“No, it’s not acceptable,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “No one is going to agree that the overspending in this moment is something that we should accept or be OK with.”

The future of NASCAR in Chicago is murky going into its third edition on the first weekend in July. The three-year contract between the motorsports organization and the city that was announced in 2022 has two mutual options, and their fate is unclear.

Chicago officials held the first of four “budget engagement roundtables” designed to gather feedback about the city’s 2026 budget.

Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson Lowry said the federal government gave the city no explanation for its decision to send millions of dollars to Chicago and other big cities that officials held in a deep freeze for nearly six months.

A year-round immersive horror experience from NBCUniversal will open in Chicago across from the new Bally’s Casino. Universal Horror Unleashed: Chicago will be the company’s first branded experience in the Midwest.

The significant surge in shootings by officers in the first five months of 2025 comes more than six years after city and police leaders agreed to extensive oversight from a federal judge after decades of scandals sparked by misconduct and brutality.

Chicagoans can still make an appointment online to apply in-person for a City Key ID card, officials said.

“I am counting on all of Chicago to resist in this moment,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Whatever particular vulnerable group is being targeted today, another group will be next.”

Martinez on Thursday reflected on his time as Chicago’s schools chief during what will be his final monthly meeting of the Board of Education before he exits to take over as Massachusetts’ next school board commissioner.

The Navy Pier Marina is expected to officially open to the public June 14. The opening of the marina, located on the north side of Navy Pier, comes as this year’s boating season kicks off.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has repeatedly told reporters that the diversity of his closest advisers is a source of pride and evidence that he is keeping his campaign promises to work to eliminate systemic racism and expand racial equity at City Hall.

“We’re not going to be intimidated by the tyranny that’s coming from the federal government,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “The diversity of our city is our strength.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson has routinely touted his efforts to appoint the most racially diverse cabinet in Chicago history, told Pastor Byron Brazier he was pursuing a strategy to “ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business.”

If the plan backed by Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling wins the endorsement of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee at the meeting set for 1 p.m. Tuesday, a final vote could take place as soon as Wednesday.

The announcement is a major blow to Mayor Brandon Johnson, who fully embraced the Bears’ vision for a reimagined Museum Campus and endorsed the team’s call for taxpayers to pick up approximately $2.4 billion of the total $4.75 billion cost of the project.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer praised the revised policy as an example of what can be achieved through the consent decree process.