Stories by Heather Cherone

A final vote on the measure, which advanced unanimously Monday, is set for March 23.

Employees who are not vaccinated will not be paid and may face additional “disciplinary action, up to and including termination,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office said in a statement Friday evening. 

The new policy will allow the Chicago Police Department to “expand its pool of candidates” and attract more “diverse” officers, Superintendent David Brown said.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 22 counts alleging that he orchestrated a criminal enterprise for a decade while serving as Illinois’ most powerful politician.

A previous effort to renovate the Congress Theater sputtered out in 2020, even after the City Council agreed to give the project a $9.7 million subsidy.

In her first public remarks on the search for a replacement for former Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, Lightfoot said the five-member search committee charged with reviewing applications from those who want to investigate allegations of wrongdoing and malfeasance by city employees, contractors and vendors was working diligently to recommend finalists.

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Tuesday that he would not run for mayor of Chicago in 2023, removing Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s most prominent potential challenger from the growing field of prospective candidates.

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Illinois’ top doctor and the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, will step down on March 14, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday.

Black Chicagoans were “overwhelmingly disproportionately” stopped by Chicago Police officers across the city, including in parts of the city that Chicago Police consider to be “high crime” areas, according to the report issued by interim Inspector General William Marbeck.

The City Council’s Subcommittee on Reparations has met only once since it was formed in June 2020, and Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th Ward), the chair of the subcommittee, told WTTW News that her efforts to schedule additional meetings have been unsuccessful.

After 182 days, Gov. J.B. Pritzker lifted the statewide mandate on Monday as confirmed cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations continued to drop precipitously after the surge driven by the omicron variant. 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced late Friday students and staff will no longer be required to wear masks in Illinois schools as of Monday, after the Illinois Supreme Court declined to take up his request to overturn an appellate court decision that prompted school districts across Illinois to drop their requirement that students and teachers wear face coverings to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The Chicago City Council voted 31-14 to confirm Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s pick to lead the agency charged with probing misconduct by members of the Chicago Police Department after months of controversy.

Whoever Lightfoot picks and is confirmed by the Chicago City Council will potentially get a leg up if they choose to run for a full term in February 2023 to represent what is likely to be a very different 11th Ward.

Chicago would permanently ban investments in oil and gas companies under a measure introduced Wednesday by Treasurer Melissa Conyears Ervin and backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

A lottery will determine which Chicagoans suffering from the economic catastrophe unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic will get $500 per month for a year as part of an effort to study whether a universal basic income could reduce poverty in the city.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to fight crime by going after the profits earned by Chicago’s gangs failed to pass the Chicago City Council on Wednesday amid a deluge of criticism.

Chicago Police officers must be vaccinated against COVID-19, an arbitrator ruled Wednesday, handing Mayor Lori Lightfoot a significant victory.

“This will put innocent people at risk,” Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell said. “Grandparents, other family members and innocent members of the community.”

Efforts backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to reduce residential segregation in Chicago have begun to show signs of progress, officials with the Chicago Department of Housing say. The centerpiece of that effort is a revamped ordinance that requires developers who get special permission from the city or a subsidy to build more units earmarked for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans and pay higher fees. 

“It’s important for us to recognize this moment for what it is: a huge step forward in our effort to overcome COVID-19,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

A trio of City Council members blasted Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to fight crime by going after the profits earned by Chicago’s gangs in an interview Monday on “Chicago Tonight.” 

While Chicago has been without a permanent inspector general, former 11th Ward Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson became the 37th alderperson to be convicted of a crime since 1969. Alds. Ed Burke (14th Ward) and Carrie Austin (34th Ward) are awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to bribery and corruption charges.

Officials with the Chicago Department of Public Health rejected the permit because of the “potential adverse changes in air quality and quality of life that would be caused by operations, and health vulnerabilities in the surrounding communities.” 

The ruling declared the governor’s appeal moot because a General Assembly committee declined on Tuesday to reissue rules from the Illinois Department of Health requiring masks to be worn in school buildings. 

A proposal from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to fight crime by going after the profits earned by Chicago’s gangs advanced Thursday over the objections of progressive alderpeople and civil rights groups. The 10-4 vote by the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee tees up a showdown over the controversial measure at Wednesday’s full City Council.