Stories by Heather Cherone

Karol Chwiesiuk, a Chicago Police officer, is set to stand trial for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection nearly two years after he was charged.

The commission, which was formed more than two years ago in the wake of the social justice protests and unrest that erupted after the police murder of George Floyd, also recommended that the city remove the Italo Balbo monument as well as several monuments because of the way they depict Native Americans.

In a statement released by her office, Lightfoot thanked Chicago’s Native American and Italian American communities for participating in the commission’s work, but did not address the future of the statues “regarded by many members of the Italian American community as a symbol of cultural pride” but considered “a bitter reminder of centuries of exploitation, conquest and genocide” to members of Chicago’s Native American community, according to the commission’s report.

The unanimous advisory opinion issued Monday and signed by Chair William Conlon represents the first time the board has addressed the issues that surround the decision by an incumbent mayor to run for re-election.

In 2019, Chicago paid more than $1.31 billion to its four pension funds benefitting police officers, firefighters, municipal employees and laborers. In 2023, Chicago will pay more than $2.34 billion to the same four funds.

Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th Ward), a Lightfoot ally, sent an email on June 2 to residents of his Far South Side ward that included an advertisement for the mayor’s re-election kickoff event at the Starlight Restaurant on June 8. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed two years ago Friday to confront the “the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history” by using the city’s public spaces to memorialize the “city’s true and complete history.” That promise remains unfulfilled, 729 days later.

Hyde Park Ald. Sophia King (4th Ward) announced she will run for mayor, promising to lead Chicago through collaboration — not confrontation — in an attempt to draw a clear distinction with Mayor Lori Lightfoot who has touted her combative approach while in office.

Chicago Department of Public Health officials continue to recommend that residents wear masks indoors and on public transportation to reduce their risk of contracting COVID-19 and ensure they are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines.

Chicago’s financial picture has been buoyed by the city’s red-hot real estate market and nearly $2 billion in federal aid designed to help the city withstand the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward) said the plan would be a “bad deal” for residents of Bronzeville and set a bad precedent. The proposal from Lightfoot’s administration would create a new tax-increment financing district along the southern branch of the CTA Red Line to generate $950 million for the project. 

Seventeen people applied to replace soon-to-be former Ald. Michele Smith on the Chicago City Council and represent the city’s 43rd Ward, including Timmy Knudsen, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s handpicked chair of the city’s Zoning Board, the mayor’s office announced late Friday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the agreement would strike a blow against climate change that scientists say has already begun to cause disasters such as floods and strong storms.

U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly dropped out of the contest Friday afternoon, acknowledging her bid to serve a full four-year term as chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois, known as the DPI, “will come up just shy of the necessary majority.”

The agreement represents the second largest national settlement in U.S. history, dwarfed only by the agreements with tobacco firms reached in the 1990s.

The move backs a push from progressive members of the City Council to enshrine those protections into law. Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s announcement came one day after several progressive members of the City Council urged their colleagues to protect those crossing state lines to get reproductive and gender-affirming health care in Chicago.

The board voted 6-0 to reject the recommendation from Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez that teachers Lauren Bianchi and Charles “Chuck” Stark be terminated for violating safety rules involving protests and a trip to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Instead, they each got a warning and were directed to undergo training.

Google’s announcement that it would take the Helmut Jahn-designed structure off the state of Illinois’ hands caps a years-long effort to figure out what to do with 1.2-million-square-foot building at Randolph and LaSalle streets with its distinctive red-and-blue accented steel frame.

Former board member DwayneTruss called for the inspector general of the Chicago Public Schools to probe the deal that would allow the high school to be built at 24th and State streets, once home to the demolished CHA Harold L. Ickes homes. 

The man charged with killing seven people at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade has been charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder, three counts for each of the seven people killed in the shooting.

“While this will never heal the painful wounds of losing Ella, this is a small step toward justice for her family and all those who love her,” Chicago Police Supt. David Brown tweeted Wednesday.

Chicago is battling New York City, Atlanta and Houston for the right to celebrate the party’s nominees for president and vice president in August 2024, while showcasing the Democratic Party’s pitch to voters.

Mayor Lightfoot unveiled three options to renovate Soldier Field, ranging in price from $900 million to $2.2 billion. The mayor, who is running for a second term, declined to say how much public funding she was prepared to spend to prevent the Bears from leaving the city and moving to Arlington Heights.

The Chicago City Council voted to create Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability more than a year ago after a contentious debate between Mayor Lori Lightfoot and alderpeople who demanded the board have real authority over the Chicago Police Department. Every deadline set by that ordinance has been missed.

“While we are pleased to be receiving these additional doses, we simply need more vaccine in Chicago,” said Dr. Alison Arwady, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability recommended that Officer Evan Solano be fired for shooting Alvarez in the back and killing him after a brief chase in Portage Park, but Chicago Police Supt. David Brown disagreed with that conclusion.