The Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international air travelers to the U.S. take a COVID-19 test within a day before boarding their flights, easing one of the last remaining government mandates meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
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The $1.73 billion proposal now heads to the Illinois Gaming Board, which must license Bally’s to operate the Chicago casino set to be built along the Chicago River near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.
The Chicago City Council is expected to give its final stamp of approval to the Bally’s plan on Wednesday, sending the proposal to the Illinois Gaming Board, which must license Bally’s to operate the Chicago casino set to be built near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.
Even though Lightfoot stacked a special City Council committee with her allies to consider the casino proposal, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th Ward) acknowledged Friday that the mayor did not have enough support to advance the plan to build a casino and resort.
While Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her administration have touted the proposal from Bally’s as the most lucrative proposal the city received and said the casino would be an “iconic” addition to Chicago’s riverfront, members of the City Council continue to greet those claims with skepticism.
While members of the Lightfoot administration touted the proposal from Bally’s as the most lucrative proposal the city recieved and said the casino would be an “iconic” addition to Chicago's riverfront, nearly all members of a special City Council committee formed to consider the plan greeted those claims with skepticism.
Lightfoot’s support for a casino on what is now the Chicago Tribune printing plant and newsroom near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street will bounce the roulette ball to the Chicago City Council to consider Bally’s plan.
With three community meetings complete, the roulette ball bounces back to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is expected to make her decision within the next two months and pick one of three proposed Chicago casino locations.
On May 9, Lynn Osmond will begin her four-year contract as CEO and president of Choose Chicago. The agency promotes leisure and business travel to bring revenue to the city’s attractions, events, hotels, restaurants and convention centers, most notably McCormick Place.
Move over, Guangzhou. Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is once again the world’s busiest airport.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot does not expect to pick one of the three finalists and ask the Chicago City Council to ratify her decision until early summer, a significant delay since the fall, officials said.
Illinois hotel leaders are proposing the Hotel Jobs Recovery Act, which would allocate funds to hotels across the state to rehire workers. The group is proposing $250 million to come from the state’s leftover American Rescue Plan Act funding, giving one-time grants of $1,500 per room for every hotel in Illinois.
The rise in air travel is coming back down, thanks to the omicron variant’s rapid spread. Ann Dwyer has details on that story and more.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said getting a casino off the ground in Chicago will “usher in a new and exciting era for our city.”
Three firms want to build a casino and resort in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office announced Friday. All five proposals are of a “high-caliber,” Lightfoot said in a statement released by the mayor’s office.
Beginning Nov. 8, foreign, non-immigrant adults traveling to the United States will need to be fully vaccinated, with only limited exceptions, and all travelers will need to be tested for the virus before boarding a plane to the U.S.
