Stories by Heather Cherone

Nearly 70% of those revenues came from the $44 million in flat fees Bally’s agreed to pay in 2023 and 2024 as part of the deal approved by the City Council in 2022 that ended a 30-year effort to bring casino gambling to Chicago.

Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) said he would ask his colleagues to vote Wednesday on the measure advanced by the Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee in October after working for months behind the scenes to marshal support.

The showdown over whether to amend the Welcoming City ordinance, set for Wednesday, will come less than a week before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. He has promised to immediately launch the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”

Convicted in 2006, Ben Baker spent 10 years in prison before he was released in 2016, three years after former Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts was convicted of taking bribes.

In all, Chicago taxpayers spent more than $73 million from January 2019 to August 2024 to resolve two dozen lawsuits filed by Chicagoans injured during police pursuits, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.

The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee is set on Monday to consider the proposed settlement, which would add to the toll of Jon Burge’s legacy of torture and misconduct more than 30 years after he was fired. A final vote of the City Council could come Wednesday.

If approved, it would be the seventh lawsuit filed by Chicagoans who said they were the victims of Reynaldo Guevara’s misconduct to be resolved, at a cost of $78 million to Chicago taxpayers.

Treasure Hendrix, 35, died after ingesting a toxic cocktail of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and ecstasy, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Her death was the result of an accidental overdose, according to her autopsy.

One of Chicago’s largest developers will invoke a little-known and untested provision of city law in an attempt to win approval for a 615-unit apartment complex in Lincoln Park.

The six plaintiffs will each get $4,000, with the remaining $133,500 covering their legal fees, according to a copy of the settlement agreement obtained by WTTW News.

If approved by the full City Council, violations of the ordinance could trigger fines of at least $2,000 and no more than $5,000. A final vote on the measure could come at the City Council meeting scheduled for Jan. 15.

In his first interview since the CPS board voted unanimously to terminate Martinez, Johnson said the current board members were carrying out his vision for the nation’s fourth-largest school district.

The city’s spending plan relies on tax and fees hikes of $165.5 million, including a 2% increase in the tax levied on software licenses, cloud services and other digital goods as well as a 1.25% increase on subscriptions to streaming and cable television services.

Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th Ward) agreed to pay $157,500 to settle a lawsuit claiming he violated the First Amendment by blocking six critics from his official Facebook page in 2021, court records show.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said she would convene hearings before expanding the consent decree to include traffic stops.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s picks, which include a mix of well-known community activists and candidates who lost their bids to win a seat on the board, will join the 10 people who won in November.

The budget passed 27-23, with just 18 days to spare, averting an unprecedented shutdown of city government.

The spending plan still calls for a host of other taxes and fees to rise by an additional $165.5 million, including increases in the taxes levied on software licenses, cloud services and other digital goods as well as subscriptions to streaming and cable television services.

The mayor’s decision to delay the budget vote is an acknowledgment that the spending plan that would hike property taxes by $68.5 million and increase a host of other taxes and fees by an additional $165.5 million does not have enough votes to pass the Chicago City Council.

Approximately 76,375 people in Chicago experienced homelessness during 2022, according to a new report from the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, which relies on the most recent available data.

If the verdict is upheld, it would nearly equal city’s annual $82 million budget to cover the cost of police misconduct lawsuits.

Two key Chicago City Council committees voted Tuesday to send Johnson’s $17.3 billion spending plan for 2025 to the full City Council for a final vote. The two-step process is set to start Wednesday, with a final vote scheduled for Friday.

“The level of compliance is unsatisfying to the public,” U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said. “I am determined that we will be seeing good progress ... in 2025. Let’s accelerate the progress.”

“A budget that would lay off workers and cut services is just, you know, one that should not be tolerated by any Chicagoan,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

After an unrelated news conference, Mayor Brandon Johnson declined to say whether he still had confidence in Jason Lee, but praised his track record of helping progressive politicians get elected.

Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability President Anthony Driver, Jr., said he had no doubt that he was stopped because he is a 6-foot-3-inch Black man who weighs more than 200 pounds and wears his hair in dreadlocks.