Stories by nick blumberg

Chicago Transit Authority Acting President Nora Leerhsen said the agency has entered a “new phase” after the Illinois General Assembly failed last month to pass a measure tackling a $770 million budget gap for Chicago-area transit.

Trash and recycling companies aren’t allowed to make pickups in Chicago between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. For nearly two years, WTTW News has been tracking numerous companies flouting the law and documenting a tsunami of complaints from residents.

An Aurora resident who staunchly maintained his innocence on a charge of alleged battery against a member of former Mayor Richard Irvin’s campaign team had his case dismissed by a Kane County judge on Wednesday.

The measure, filed late Wednesday night, features a new menu of revenue sources to help keep Chicago-area buses and trains running. Lawmakers believe the measure will be enough to address the anticipated $770 million fiscal cliff next year.

The bill would replace the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees CTA, Metra, and Pace, with a new entity called the Northern Illinois Transit Authority. It would be charged with creating a universal fare system and ensuring coordination of service and capital projects.

The Illinois General Assembly returned from the long weekend break for its final week of the spring session. Lawmakers have until May 31 to pass a revenue and spending plan with a simple majority of votes.

The Chicago Transit Authority board of directors saw a highly unusual heated exchange at its monthly meeting, with Ald. David Moore (17th Ward) warning directors not to be a “backbiting snake” and oppose Mayor Brandon Johnson’s reported pick for the transit agency president.

The Chicago Transit Board took no action on the potential appointment of a new agency president at a hastily scheduled special board meeting Thursday afternoon, despite widespread concern the meeting would see directors consider Mayor Brandon Johnson’s reported pick for the role.

Data obtained by WTTW News shows the overall number of bus and train operators who worked for the CTA last year neared its pre-pandemic peak of employees. As a result, the amount of overtime worked dropped.

Speaking at an Economic Club of Chicago luncheon Wednesday, Powell said that despite the instability, the nation’s economy is still in a “solid position,” in particular its labor market. But he acknowledged that while the rate of inflation is slowing, the sharp price increases consumers have faced over the last several years are still hitting Americans in their pocketbooks.

Irvin, who was first elected as mayor in 2017, garnered 47.5% of the vote to Laesch’s 52.5%, according to the unofficial results available late Tuesday night.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Ronan Farrow has uncovered stories of sexual harassment and assault, chronicled the decline of America’s soft power and explored how powerful people try to track and manipulate journalists.

As the Aurora mayoral election draws near, some say campaign tactics are getting extreme in the west suburb.

People with severe asthma insured by BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois may soon face a new hurdle in accessing a treatment that providers say is critically important to keeping certain patients alive and well.

The transit agencies came up with the doomsday models at the RTA’s behest, responding to calls from Springfield legislators who’ve demanded specifics about how bad it could get if transit goes over the fiscal cliff — as well as what public transportation could look like if lawmakers go beyond plugging the budget gap and drastically increase state funding.

The order comes after a 2023 ruling in federal court that Chicago’s long-running failure to protect blind pedestrians violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, following on the heels of a similar ruling in New York City.

The CTA board of directors approved the purchase of cameras aimed at catching bus lane scofflaws on Wednesday, making good on a plan announced last year as part of a pilot program.

Despite the lack of a formal arrangement, emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided to WTTW News show members of the city’s staff collaborating for months on the app’s development and promotion. The unusual arrangement means municipal employees worked, while on the taxpayer’s dime, on a privately held product not subject to any formal agreement with the city of Aurora.

Nora Leerhsen, who has worked at the CTA for more than 10 years, took over as its leader on Feb. 1.

State lawmakers debating the future of Chicago-area transit have a new proposal to mull over, after a labor-backed coalition announced it would file a bill calling for reforming public transportation but stopping short of merging CTA, Metra, Pace and RTA.

The Chicago Transit Authority says the $1.9 billion in federal funding it’s been promised for the Red Line Extension should be secure, despite the Trump administration’s sweeping freeze of grant money Tuesday.

Outgoing Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter capped his nearly 10-year run leading the massive agency at a board meeting Wednesday, saying he’d be “forever grateful for this opportunity to serve our customers (and) the people of the city of Chicago.”

The proposal comes as the Chicago region’s transit agencies are facing down an estimated $750 million fiscal cliff next year when COVID-19 relief money runs out — and amid conversations in Springfield about tying increased transit funding to major changes to the existing public transit structure.

Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter plans to resign on Jan. 31. He plans to take a job as the president and CEO of Saint Anthony Hospital on the city’s West Side.

The statistics, compiled by the Chicago Department of Transportation by comparing 2021 crash data with information from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, are a key justification for members of the Chicago City Council looking to lower the city’s default speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph.

The unusual Friday night meeting saw more than an hour and a half of public comment before board members went into closed session to debate Martinez’s fate. In a 6-0 vote, the board dismissed Martinez without cause, which triggers a clause in his contract allowing him to stay on for a six-month transitional period and receive 20 weeks of severance.