Stories by Heather Cherone

With less than two months until Election Day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot touts the $16.4 billion spending plan she crafted as a “stability budget” for a city enjoying a faster than expected recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what it does.

Starting Jan. 1, city crews will have to replace all of the lead service lines connected to a water main that is being repaired — and foot the bill, which is expected to cost between $15,000 to $26,000 per line.

The top spot on the Feb. 28 ballot for mayor officially belongs to Ja’Mal Green, after an aide to rival candidate Willie Wilson dropped his challenge of the activist’s nominating petitions Wednesday evening.

The surge of crime and violence that peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic but has yet to recede has imperiled Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s bid for a second term, even as the eight major candidates running to unseat her offer wildly different solutions to the seemingly intractable problem.

Surveillance conducted by FBI agents in recent weeks shows Austin is “not gravely ill,” but has a busy schedule and is “alert, lucid and responsive” and able to move about on her own without assistance, according to court records.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she is not experiencing symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19.

Now indicted Sam Bankman-Fried spent millions of dollars to boost the chances of Democratic candidates in this year’s elections.

The move will generate $959 million for the project by funneling a portion of the increase in property tax revenues for the next 35 years from the 42nd, 3rd, 4th, 11th and 25th wards — even though the extension of the train line would be miles away from any of those wards. 

Bally’s Chicago casino is set to have 3,400 slots and 173 table games in addition to an exhibition hall, 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater and 11 restaurants. The development will include a 2,100-square-foot park and walking path along the river and a three-level underground parking garage, according to the plans released by city officials.

Chicago taxpayers will pay $1.2 million to settle three lawsuits claiming Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct, including handcuffing an 8-year-old boy for more than 40 minutes during a raid of his family’s home.

The measure is designed to prevent longtime Chicago residents from being pushed out of their homes by soaring property tax bills.

The $1.74 billion proposal still needs the approval of the Illinois Gaming Board, which must license Bally’s to operate the Chicago casino set to be built along the Chicago River near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.

The poll of 700 likely Chicago voters was conducted Nov. 10 to Nov. 17 by Impact Research, a firm that includes President Joe Biden and other prominent Democrats among its list of clients.

The city must match an expected federal grant of $2.16 billion before the first track can be laid — and the City Council is set to give the project signal clearance Wednesday.

A final vote on the city subsidy for the high school set to be built at 24th and State streets, once home to the demolished CHA Harold L. Ickes homes, is scheduled for Wednesday’s full City Council meeting.

Anabel Abarca, a McKinley Park resident and attorney, was the only one of the four people to apply to fill the vacant seat on the City Council who is also running for the spot in the Feb. 28 election. 

The city must match an expected federal grant of $2.16 billion before the first track can be laid — but it is not clear whether the City Council will give the project signal clearance.

The City Council’s Transportation Committee advanced the measure six months after 3-year-old Lily Shambrook died while riding in a carrier on her mother’s bicycle.

The dispute over the future of the gang database represents the first clash between the Police Department’s leaders and the commission made up of Chicagoans given the authority to set policy for the department in an attempt to restore trust in its operations.

A spokesperson for Uber, said firm officials were “pleased to put this matter behind us.” 

Ja’Mal Green, one of the six candidates for mayor who filed at 9 a.m. Nov. 21, won a lottery for that coveted pole position on the ballot, one that many people believe could offer a boost in a crowded race.

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 backed U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García in the Chicago mayor’s race, splitting from the Chicago Teachers Union and Service Employees International Union Local 73.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot should be investigated for accepting a $25,000 contribution to her re-election campaign from Chicago Fire owner Joe Mansueto, according to a complaint filed by Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward), who is running for re-election to the City Council.

Burke, 78, faces a November 2023 trial on racketeering, bribery and extortion charges centered on allegations that he repeatedly — and brazenly — used his powerful position at City Hall to force those doing business with the city to hire his private law firm.

A total of nine major candidates filed to run for mayor of Chicago. Early voting is set to start Jan. 19, with Election Day set for Feb. 28.

Chicago hospitals and health care providers are also coping with sharp increases in flu cases and illness caused by RSV, a respiratory virus, officials said.