Stories by Nick Blumberg

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.

Local and federal officials had been racing to finalize funding for the Red Line Extension before the end of the Biden administration. The $1.9 billion in federal transit grant money will help fulfill a decades-old promise to extend the heavily used train line past 95th Street, down to 130th Street.

The companies behind apps for temp workers have drawn millions in funding, hundreds of thousands of workers, and legal action over their labor practices — including here in Illinois.

“Temp workers are injured at a much higher rate than direct hire workers because they don’t get training,” said Chris Williams, a workers’ rights attorney who brought the case on behalf of the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative.

With transit advocates hopeful they’ll see shovels in the ground next year to kick off the long-awaited Red Line Extension, the Chicago Transit Authority is racing to finalize the $1.9 billion in federal funding needed to complete the 5.6-mile project before the Biden administration leaves office.

Board members said improved communication will be key to the agency’s survival as it faces down a projected $539 million fiscal cliff in 2026, after the CTA runs out of pandemic-era relief funding that’s been keeping its operating budget afloat in the first quarter of that year.

The race was eyed by political analysts as the most contested in Illinois, considered the only potential outlier among the heavily partisan boundaries that allowed every other incumbent to glide to victory.

With the GOP looking to retain its slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, all Illinois incumbents won their bids for reelection. 

Chicago’s default speed limit could drop to 25 miles per hour from its current baseline of 30 after a panel of alderpeople on Monday backed the measure aimed at getting drivers to slow down.

The city of Chicago has spent more than $4 million paying outside attorneys to fight a lawsuit that slams the city for failing to make its affordable housing program accessible. In addition to the legal costs, the case could also jeopardize the city’s chance at millions of dollars in grant money.