The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC, is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall, and Congress has until March to secure funding. Illinois would need about $24 million in additional funding for the 2024 fiscal year to serve its eligible population.

A ballot measure aimed at addressing homelessness is thrown into question. Possible budget cuts for a federal food assistance program. And debating school resource officers. 

 In a unanimous vote last Thursday, they decided to eliminate uniformed police officers from the 39 public high schools that still have them.

A Cook County judge Monday allowed proceedings before the Chicago Police Board to resume as he prepares to rule on an effort backed by the city’s largest police union to upend the system used for 60 years to punish officers.

Chicago’s Board of Education votes to remove police officers from schools. And the White Sox head to Springfield in the hopes of scoring a stadium subsidy.

The proposal known as Bring Chicago Home will remain on the ballot, but the results will not be tallied and reported unless the judge’s decision is overturned by a state appeals court.

The seven-member board unanimously approved the resolution, which directs CPS CEO Pedro Martinez to implement a new whole school safety policy, which “must make explicit that the use of SROs within District schools will end by the start of the 2024-2025 school year.”

Closing the four shelters will allow the city to avoid paying $19 million to lease the facilities, staff them and provide food and laundry services, officials said.

Vic Mensa has taken on many different roles over the years — rapper, organizer, actor and more. Most recently, he partnered with the “Feed the Block, Warm the Block” initiative to bring food and clothing to the city’s unhoused population.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday unveiled a $52.7 billion budget that he described as filled with “hard choices.” The plan builds on priorities like funding preschool, supporting Black residents, funding the neediest schools and caring for asylum seekers.

The new regulations ban new dollar stores — defined as stores offering an assortment of goods, most advertised at less than $5 — from opening within one mile of another dollar store owned by the same company.

Two alderpeople weigh in on canceling the ShotSpotter contract. A preview of Pritzker’s budget address and what it means for Chicago. And sitting down with civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump.

Mayor Brandon Johnson continues to push forward with the progressive policing strategies he promised during his campaign to prioritize. He announced the city will be phasing out its contract with ShotSpotter, the controversial gunshot detection technology.