Stories by Heather Cherone

The working group formed by Mayor Brandon Johnson in June to tackle Chicago’s acutely underfunded pensions has yet to craft a comprehensive plan to address one of the major fiscal challenges facing the city.

Mayor Brandon Johnson praised Ciere Boatright in a statement as a “tremendously talented and respected executive” who has proven she can get deals done.

Many furious residents urged Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration to scrap the proposal, while others vowed to protect and care for Chicago’s newest residents.

The Oath Keepers organization is considered by the FBI to be a “large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some who are associated with militias” who have vowed to “not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders.”

More than 1,000 people – mostly migrants – lined up hours before the city clerk’s event on Oct. 12 at Gill Park in Wrigleyville was scheduled to start, overwhelming the 15-person staff, City Clerk Anna Valencia told WTTW News.

Less than 72 hours ago, Johnson hailed the agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 7, as “fair and in alignment with Chicago’s current policing needs, economic landscape and budgetary capabilities.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2024 spending plan would increase the overall CPD budget to nearly $2 billion, accounting for more than 31% of the city’s $5.7 billion corporate fund, by far the most of any city agency or department.

The deal, which must be approved by the Chicago City Council, resolves the issues left over from the contract agreement reached by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot in July 2021 that ended the longest union negotiations in the city’s history.

Here’s what it means for Chicago to be a sanctuary city and how that status has fueled the debate over Chicago’s newest arrivals.

“Any violent act against an elected official in our city is unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest terms," Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.

City officials have issued 150% more municipal ID cards so far in 2023 than in all of 2021 and 17% more than in all of 2022, according to city data.

The analysis by Fitch said the rating upgrade “is driven by a decline in the city’s long-term liability burden stemming from steady growth in the economic resource base and improved debt management practices.”

The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at Kelly High School, 4136 S. California Ave. But Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th Ward) warned that it may already be a done deal – whether or not she objects.

COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten announced in June that she would seek to clear the agency’s backlog of cases more than 18 months old, which she said were compromising the ability of the agency to investigate more recent complaints alleging significant misconduct by officers.

Bills are available online at cookcountytreasurer.com and should hit mailboxes by Nov. 1.

Several alderpeople, from across the political spectrum, asked Budget Director Annette Guzman why the mayor set aside just $150 million in his spending plan to care for the migrants, even though that is less than half of what the city will have spent to care for Chicago’s newest arrivals through the end of 2023.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s determination that Gardiner violated the city’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance is the “first-ever finding of probable cause in an inspector general ethics investigation of a sitting member of City Council,” officials said.

Johnson concluded his time was better spent in Chicago, grappling with the crisis that has strained the city’s social safety net and exposed deep tension between Chicago’s Black and Latino communities, officials said.  

Less than 9% of the trash produced every year by Chicago residents is kept out of landfills — a rate that has been essentially unchanged for five years, despite repeated calls for the city to do a better job at recycling.

More than 3,567 migrants are living in police stations across the city and at O’Hare International Airport with another 11,043 migrants living in city shelters as of Friday, according to city data. 

Hamas’ attack, which began in the early morning hours of Saturday, has killed more than 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers, with the fate of more than 100 hostages, including a mother and daughter from Evanston, unclear, according to the Associated Press.

Cook County residents have until Oct. 30 to apply for assistance, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, officials said.

The inspector general’s probe found that while the officer’s former partner was moving out, the officer “told them to call everyone they loved and tell them goodbye” and told them they were going to kill them and their family if they appeared at the apartment later that same day.

“Chicago is a place strong enough to welcome and embrace newcomers while honoring our commitments to those who are already here, especially those who have long suffered disinvestment,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first spending plan does not include a property tax hike to keep up with the rising rate of inflation, or new taxes or fee hikes to cover the city’s budget deficit.

The fire station at 2358 S. Whipple St. was in use for more than a century but has been vacant since 2011 when a new fire station was built two blocks away. The Chicago Historic Resources Survey determined the two-story structure is significant in the context of the surrounding community.