Stories by Heather Cherone

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.

The rejection of the proposed settlement means the federal lawsuit filed by Reed’s family alleging that the city violated Reed’s civil rights will now head to trial.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is “evaluating” a request from the Republican chairperson of the U.S. House Oversight Committee about the state’s laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants.

Even after a four-hour hearing, several alderpeople said they were not prepared to vote on the proposal designed to leverage the city’s financial power to build what the city calls “green social housing,” permanently affordable, mixed-income and environmentally sustainable housing.

With the endorsement of the City Council’s Workforce Development Committee, the measure now heads to the full City Council for a final vote on April 16.

The City Council’s Finance Committee on Friday is set to consider the proposed settlement, which calls for taxpayers to pay $20 million and the city’s insurance company to pay $12 million. A final vote of the City Council could come April 16.

The settlement recommended by city attorneys failed to advance two months ago amid a firestorm of controversy.

A joint session of the Housing and Finance committees on Wednesday will consider the proposal to leverage the city’s financial power to build permanently affordable, mixed-income and environmentally sustainable housing.

Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) said the program is “absolutely” racially motivated. “Unless you’re Stevie Wonder or Helen Keller, you can see it,” she said.

“We need to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity,” Quezada said, vowing to make the 35th Ward a better place to live for all its residents.

"History has shown that when oversight is diminished, the risk of injustice increases — especially for those in communities that have long experienced the burdens of aggressive policing," Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell said.

Chicago police continued to target Black and Latino drivers with a massive campaign of traffic stops that failed to make the city safer in 2024, according to a new analysis from a coalition of groups.

Mayor Brandon Johnson called Cook County Commissioner Anthony Quezada, 29, a “progressive champion.”

“Working to relocate or displace the problem is not how we solve the problem,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Of course, we’re going to continue to make sure that there are accountability mechanisms in place to keep people safe.”

“We need a different vibe in this country and this party, and I want to bring it,” Kat Abughazaleh said.