Stories by Heather Cherone

The spending plan crafted by Mayor Brandon Johnson and his team will provide the most comprehensive response to the myriad of intractable problems facing the mayor, including how to handle the more than 1,700 vacant positions in the Chicago Police Department, since he took office nearly 150 days ago.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has been noncommittal about the fate of the statues, saying in June that he would follow the “direction” of the people of Chicago about their ultimate fate.

Chicago joins Alaska, California, Guam, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Washington, D.C., in ending the tipped minimum wage.

Officials are still scouting locations for the massive tents, which could shelter, feed and care for as many as 1,000 migrants in a single location.

Supporters say the plan would generate approximately $100 million annually to address the root causes of homelessness by building new permanent housing that offers wraparound services.

Mayor Brandon Johnson waved the green flag after race officials agreed to “shorten the event’s set up and tear down windows, reducing travel disruption for impacted communities and other residents,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

By comparison, Lollapalooza generated $422 million, according to a separate report.

City Clerk Anna Valencia acknowledged her office had erred, delaying a triumphant moment for Mayor Brandon Johnson and the progressive political movement that elected him to office earlier this year.

The 39-page report from the independent monitoring team, led by attorney Maggie Hickey, compiled the results of the feedback gathered from more than 400 Chicagoans at 17 community engagement sessions in February, March and April.

Ald. Pat Dowell called on Mayor Brandon Johnson to center the need of Black Chicagoans and warned that every bus that arrives “is eating away at the goodwill of the people of the city of Chicago.”

There is no evidence that any Chicago police officer had sexual contact with any of the migrants forced to sleep on the floor of the stations after arriving in Chicago from the southern border, the head of the agency charged with investigating police misconduct announced Friday.

Cook County Judge Lawrence Flood acquitted Sgt. Christopher Liakopoulos, 44, and Officer Reuben Reynoso, 43, after a bench trial, finding they acted reasonably when they opened fire on two men in July 2022.

The cost of caring for the migrants through the end of the year is now estimated to reach $345 million, according to updated financial projections shared by Cristina Pacione Zayas, the mayor’s first deputy chief of staff. Three weeks ago, those costs were pegged at $302 million, according to city data.

Benjamin George, a construction worker, said his life was upended on Aug. 19, 2019, when he stopped at a 7-Eleven store in Jefferson Park and mistakenly picked up a cell phone left on the checkout counter that did not belong to him.

Mayor Brandon Johnson picked Larry Snelling to implement Johnson’s pledge to fight crime in Chicago with a holistic approach that focuses on the root causes of violence.

The measure, introduced by Mayor Brandon Johnson and Health Committee Chair Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, is set for a final vote by the full City Council on Oct. 4.

“The record is clear that Gardiner engaged in both content-based and speaker-based restrictions on his Facebook page, according to the ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman. The Court thus finds Gardiner in violation of the First Amendment.”

Snelling is one vote away from becoming the 64th superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, with final approval expected Wednesday.

With approximately 7,400 people taking up every available spot in 20 city shelters, more than 2,100 men, women and children are being forced to sleep on the floors of police stations across the city and at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, according to city data.

Representatives of Bayer, which now owns Monsanto, said Chicago's lawsuit was “meritless” because the company never manufactured or disposed PCBs in or near the Chicago area.

Chicago could join Alaska, California, Guam, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Washington D.C. in ending the tipped minimum wage.

Chicago is set to join Alaska, California, Guam, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Washington D.C. in ending the tipped minimum wage.

“There are extremists in this country, right-wing extremists, who want to disrupt our form of democracy and our life,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said. 

“The time to act on environmental justice is now,”  Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

The Chicago Police Department must implement an early-warning system under the terms of the consent decree, the federal court order designed to compel the department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers. CPD is in full compliance with just 5% of that 2019 court order, city data shows.

The $500 million presidential center now under construction in Jackson Park has already made South Shore “ground zero” of Chicago’s housing crisis, with a high eviction rate and surging real estate prices, according to supporters of a City Council proposal.