Waller will be the third person to lead the Chicago Police Department in less than six months and will immediately be charged with managing the department during the Memorial Day weekend, which typically results an increase in crime and violence.

The CTA is still short more than 600 full-time bus and rail operators. As the transit agency tries to reverse service and staffing losses, it’s been putting a big focus on hiring.

The team, led by University of Illinois at Chicago Professor Barbara Ransby and Charles Smith, an insurance executive, will have to work fast — Johnson is set to take office in 18 days.

Backing from the rank and file. Removing racist officers. Protecting marginalized communities. Those are just some of the priorities Chicagoans said they have for the next police superintendent during a virtual forum held Tuesday.

On Monday, community leaders weighed in on expectations they have of Johnson’s administration regarding crucial issues that impact Chicago’s Black and Latino communities, and the city as a whole, as part of the latest edition of our WTTW News “Voices” community conversation series.

Advocates for Latino Chicagoans told WTTW News that they believe Lightfoot failed to fulfill promises to ensure those she chose to lead city departments and to serve on city panels represented the city’s racial and ethnic diversity.

Interim Police Supt. Eric Carter offered no reason for his departure, saying only that leading the beleaguered department was his “greatest honor.”

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, who got his start as an aide to Senate President Don Harmon, traveled to Springfield to declare his election marks a “new day” in Illinois politics – and to serve notice that he would govern boldly as a progressive and supporter of organized labor.

In all, fifteen people were arrested in connection with the unrest, which included crowds of young people jumping on CTA buses and fighting. Now downtown residents, city leaders and community organizers are looking for solutions.

The district’s overall budget, which was $9.4 billion in 2023, will be essentially unchanged in 2024, with officials planning to spend an additional $150 million next year, mostly to add instructors in special education classes.

The projections detailed by outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot represent a significantly rosier financial picture for Chicago than the forecast released in August, when city officials projected a likely budget gap of $473.8 million in 2024. 

In all, nine adults and six juveniles were arrested in connection with the unrest, which included crowds of young people jumping on CTA buses and fighting, prompting police officials to decry groups “engaging in reckless and disruptive behavior putting themselves and the public at risk for harm.”

In Chicago, a former teacher’s union organizer unexpectedly won the mayor’s race. In St. Louis, progressives secured a majority on the municipal board. The next opportunities could lie in Philadelphia and Houston, which also hold mayoral elections this year.

“Chicago Tonight” co-anchor Brandis Friedman sat down with Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson for a wide-ranging interview. When he takes office on May 15, Johnson will be the first mayor in nearly a century to call the West Side home.

When he takes office on May 15, Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson will be the first mayor in nearly a century to call the West Side home.

The prosecution rests its case in the corruption trial of the “ComEd Four.” The challenges facing Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson. And Chicago is named to host the DNC in 2024.