Sales of recreational marijuana will begin in Chicago – and across the state – on Jan. 1. Or will they? A group of aldermen on Wednesday explained why they want to put the brakes on pot in Chicago.
City Council

The City Council on Tuesday approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $11.6 billion budget plan by a vote of 39 to 11. Four Chicago aldermen join us to discuss their support and opposition to that spending plan.

Taking an Uber or a Lyft, dining out, and parking at a metered spot will cost Chicagoans more come January, on account of the new city budget approved Tuesday by the City Council, following a nearly two-hour debate.

Despite gripes from aldermen, the mayor’s first budget advances. Who will replace the top senator in Springfield? Cops go to court. Fraud at City Colleges. And can the Bears pull off a win this weekend?

By this time next week, Chicago alderman will have voted on the city’s next budget. Mayor Lori Lightfoot is optimistic that her budget will pass, even as progressive groups say she’s breaking campaign promises.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday alleged that ride-hailing giant Uber offered to pay off black ministers to the tune of $54 million if they would join a campaign to publicly oppose a $40 million ride-hailing tax proposal – a claim the company denies.

Mayor Lightfoot laid out her plan to resolve the city’s massive deficit, but any final budget will require the support of aldermen. Weighing in on that and more: Alds. Scott Waguespack, Ray Lopez and Jason Ervin.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivered her first budget address Wednesday at City Hall amid a swirl of protests from striking Chicago Public Schools teachers and support staff outside. How she plans to close the budget gap.

A debate in Chicago over horse-drawn carriages has raged between animal activists and industry professionals for years. We hear both sides of the debate.

A new ordinance has been introduced in City Council to severely reduce farm animal adoption in Chicago. We discuss the proposal with Ald. Raymond Lopez and Laura Calvert of Advocates for Urban Agriculture.

In a recent op-ed published in the Chicago Sun-Times, Ald. Anthony Beale outlined his frustrations with Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Beale joins “Chicago Tonight” in conversation.

The mayor proposes to exclude marijuana sales in the Loop. A proposed ban on e-cigarettes leads to a testy debate in City Council. Climate change prompts a massive walkout. And the Cubs’ playoff hopes are on life support.

Are there early signs of a revolt that could make life harder for Chicago’s mayor? Our politics team takes on that story and more in our weekly roundtable.

Chicago’s mayor and aldermen are vowing to take strict action on vaping while welcoming the sale of cannabis. Those two vices dominated the discussion during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

The Lightfoot administration makes its first moves to regulate the recreational marijuana industry, releasing guidelines on where the new businesses can locate. And here’s the catch: they’re all outside the city’s central business district.

At a City Council hearing on Tuesday, committee members discussed a proposal to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021. Activists say it’s long overdue. But could it hurt small businesses? We debate the issue.