Stories by Nick Blumberg

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. 

The Chicago area’s transit agencies are facing a $730 million fiscal cliff in 2026 when federal COVID relief money runs out, money that’s filling the gap in operating budgets from still-sluggish ridership numbers. Some legislators and advocates back the idea of doing away with RTA, CTA, Metra and Pace in favor of a new regional mega-agency, the Metropolitan Mobility Authority.

A new 311 noise complaint category specifically aimed at catching private haulers flouting the law is live – and the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation can use those complaints to demand data from companies to prove whether they made unlawful pickups.

The Illinois Senate’s Transportation Committee has been meeting since July to grapple with the thorny issue of funding for the Chicago area’s transit system and whether to replace the CTA, Metra, Pace and Regional Transportation Authority with a single agency that will oversee bus, train and paratransit services. The proposal also calls for $1.5 billion in new funding. 

The Chicago area’s public transit system is approaching the precipice of a $730 million fiscal cliff in just over a year’s time. A group of lawmakers and advocates don’t just want to plug the transit agencies’ budget hole — they’re looking to funnel $1.5 billion in additional state funding each year to create a sustainable, world-class public transportation system.

The solution to the Chicago area’s public transportation woes isn’t merging CTA, Metra and Pace into a single entity — it’s finally tackling the “decades-long, discriminatory and racially charged funding policies” that have left transit agencies “fighting over scraps,” according to CTA President Dorval Carter.

While many of those tests merely showed reportable levels of legionella, some found fixtures with potentially dangerous levels of the bacteria — including in a kitchen used by jurors and in the building’s cafeteria, which is open to the public. The fixture in the juror kitchen was found to be contaminated last year, while two cafeteria fixtures tested positive as recently as July.

For more than a decade, the Illinois and Chicago departments of transportation have been holding public meetings on a proposed redesign of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Earlier this month, they held an open house to show off their preferred option — one that doesn’t include a dedicated or shared lane for buses.

U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has been hailed as a party legend at Democratic National Convention guests all week — but even her star power was outshone at a meeting of the Women’s Caucus on Thursday morning when actor and singer Sheryl Lee Ralph took the stage.

Labor leaders tried to draw a sharp contrast Wednesday between Democrats and Republicans at the Illinois delegation’s breakfast on the third day of the Democratic National Convention — saying the GOP and Donald Trump aren’t on the side of working people.

Chicago police officers made 13 arrests Tuesday, the majority of which were related to the fence breach. That incident coincided with the Coalition to March on the DNC, an approved demonstration that saw an extensive police presence along the route. 

Thousands of protesters stretching for several blocks took to the streets on Monday, saying Democrats have no cause to celebrate when tens of thousands of Palestinians are being killed during Israel’s war in Gaza.

Illinois Democrats are putting their money where their mouths are this election cycle — but a change at the top of the ticket and federal campaign finance reporting deadlines mean we won’t have the full picture of the cash influx until later this year.

Applause broke out Wednesday at the Chicago Transit Authority’s board meeting after directors approved a $2.93 billion contract for the design and construction of the Red Line Extension to 130th Street.

City and state transportation officials showed off their recommended plan to overhaul North DuSable Lake Shore Drive on Thursday, touting its expected benefits for all modes of travel. But the “Redefine the Drive” project got a chilly reception from some transportation advocates and lawmakers.

The Century and Consumers Buildings – which date to 1916 and 1913, respectively – have been empty since they were purchased by the government in 2005 through the use of eminent domain.

Carbon capture and sequestration, known as CCS, is a technology that prompts both eager anticipation and environmental anxiety. It’s a technology that’s been eyed by energy producers in Illinois for years, with multiple previous proposals and one that’s expected to resurface soon. And it’s a technology that landowners and environmentalists view with concern at best and fear at worst.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood called on Illinois Republicans to get out the vote for congressional candidates hoping to increase the state’s GOP representation from the current three seats they currently occupy.

U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Illinois) said excessive regulations are hurting agriculture, blaming the so-called “communist environmental movement, the ‘Green Bad Deal’ that Donald Trump has called out as a sham issue. And I want to tell you as a farmer, we love CO2 – and trees and plants love it too. They have demonized the miracle molecule that causes things to grow.”

“The Republican party isn’t a scary place for Black folks,” said Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin to a gathering under the auspices of the Black Republican Mayor’s Association, an organization he founded and chairs.

The Illinois delegation to the RNC got a message they might not have been expecting at their daily breakfast on Tuesday – early voting and mail-in ballots are your friends.

The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie is taking its mission on the road this summer, bringing the stories of survivors to life at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions through virtual reality headsets.

Illinoisans in Wisconsin for their first Republican National Convention say they’re excited about the week ahead and motivated by their passion to see former President Donald Trump reclaim the White House.