Stories by Heather Cherone

The chairs of the City Council committees examined by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson rejected nearly all of his recommendations, and disputed that state law had been violated.

The lack of data collected by officials makes it impossible to determine whether the Chicago Fire Department meets national standards for getting to medical emergencies and fires, according to Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, who will leave office Friday at the end of his third term in office.

The landmark designation would preserve the legacy of African Americans in Chicago and ensure that future generations recognize Muddy Waters as the father of the blues, supporters said.

But with a week to go until her declared deadline, Mayor Lori Lightfoot stepped back and said she would not discipline unvaccinated employees. 

After 12 years, Inspector General Joseph Ferguson will leave office Oct. 15 — but not before completing a probe of the botched raid.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s $8 billion plan calls for Cook County’s workforce to grow by approximately 1,600 employees to a total workforce of more than 23,000 workers in 2022.

City officials said they were encouraged by the response to the program, which was designed to combat the city’s affordable housing crisis. 

The final map crafted by the Chicago Ward Advisory Redistricting Commission would increase the number of wards where Latinos make up a majority of residents by one to 14, while reducing the number of wards with a majority of Black voters by three to 15 wards. 

The policy change, which applies to unvaccinated students and takes effect Saturday, comes after more than 15,500 students were forced to quarantine during the first four weeks of the school year, but only 1.6% tested positive for COVID-19 after being exposed to the virus, according to officials.

Plans are underway to keep organic waste out of Chicago's landfills, officials said.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who campaigned on a promise to root out corruption in City Hall, has repeatedly called for Ald. Ed Burke, the other indicted member of the Chicago City Council, to step down. But on Wednesday she stopped short of calling on the 11th Ward alderperson to resign.

The city’s travel advisory now covers 47 states as well as Washington, D.C., Guam and the Virgin Islands, officials said Tuesday.

The violent shootout and the lack of felony charges appeared to exacerbate the increasing pressure on Mayor Lightfoot and members of the Chicago City Council to reduce violent crime which has soared to levels last seen in the 1990s.

The new system for tracking gang members in Chicago was supposed to be up and running last month, but it remains stalled.

The commissioner of the Chicago Department of Water Management told members of the City Council that it was “quite impressive” that city crews had replaced 10 of the approximately 400,000 lead service lines responsible for contaminating Chicagoans’ tap water in 13 months.

State, city and county officials urged residents at risk of eviction to apply for rental assistance and explore their legal options to prevent an eviction. The Chicago Department of Housing officials have sent more than $38 million to nearly 5,000 households as of Sept. 27, officials said.

Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle has announced she will run for a fourth term as the county’s top elected official, putting her response to the COVID-19 pandemic at the center of her bid for reelection.

The growing share of city property taxes sent to tax increment finance districts has fueled a perennial argument over whether the districts actually spur redevelopment and eradicate blight or serve to exacerbate growing inequality in Chicago.

A Bears season ticket holder, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she would approach negotiations to keep the Bears in Chicago not as a fan but as the steward of taxpayer funds and as a “business decision.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged that she cannot force alderpeople to get vaccinated against COVID-19 since they are independently elected and do not report to the mayor.

The case began in November 2019 when Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections against his disgraced predecessor, former Ald. Danny Solis.

Dr. Allison Arwady said investigators have not found any evidence that COVID-19 had been transmitted to students or teachers at Jensen Elementary School. “I know people are worried,” Arwady said. “The desire when something tragic like this happens is to pin blame on someone or something. But the blame here really belongs to the virus.”

The former 22nd Ward alderman pleaded guilty to two charges stemming from allegations that he drained more than $38,000 from the bank account of the City Council’s Progressive Reform Caucus and used those funds to pay for trips, jewelry, iPhones and tickets to sporting events.

Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett defended the mayor’s spending plan as a thoughtful plan to “build a bridge toward financial stability while the economy continues to recover.” 

The mayor’s latest push for vaccinations invokes the city’s 77 community areas to encourage Chicagoans from all neighborhoods to get vaccinated — and to enlist those who have already been jabbed with the lifesaving vaccine to help others follow their lead.

With efforts well underway to craft new ward boundaries that could shape Chicago politics for the next decade, Chicagoans on Wednesday got a brief glimpse of the heated debate taking shape behind closed doors at City Hall.