The city must match an expected federal grant of $2.16 billion before the first track can be laid — but it is not clear whether the City Council will give the project signal clearance.
Byron Sigcho-Lopez
The mayor came under fire by some alderpeople for not living up to her campaign promise to re-establish a city Department of Environment.
For now, it’s business as usual inside the Discount Mall in Little Village as customers navigate through the aisles and vendors work to land a sale. But these merchants don’t know how long they have left to run their businesses.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said former Ald. Danny Solis is one of the most significant government informants and witnesses of the last several decades.
Former Ald. Danny Solis caused “generational” harm to Chicago and residents of the 25th Ward, his successor told the judge overseeing the criminal case facing the disgraced former alderperson.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) had urged the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn decisions by the Illinois State Board of Elections as well as lower courts that allowed politicians accused of political corruption to use funds contributed by supporters of their campaigns to defend themselves from accusations of wrongdoing while in office.
While Chicago has been without a permanent inspector general, former 11th Ward Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson became the 37th alderperson to be convicted of a crime since 1969. Alds. Ed Burke (14th Ward) and Carrie Austin (34th Ward) are awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to bribery and corruption charges.
City Council members have yet to redraw the city's ward maps. They’re contending with a controversial ordinance to go after street gangs’ profits. And, the city’s watchdog released two reports on a botched smokestack demolition and a wrongful police raid, while the city's without a permanent inspector general.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) looked on as his attorney Adolfo Mondragon urged the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn decisions by the Illinois State Board of Elections as well as lower courts to toss out his complaint against his predecessor, disgraced former Ald. Danny Solis.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to spend $16.7 billion in 2022 faces two critical votes in the coming days, as members of the City Council wrangle behind the scenes on how to spend nearly $2 billion in federal aid while closing massive shortfalls caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The case began in November 2019 when Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections against his disgraced predecessor, former Ald. Danny Solis.
It took more than four years to negotiate a new deal with the police union, as Mayor Lori Lightfoot demanded changes to the way officers are investigated after a 2017 probe by the U.S. Department of Justice found police officers routinely violated the civil rights of Black and Latino Chicagoans.
A push by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to allow cannabis to be sold legally downtown cleared a key city panel on Wednesday, even though it won’t allow Michigan Avenue to become a “pot paradise.”
Supporters of the plan told aldermen Wednesday that it will benefit young residents of the West Side and bring much-needed investment to one of Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods. If the plan is approved, it will end a ferocious controversy that has raged for nearly four years.
The firm also vowed to fight climate change and reduce shut-offs
Several aldermen are unconvinced that the city should ink a new franchise agreement with ComEd — and Chicago may have other options, officials said.
Since 1997, rent control has been banned in Illinois. A bill working its way through the General Assembly would give cities and towns the chance to hold a referendum vote on whether their municipality should allow it.
