Stories by Heather Cherone

A full week after the March 19 election, the contest remains a long way from being settled, with 53,712 outstanding mail-in ballots from Chicago and approximately 35,000 outstanding ballots from suburban Cook County that will be counted as long as they were postmarked or dropped off on Election Day and arrive by April 2.

In all, 31 Chicagoans have been diagnosed with measles since March 4.

Six days after the March 19 election, the contest remains a long way from being settled, with an unknown number of outstanding mail-in ballots that will be counted as long as they were postmarked or dropped off on Election Day and arrive by April 2.

Edith Tovar, of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, said her organization helped approximately 130,000 people submit a claim for damages. 

City officials were under significant pressure from nearby residents to return the five fieldhouses at Brands Park, Gage Park, Piotrowski Park, Broadway Armory Park and Leone Park to park district use before summer programs, including day camps, were set to begin.

The contest is a long way from being settled, with an additional 54,191 outstanding mail-in ballots from Chicago that will be counted if they are received by elections officials by April 2. There are also outstanding mail-in ballots from suburban Cook County that will be counted in the coming days.

After 12,634 mail-in ballots were counted by Chicago election officials late Friday, the results were essentially unchanged. Approximately 53% of voters rejected Ballot Question No. 1, better known as Bring Chicago Home, according to unofficial totals.

The mayor has touted the proposal as a fulfillment of a promise he made during the 2023 campaign to make Chicago a more equitable place to live by “investing in people” and expanding the city’s economic capacity — without raising taxes on Chicago property owners.

Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling blasted Civilian Office of Police Accountability Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten for treating Chicago Police officers so unfairly that he says they are at risk of suicide and compromise public safety.

Since city officials began enforcing the 60-day limit on shelter stays, eight people were evicted on Sunday and Monday, with another seven evicted on Wednesday, according to city data.

Judge Michael Mullen’s decision, which is subject to appeal, upholds the effort backed by the city’s largest police union to upend the system used for 60 years to punish officers.

“No one said it was going to be easy,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “I’m very much committed. The fight still goes on. We’re going to keep organizing.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson nominated Marlene Hopkins to permanently replace former Buildings Commissioner Matthew Beaudet, whom Johnson fired last month. Hopkins’ nomination must be confirmed by the Chicago City Council.

The cost to taxpayers of the settlements approved without debate by the City Council on Wednesday is equivalent to more than a third of the city’s annual $82 million budget to cover the cost of police misconduct lawsuits.

The last time Chicago voters passed a binding referendum that applied to the entire city was 1885, when they voted to create the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, according to city records.

While the office of circuit court clerk might not be as well-known as other county offices up for grabs Tuesday, it is a powerful perch. The clerk controls more than 1,400 jobs and handles everything from evictions to traffic tickets to child support.

Glock should be banned from selling those guns to Chicagoans and forced to pay for the harm the pistols have caused, according to a new lawsuit filed by the city's lawyers that will test a new state law.

In all, the City Council will consider paying $52.7 million to resolve four lawsuits that allege a wide range of police misconduct. The city’s insurance company is set to pay $25 million of that total.

Twenty-seven people were allowed to stay after they presented evidence that they had applied for public benefits that will make it possible for them to secure more permanent housing. Four others were allowed to stay because they are pregnant or have a disability, officials said.

The Chicago City Council is set to consider paying $45 million to resolve a lawsuit that alleges an unauthorized chase left a 15-year-old boy with a traumatic brain injury, unable to walk or talk.

No one will be evicted from the city’s migrant shelter in Pilsen, where 10 cases of measles had been confirmed as of late Thursday night.

Migrants evicted from a city shelter can return to the designated “landing zone” for buses from Texas at Polk and Desplaines streets in the West Loop, according to the policy imposed by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

If approved, the settlement would bring the total amount paid by Chicago taxpayers to resolve lawsuits naming former Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara to $62.5 million, records show.

All four of the neighborhoods have suffered from decades of disinvestment, fueling a cycle of violence that has made them some of the most violent places in Chicago, officials said.

“This has been a situation that has gotten increasingly out of control,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said about the massive bills for police overtime. “The superintendent and I, we both agree on that.”

With three of the seven justices abstaining, the state’s highest court rejected an appeal from a coalition of real estate and development groups that sued the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to knock the ballot measure off Tuesday’s ballot.