Chicago “will have to do more with less” as President Donald Trump threatens to upend its finances and officials confront the results of decades of financial mismanagement.

Kat Abughazaleh’s campaign reported just $3,250 in contributions of more than $200 from people who live in the 9th Congressional District, less than 1% of the total amount raised by the campaign, federal records show.

President Donald Trump in January pardoned more than 1,500 people who were convicted of attacking the Capitol as part of an effort to overturn the 2020 election, including a former Chicago police officer.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s efforts to strip federal funding from cities like Chicago with laws on the books designed to protect undocumented immigrants amount to “terrorism” and vowed again to fight the federal government.

“Look, we have inherited quite the mess,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said, emphasizing that many of the lawsuits allege misconduct that occurred decades ago.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg recommended the employee, who was not identified in keeping with the city’s rules, be terminated. But leaders of the Department of Water Management reprimanded the construction laborer, according to Witzburg.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas plans to invoke a rarely used rule at Wednesday’s Chicago City Council meeting to force representatives of Mayor Brandon Johnson to answer questions publicly about their plan to handle police misconduct lawsuits.

A final vote on both proposals, which would create 104 units of affordable housing, by the full City Council is set for Wednesday.

The 7-percentage point increase in the level of full compliance with consent decree CPD reached between July and December is the largest increase in the nearly six years that the federal court order has been in effect.