Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s first City Council meeting since losing her reelection bid. How the next mayor of Chicago should think about public safety. A train merger approved despite opposition. And the art of tattooing.

Tattooing is a skill Ryan Henry taught himself nearly 14 years ago. It was about halfway through his career that Henry garnered national attention when his artwork was showcased on the show “Black Ink Crew Chicago.”

The proposal requires human service organizations that contract with the city and have more than 20 employees to agree not to fight efforts by their employees to unionize as long as workers agree not to disrupt the company’s operations while they organize.

Fresh endorsements in the race for Chicago mayor. The trial of the so-called "ComEd Four" is underway. And police Superintendent David Brown prepares to step down. Our politics team weighs in on those stories and more.

The voters of Chicago have spoken, and the message is loud and clear: The next mayor needs new strategies to reduce crime. The two contenders for Chicago’s mayoral runoff, Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson, have differing views on how to address crime and violence.

The ComEd bribery trial gets underway. The state’s high court hears challenges to the no-cash-bail bill that’s been put on hold. And debating NASCAR and other events closing Grant Park for most of the summer.

Coal ash, the byproduct created when plants burn coal for power, contains potentially dangerous materials like arsenic, mercury and cadmium that can endanger nearby water supplies. Since coal-fired power plants use a lot of water to keep their equipment cool, they’re often near bodies of water like Lake Michigan.

Grant Park could potentially be closed to the public for 40 days for July's NASCAR Chicago Street Race, including event setup and teardown. That's just one of many events blocking free access to the park this summer.

Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas’ plan to reverse decades of disinvestment on the South and West sides of Chicago focuses on the creation of an independent community development authority that would limit tChicago City Council members’ control of zoning in their wards. 

The lawsuit over cash bail pits the state’s Democratic governor, attorney general and legislative leaders against roughly half of Illinois’ state’s attorneys, as well as county sheriffs. Both sides can agree on this much: The justices’ decision will have major ramifications on the future of the criminal justice system in Illinois.

The Seng is a 34-unit condo building that aims to attract middle-income families previously priced out of the area. A three-bedroom unit might go for $333,000, the developer said, compared to the market average of $700,000 in the neighborhood.

Come next year, a new law will mandate nearly all Illinois employers give their workers a minimum of five paid days off, for any reason.

The trial of the “ComEd Four” — ex-CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist Mike McClain, retired ComEd executive John Hooker and ex-City Club of Chicago president and former ComEd consultant Jay Doherty — will begin this week.