Stories by Heather Cherone

Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is urging aldermen to support the plan she crafted to close a $1.2 billion budget deficit in 2021. Four aldermen sound off the plan.

Delivery services such as Postmates, Grubhub, DoorDash and UberEats can charge fees totaling no more than 15% under a measure approved unanimously Monday by the Chicago City Council.

Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, is poised to become the first official “day of observance” in Chicago as part of the agreement that will approve a $12.8 billion spending plan for 2021.

A defiant Michael Madigan vowed late Friday to run again for speaker of the Illinois House despite a swirling corruption investigation around him that has prompted 18 Democratic state representatives to say they will not vote to reelect him.

State officials have nearly completed an effort to send $300 million in housing assistance grants to Illinois residents struggling to make ends meet. The program is the largest in the nation, officials said.

The Chicago City Council is poised to approve Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $12.8 billion spending plan for 2021 after the plan advanced on Thursday with a 26-8 vote of the Budget and Government Operations Committee.

Three firms involved in the botched smokestack demolition in Little Village will pay $370,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, his office announced Thursday.

A plan to borrow $1.4 billion to repair Chicago’s crumbling streets, sidewalks, bridges and shoreline during the next five years advanced Wednesday with a 22-10 vote of the City Council’s Finance Committee.

Acknowledging that demand for COVID-19 tests has grown exponentially during a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Chicago officials announced Wednesday that the city will open a new testing site at Midway Airport.

The City Council’s Finance Committee advanced Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $12.8 billion spending plan to the full City Council on a 21-12 vote Wednesday.

Aldermen on Tuesday unanimously advanced a proposal backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to cap fees charged by delivery services such as Postmates, Grubhub and UberEats at 15% in an effort to help struggling restaurants.

Aldermen from across the political spectrum pressured Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget team on Tuesday to come up with a proposal to head off a $93.9 million property tax hike.

Chicagoans should not travel to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family, the city’s top doctor said Tuesday, warning that the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is getting worse in Chicago.

The board voted unanimously to find that there is probable cause to believe the 21st Ward alderman violated the city’s ethics ordinance by defending clients in criminal cases involving the Chicago Police Department.

A proposal from Mayor Lori Lightfoot would cap fees charged by delivery services such as Postmates, Grubhub and UberEats at 15%. Fees can now reach 30% of an order, officials said.

A trio of budget ordinances backed by progressive aldermen failed to advance Monday, as a fiscal watchdog warned that Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to borrow $15 million to avoid layoffs and refinance an additional $1.7 billion was potentially perilous.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Saturday she would drop her plan to lay off 350 employees to help balance the city’s 2021 budget after her proposal smacked into a brick wall of opposition from many aldermen.

Illinois on Friday set a new record for the most COVID-19 cases reported in a 24-hour period, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the state’s ban on evictions caused by the pandemic would be extended until Dec. 16.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged on Thursday that she had linked the upcoming vote on her plan to balance the city’s 2021 budget with tax hikes, layoffs and millions of dollars of borrowing with protections for immigrants.

“This was a tough race under some very difficult circumstances, and I want to say thank you to my supporters, the voters, and our elections officials for their diligent work,” U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood said Thursday.

New guidelines imposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, set to take effect at 6 a.m. Monday, are advisory and do not include orders for businesses to shut down or require people to stay home, officials said.

The first home for Illinois veterans in Chicago will welcome its first residents in February 2021 — more than four years after it was scheduled to open, officials announced Wednesday.

A proposal from the Chicago Federation of Labor that union officials contend could save the city of Chicago between $195 million and $272 million will not avert a property tax hike and layoffs in 2021, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office said Tuesday.

The Chicago Police Department will change the way it tracks Chicagoans suspected of being affiliated with a gang as part of the resolution of a class-action lawsuit that alleged the city’s gang database was riddled with errors.

Chicago will no longer list individual states on its quarantine order amid a sustained surge of COVID-19 cases nationwide, officials announced Tuesday.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker imposed tighter restrictions designed to stop the spread of the virus amid a sustained surge in COVID-19 cases that has shown no sign of slowing down. “The virus is winning the war,” Pritzker said.