“Like any good gardener, when you plant the seeds, you till the soil, you watch the shoots rise up from the garden, you want to be there to reap the harvest,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said this week as mayoral challengers begin to line up.

Chicago has not always had the most cordial relationship with democracy over decades of machine-style politics. A new book from longtime Chicago political observer Dick Simpson aims to diagnose what’s wrong and offer prescriptions to fix it.

To avert the first ward map referendum since 1992, 41 alderpeople must agree on a map no later than May 19, the deadline for the June 28 primary election ballot to be finalized.

Ald. Nicole Lee (11th Ward) said she hopes the fact that she is Chicago’s first Chinese American City Council member helps combat a wave of anti-Asian crime that has frightened residents of Chinatown.

The program, which is expected to include 5,000 Chicago households, will study whether a universal basic income could reduce poverty in the city. Applications will close at 11:59 p.m. May 13.

A unanimous endorsement of the Ethics and Government Oversight Committee means Deborah Witzburg’s nomination is set to win the approval of the full City Council April 27. 

Victims of sexual harassment in Chicago would have a full year to file a complaint with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations — and businesses could face fines of up to $10,000 if those allegations are proven — under a measure that cleared a City Council committee Wednesday.

Leaders of the groups that successfully pushed Chicago elected leaders to support a map that redraws the 11th Ward to include a majority of Asian American voters warned members of the City Council that asking voters to decide the boundaries of the city’s 50 wards “fans the flames of racial division.”

Two sources told WTTW News that Lightfoot will ask the Chicago City Council to confirm Deborah Witzburg as the city’s inspector general. Witzburg resigned as Chicago’s deputy inspector general for public safety on Nov. 1, saying she would apply for the top job.

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to stop a portion of Jackson Park from being transformed into the home of the $500 million Obama Presidential Center.

The Bucktown coffee shop, located at Armitage and Hoyne avenues, joins four others in the city – Hyde Park, Logan Square, Edgewater, and downtown – and one each in suburban La Grange and Cary. 

Nicole Lee is the first Chinese American, the second Asian American and the first Asian American woman to serve as an alderperson in the city of Chicago.

If confirmed on Monday, Nicole Lee would become the first Chinese American to serve as an alderperson.

The Edgewater coffee shop, located at Clark Street and Ridge Avenue, joins three others in the city – Hyde Park, Logan Square, and downtown – and one each in west suburban La Grange and northwest suburban Cary. All six are seeking representation from the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United, an SEIU affiliate.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to make history here,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, just before the first electronic vote.

The Chicago City Council voted 34-13 to settle the lawsuit, the first significant payment approved by city officials to compensate Chicagoans who alleged they were mistreated by Chicago Police officers during the unrest and protests that swept the city in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.