“This was one of the silver linings to come out of the pandemic,” Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward) said.

Restaurants, bars and cafes would be allowed to serve customers outdoors permanently under a plan backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson. The plan would make the rules designed to help restaurants stay afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic an enduring part of Chicago’s food scene.

Approximately 784 men, women and children are living on floors in Chicago police stations across the city as of Tuesday, officials said.

The vote represents a reversal from March 30, when nearly two-thirds of the Chicago City Council voted to approve a declaration of independence — five days before Mayor Brandon Johnson defeated former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas in the runoff.

When Mayor Brandon Johnson picks up the mayor’s gavel for the first time, he will have been in office for just 10 days — and if he had a brief honeymoon, Wednesday’s meeting of the City Council will signal its end.

Former Ald. CarrieAustin is now receiving more than $9,500 per month in pension payments for the rest of her life, according to records obtained by WTTW News from the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. If Austin is convicted, she could lose her pension, since her conduct occurred as part of her official duties as an alderperson.

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson had just 41 days to put together his administration and lay the foundation to start delivering on his ambitious agenda — the shortest mayoral transition in Chicago history.

“We shouldn’t have to come to this point, but here we are,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. “Even in my final days as mayor it is important that we step up and respond to this burgeoning crisis.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot appeared to acknowledge that she ends her single term as mayor with work undone. At several points, she claimed credit not for accomplishments, but for “planting seeds” that will lead to the city's transformation into a more equitable place to live. 

Johnson, who will replace Lightfoot in less than two weeks, said he would consult with the South Shore community before making any final decisions on how to address a renewed surge of immigrants being sent to the city from Texas and other states along the southern border.

More than 8,100 people, most of them from Central and South America, have arrived in Chicago since Aug. 31. Mayor Lori Lightfoot sent to the City Council Friday, acknowledging that once again the city’s shelter system is bursting at the seams.  

The last Chicago City Council meeting of this term is in the books, and for a dozen Chicago alderpeople, it was their last council meeting ever.

Ald. Ed Burke, 79, is likely to complete his 54 years as a City Council member without any of the pomp and circumstance that once would have greeted his departure from his beloved City Hall, which he ruled with an iron fist for decades.

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. 

The proposed settlement is set to be considered by the City Council’s Finance Committee on Monday. A final vote of the City Council could come on Wednesday.

Nearly a quarter of the city will get new political leadership in 2023, a result of an unprecedented exodus of veteran alderpeople that led to a generational shift in Chicago politics, with six Black, Latina and Asian American women replacing veteran City Council members, all of them men.