Thirteen alderpeople invoked state law to call a special meeting of the Chicago City Council for 11 a.m. Friday in an attempt to force a vote on a measure that would reverse Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s order that all city employees disclose their vaccination status.

The Chicago City Council approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $16.7 billion budget on Wednesday with the backing of progressive members who celebrated the spending plan’s focus on affordable housing, mental health, violence prevention, youth job programs and help for unhoused Chicagoans.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot made her closing argument for her $16.7 billion 2022 budget on Tuesday, saying the spending plan would allow Chicago officials to “build a stronger and more prosperous city” amid the wreckage of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Cook County Judge Cecilia Horan on Monday evening denied a request seeking to extend a temporary restraining order against John Catanzara, who had repeatedly urged Fraternal Order of Police members not to give their vaccination status to Chicago officials.

Authored by Alds. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward) and Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward), the measure to give alderpeople the final say over whether employees could be disciplined for flouting the vaccine mandate was sent to the legislative purgatory of the City Council’s Rules Committee.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to spend $16.7 billion in 2022 is on track to be approved next week by the Chicago City Council after she agreed Friday to demands from the Progressive Caucus that the city boost spending on mental health services and affordable housing programs.

The Chicago City Council’s Latino Caucus on Friday unveiled a map that would reduce the number of wards with a majority of Black voters by two to 16 wards and add two wards where a majority of voters are Latino.

Even though Mayor Lori Lightfoot opposed the push led by Ald. Sophia King (4th Ward) and Ald. David Moore (17th Ward) to honor Chicago’s first non-native settler by changing the name of the city’s most well-known roadway, the three gathered Thursday near Buckingham Fountain to celebrate the compromise all three settled on.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to hike property taxes by $76.5 million cleared a key hurdle Thursday, with the City Council’s Finance Committee advancing the mayor’s $16.7 billion spending plan to the full City Council.

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 final report from former Inspector General Joseph Ferguson did not detail why he concluded that the three employees should be disciplined, or whether city leaders would follow his recommendations.

Jay Doherty has pleaded not guilty to bribery conspiracy charges that accused him of being part of a scheme to reward those loyal to former House Speaker Michael Madigan with money and jobs. 

Sky owner Michael Alter asked for Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s help convincing state lawmakers to grant the Sky a gambling license.

The city’s response to the botched police raid in February 2019 that left Anjanette Young handcuffed while naked and pleading for help left the social worker “revictimized,” the city’s former watchdog told WTTW News’ Chicago Tonight. 

More than 35.6% of the Chicago Police department — 4,543 employees — are in jeopardy of being disciplined and eventually fired for failing to disclose their vaccination status to the city. 

A Cook County judge ordered Police Union President John Catanzara on Friday to stop making public statements on social media or in the media that encourage police officers not to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate until a hearing Oct. 25.