Stories by Heather Cherone

The effort to launch the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability is nearly five months behind schedule. Ald. Harry Osterman (48th Ward) said 37 people applied to serve on the seven-member commission, and praised those selected by a working group of alderpeople.

The $31.5 million program has enough funding to send just 5,000 Chicago families $500 per month for 12 months, officials said. Approximately 64% of applicants live below the poverty line, which is $26,500 for a family of four. An additional 40% of applicants live in households that earn half that amount, officials said.

Ald. Michael Scott’s resignation will be effective June 3, according to his letter to Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Lightfoot will have 60 days to appoint a replacement, who will serve until the next election, set for February 2023. 

The Chicago City Council is expected to give its final stamp of approval to the Bally’s plan on Wednesday, sending the proposal to the Illinois Gaming Board, which must license Bally’s to operate the Chicago casino set to be built near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.

Crime in Chicago usually peaks during the summer months, when hot temperatures force people outside and fray tempers. In recent years, the Memorial Day holiday weekend has been extremely violent.

Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward) and Ald. Emma Mitts (37th Ward) — who both support the proposal — used a parliamentary procedure to prevent a vote on Monday. However, Public Safety Committee Chair Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward) filed a notice with the city clerk’s office to ensure the measure would get an up-or-down vote on Wednesday. 

Even though Lightfoot stacked a special City Council committee with her allies to consider the casino proposal, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th Ward) acknowledged Friday that the mayor did not have enough support to advance the plan to build a casino and resort.

Two people were killed and seven people were wounded in a mass shooting late Thursday blocks from Michigan Avenue amid a continuing surge in violence downtown. Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the incident “an outrageous act of violence.”

The 14-3 vote by the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee tees up a showdown over the controversial measure by the full City Council, which is set to meet twice next week on Monday and Wednesday. 

The ACLU of Illinois immediately blasted the new Millennium Park policy as “too vague, allows too much discretion and does not recognize the right to protest for those under 18.”

Efforts to rethink the policy and spur development on the South and West sides while preventing long-time residents from being displaced from the Northwest Side are starting to pay off, symbolized by the grand opening set for Friday of an apartment complex near the CTA Blue Line Logan Square station, Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara told WTTW News. 

The City Council’s Finance Committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend the settlement, which is set for a final vote by the full City Council on May 25.

The City Council’s Finance Committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend the settlement, which is set for a final vote by the full City Council on Wednesday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will ask the Chicago City Council to change city law to expand the curfew for teens to start at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, acknowledging that an executive order she issued Tuesday was fatally flawed.

Those who are selected for the program, which will prioritize residents of suburban Cook County, will get monthly payments of $500 to 3,250 residents for two years. The first checks are expected to be cut by the end of the year, officials said.

The unanimous vote of the City Council’s Budget and Government Operations Committee sends the proposal backed by Lightfoot to the full City Council for consideration at its meeting on May 25. 

Budget Director Susie Park unveiled the updated budget forecast during Wednesday’s meeting of the City Council’s Budget and Government Operations Committee, which holds a hearing to examine the city’s financial condition every quarter.

Since May 5, federal health officials have warned all residents of Cook County that they face a “medium” risk of contracting COVID-19. Since then, Chicago health officials have “strongly” urged Chicagoans to wear a mask when they are indoors, particularly in a crowded setting where they are unaware of the vaccination status of those around them.

The value of commercial properties increased 56% from 2018 to 2021, compared with 10% for single-family homes and small apartment buildings, according to the data released by the Cook County assessor’s office. That could result in a consequential change in how Cook County’s property tax burden is carved up. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday she had no choice but to act after the murder of 16-year-old Seandell Holliday just before 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the heart of Millennium Park amid what Lightfoot called “chaos and unnecessary violence.” 

While the map set to take effect in time for the next round of municipal elections in 2023 has been the subject of more public scrutiny than any other revised map in Chicago’s history, it still allows incumbent alderpeople to pick their own voters and punish their enemies.

Seandell Holliday, 16, was shot around 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the chest near The Bean in the heart of Millennium Park and downtown, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

If approved at a special City Council meeting set for 11:30 a.m. Monday, the map will be the second major piece of legislation that would have failed to pass without the support of some of the City Council’s most progressive members.

Rosa Escareño planned to retire in July as commissioner of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection after 30 years with the city, but agreed to lead the beleaguered park district after the scandal erupted.

Buckner told WTTW News he decided to run for mayor because Chicago needs a leader who is “fearless and compassionate.”

“The sheer number and political stature of the Illinois elected officials and business leaders who were implicated, indicted or convicted in the 2020 is staggering,” University of Illinois at Chicago professor and former 44th Ward Ald. Dick Simpson said.