Ald. Ray Lopez addresses the media on Nov. 21, 2022. (WTTW News)

Ald. Ray Lopez drops out of the mayoral race, but not before launching another stinging attack on incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Our politics team weighs in on that story and more.

Cleopatra Watson, waits to file her petitions to run for 9th Ward alderperson at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 21, after waiting in line for nearly 72 hours. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

Willie Wilson, Ja’Mal Green, state Rep. Kam Buckner, Paul Vallas, Brandon Johnson and Ald. Sophia King (4th Ward) all filed to run for mayor of Chicago.

Chicago City Hall. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

A wide-ranging and still-growing field of challengers are seeking to deny incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot a second term in February 2023. 

Tire marks from drifting can be seen in the intersection of Archer and Kedzie avenues, where a shooting occurred early Sunday, Oct 23, 2022. (David Struett/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

The shooting happened about 4 a.m. Sunday in Brighton Park after the caravan blocked streets leading to the intersection for illegal street racing, Chicago police Cmdr. Don Jerome said during a news conference. 

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Inspector General Deborah Witzburg conducted the inquiry after Supt. David Brown’s decision to repeatedly cancel officers’ scheduled days off during the historically violent summer months erupted into controversy.

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The city’s 2022 spending plan increased the Chicago Police Department’s budget for counseling services by 73% to allow the city to hire an additional 11 clinical therapists — enough to assign one clinician to work full time in each of the city’s 22 police districts.

Members of the Chicago City Council meet on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (WTTW News)
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Crime in Chicago usually peaks during the summer months, when hot temperatures force people outside and fray tempers. In recent years, the Memorial Day holiday weekend has been extremely violent.

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In his bid to oust  Mayor Lori Lightfoot from her 5th floor suite of offices, Lopez will give up his seat on the City Council representing Brighton Park, Back of the Yards and Gage Park and West Englewood.

Ald. Raymond Lopez appears on Chicago Tonight by Zoom on May 20, 2021. (WTTW News)

Raymond Lopez, first elected to represent the 15th Ward on the Chicago City Council in 2015, has been one of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s most frequent critics.

(WTTW News)

A trio of City Council members blasted Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to fight crime by going after the profits earned by Chicago’s gangs in an interview Monday on “Chicago Tonight.” 

Anjanette Young and her attorney Keenan Saulter speak outside the James R. Thompson Center on June 16, 2021. (Matt Masterson / WTTW News)
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot did not purposefully conceal information about the handling of the February 2019 raid that left Anjanette Young handcuffed while naked and pleading for help, according to the results of a probe ordered by the mayor released Thursday.

Anjanette Young and her attorney Keenan Saulter speak outside the James R. Thompson Center on June 16, 2021. (Matt Masterson / WTTW News)
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On Monday, members of City Council's finance committee unanimously endorsed a recommendation to pay $2.9 million to Anjanette Young to resolve the lawsuit she brought after police officers handcuffed her while she was naked and ignored her pleas for help during a botched raid in February 2019.

Andrea Kersten, interim chief of Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability appears on “Chicago Tonight” via Zoom, July 21, 2021. (WTTW News)
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“I have profound regret and sadness that the work of our agency has in any way hurt the French family and those who mourn her and I will work steadfastly to ensure that a situation such as this never happens again,” Andrea Kersten said.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot appears on “Chicago Tonight” via Zoom on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. (WTTW News)

Plus: 4 Chicago alderpeople react to the proposal

As Chicago emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Lori Lightfoot told WTTW News on Monday that city officials must be “bold and transformative” to address not only the immediate damage caused by the pandemic but also the city’s longstanding woes. 

Workers put the finishing touches on the Sunnyside dispensary in Lakeview on Dec. 30, 2019, just two days before recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois. (WTTW News)
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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.”

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A final vote is set for Sept. 14 on an eight-year deal that offers more than 11,000 Chicago police officers annual average raises of approximately 2.5% — while imposing new rules on officers suspected of misconduct.