Stories by Heather Cherone

Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30th Ward) announced he will not run for re-election to represent Belmont Cragin in 2023, joining an unprecedented exodus from the Chicago City Council. Reboyras, 69, said in a statement it had been “an unbelievable honor” to represent parts of the city’s Northwest Side for 20 years.

“The race has been run and it is time to pass the gavel to a successor,” Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke said.

The February 2023 election represents a nearly unprecedented opportunity for Democratic Socialists to not only take on Mayor Lori Lightfoot but also to remake the Chicago City Council after a wave of retirements and departures.

The measure known as the “Bodily Autonomy Sanctuary City Ordinance” would ratify and expand an executive order signed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot in July after the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The South Side alderperson said he is “ready to hand the reins over to a new generation of leadership” after 20 years in office.

Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady urged all Chicagoans older than 12 who were vaccinated against COVID-19 with the original vaccine at least two months ago to get the updated vaccine, which targets the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the omicron variant of COVID-19. 

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson announced Tuesday he is exploring a possible run for Chicago mayor, taking the first step toward confronting Mayor Lori Lightfoot with a serious challenge from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, 62, the first member of the Chicago Teachers Union to be elected to the City Council, said in a statement released on Labor Day that she wanted to start the “next chapter” of her life.

The group that arrived Sunday was made up of mostly families, their country of origin was not clear, Lightfoot said.

Chicago Police stepped up their use of the city’s overall curfew law this summer recording 141 curfew violations, an increase of approximately 57% as compared with the same period in 2021, according to police department data. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is running for re-election, relished the chance to welcome the immigrants to Chicago, most of whom arrived in the United States after fleeing Venezuela, where the collapse of the economy has triggered political instability.

Under a new policy announced Tuesday, Chicago Police officers will get at least one day off every week. The policy was announced approximately 24 hours after  the inspector general released an analysis that determined that more than 1,000 officers were scheduled to work 11 or more consecutive days between April 1 and May 31.

Lakeview Ald. Tom Tunney is the sixth member of the Chicago City Council to announce they will not run for re-election next year,

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg conducted the inquiry after Supt. David Brown’s decision to repeatedly cancel officers’ scheduled days off during the historically violent summer months erupted into controversy.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the eight-month delay was not caused by her lack of support for the commission, which will have the final say on policy for the Chicago Police Department.

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th Ward) is the fifth member of the Chicago City Council to announce they will not run for re-election next year, joining indicted Ald. Carrie Austin (34th Ward), Ald. James Cappleman (46th Ward), Ald. Michele Smith (43rd Ward) and Ald. George Cardenas (12th Ward.)

The city’s 2022 spending plan increased the Chicago Police Department’s budget for counseling services by 73% to allow the city to hire an additional 11 clinical therapists — enough to assign one clinician to work full time in each of the city’s 22 police districts.

Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, who has been the public face of Chicago’s response throughout the continuing COVID-19 pandemic as well as the outbreak of monkeypox, said she would work from home while isolating.

The first of 10 developments planned as part of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Invest South/West initiative to start construction is a 58-unit apartment complex set to be built near 79th and Green streets in Auburn Gresham. 

Karol Chwiesiuk, a Chicago Police officer, is set to stand trial for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection nearly two years after he was charged.

The commission, which was formed more than two years ago in the wake of the social justice protests and unrest that erupted after the police murder of George Floyd, also recommended that the city remove the Italo Balbo monument as well as several monuments because of the way they depict Native Americans.

In a statement released by her office, Lightfoot thanked Chicago’s Native American and Italian American communities for participating in the commission’s work, but did not address the future of the statues “regarded by many members of the Italian American community as a symbol of cultural pride” but considered “a bitter reminder of centuries of exploitation, conquest and genocide” to members of Chicago’s Native American community, according to the commission’s report.

The unanimous advisory opinion issued Monday and signed by Chair William Conlon represents the first time the board has addressed the issues that surround the decision by an incumbent mayor to run for re-election.

In 2019, Chicago paid more than $1.31 billion to its four pension funds benefitting police officers, firefighters, municipal employees and laborers. In 2023, Chicago will pay more than $2.34 billion to the same four funds.

Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th Ward), a Lightfoot ally, sent an email on June 2 to residents of his Far South Side ward that included an advertisement for the mayor’s re-election kickoff event at the Starlight Restaurant on June 8. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed two years ago Friday to confront the “the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history” by using the city’s public spaces to memorialize the “city’s true and complete history.” That promise remains unfulfilled, 729 days later.