Candidates will hit the street to gather thousands of autographs from registered voters a month earlier than aspiring candidates did four years ago, the last time all 50 alderpeople, the mayor, city clerk and city treasurer faced voters.

The question — posed by Mayor Brandon Johnson — will fill the final spot on the November ballot, ending a proxy fight between the mayor and his increasingly emboldened opponents on the Chicago City Council, even though the results will only carry symbolic weight.

The mayor’s proposal drew swift and vehement opposition from landlords and business groups, with whom he has long been at loggerheads.

City officials said last week Chicago is grappling with an $89 million shortfall — revised down from the $130 million figure the mayor announced earlier this month.

An analysis is ongoing to determine when — and how much — Chicago can afford to send to its pension funds in addition to the $2.85 billion that state law requires the city to contribute this year, officials said.

The bird-friendly ordinance has now been sent to the Zoning Committee for consideration. A hearing is tentatively scheduled for July 21.

The fight over which questions will appear on November’s ballot erupted into a proxy fight between the mayor and his increasingly emboldened opponents on the City Council, even though the results will only carry symbolic weight.

Finance Committee Chair Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward) said she was calling off the vote amid “ongoing discussions” with Stonepeak Partners about new information.

A final vote on the subsidy that will make it possible for a new $750 million Chicago Fire stadium to be built south of the Loop is set for Wednesday.

Wrongful convictions have long been the most expensive kind of police misconduct in Chicago, costing taxpayers $131.5 million in the first six months of 2026, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.

Chicago Park District rules prohibit parks from being renamed for anyone who has not yet been dead a year. The rules also prohibit parks from being named for anyone endorsing “a specific religious affiliation.”

The City Council’s Ethics and Government Oversight Committee’s endorsement sends the nonbinding resolution calling for the resignation of the top federal prosector in Chicago to the full City Council for a final vote on July 15.

The City Council’s Ethics and Government Oversight Committee voted unanimously to advance a measure that would amend the city’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance to ban employees from using insider information to bet on prediction markets.

The city’s 2026 budget set aside just $82.5 million for police misconduct settlements, and authorized officials to borrow an additional $283.3 million to cover the soaring cost of lawsuits alleging wrongdoing by police officers, records show.

Approximately 7,000 unpermitted sweepstakes machines operate in all kinds of businesses across the city — including in bars, restaurants, gas stations, laundromats and convenience stores — but are concentrated on the South and West sides.

It is not clear how — or why — Benchmark Analytics was selected by officials in the Johnson administration in the fall of 2024 to create the system required by the federal court order known as the consent decree.