Stories by Heather Cherone

No rules require city officials to stream meetings online or allow members of the public to weigh in virtually, either by Zoom or by phone – putting at risk Chicagoans’ ability to keep tabs on their government with a simple click of a button.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren met Wednesday, a clear sign that relations between the city and the Monsters of the Midway have thawed, which may set the stage for talks to keep the team in Chicago, if not at Soldier Field.

Leaders of Chicago's environmental justice movement are confident Mayor Brandon Johnson has their backs – and they won’t have to fight City Hall as well as the businesses that they blame causing high rates of cancer, heart disease, respiratory ailments and asthma by polluting the air they breathe.

“It’s so important that we actually get this information out, not just for me, but for any of these other cases that they are holding back, giving us all the details," Shapearl Wells said. “It is so crucial for the public to find out what’s actually happening in Chicago.”

Federal officials failed to conduct a required civil rights review to determine whether the deal would meet the Chicago Housing Authority’s obligations under the federal Fair Housing Act, according to the lawsuit.

Building a stadium on the former Arlington Heights racetrack “is no longer our singular focus,” said Scott Hagel, the Bears senior vice president of marketing and communications.

A judge’s ruling could force Chicago officials to issue the final permit sought by the parent company of General Iron to operate a metal shredding and recycling operation on Chicago’s Southeast Side.

In all, city officials expect to spend $112 million through the end of June from a combination of state, federal and local funds to feed and shelter the migrants. More than 4,000 recent arrivals from Texas are living in city shelters, leaving another 500 people to sleep on the floor of police stations across the city.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas called the legislation “the most significant property tax reform legislation the General Assembly has approved in decades.”

“This was one of the silver linings to come out of the pandemic,” Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward) said.

Restaurants, bars and cafes would be allowed to serve customers outdoors permanently under a plan backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson. The plan would make the rules designed to help restaurants stay afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic an enduring part of Chicago’s food scene.

The audit documented a lack of accountability that undermines efforts to rebuild trust in the Chicago Police Department, Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said.

Approximately 784 men, women and children are living on floors in Chicago police stations across the city as of Tuesday, officials said.

The vote represents a reversal from March 30, when nearly two-thirds of the Chicago City Council voted to approve a declaration of independence — five days before Mayor Brandon Johnson defeated former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas in the runoff.

When Mayor Brandon Johnson picks up the mayor’s gavel for the first time, he will have been in office for just 10 days — and if he had a brief honeymoon, Wednesday’s meeting of the City Council will signal its end.

Officials with the Chicago Department of Public Health have documented 29 cases of the virus that can cause intensely painful lesions between April 22 and Tuesday, after recording just five cases between Jan. 1 and April 15, according to city data.

Former Ald. CarrieAustin is now receiving more than $9,500 per month in pension payments for the rest of her life, according to records obtained by WTTW News from the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. If Austin is convicted, she could lose her pension, since her conduct occurred as part of her official duties as an alderperson.

Dubbed the ALL INside initiative, officials with the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which is made up of 19 federal agencies, vowed to work for two years to get unsheltered people into homes by identifying new funding and bringing together philanthropic and nonprofit groups.

The plan released Wednesday kicks off a debate between progressive political organizations and the mayor they helped elect on how best to achieve the goals they all share.

Cook County recorded 124 overturned convictions in 2022, all but two of those were tied to misconduct by two former Chicago police officers, according to the report.

Capping an improbable rise and carrying the hopes of a political movement determined to remake Chicago as a more equitable place to live, Brandon Johnson was sworn into office Monday as Chicago’s 57th mayor.

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson had just 41 days to put together his administration and lay the foundation to start delivering on his ambitious agenda — the shortest mayoral transition in Chicago history.

“We are going to reopen the mental health clinics,” Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson said in an interview with WTTW News, putting it first in a list of his top priorities.

Lori Lightfoot ends her historic term as the first Black woman and first out gay person to serve as Chicago’s mayor on Monday, leaving a fractured city still struggling to recover from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic that served to spotlight Chicago’s deeply entrenched problems.

That represents a significant increase from 2020, the last time Chicago needed a new chief law enforcement officer, when 23 people applied for the job.

“We shouldn’t have to come to this point, but here we are,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. “Even in my final days as mayor it is important that we step up and respond to this burgeoning crisis.”