AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMar 14, 2021 at 6:21 pmThe Chicago River glowed Kelly green downtown this St. Patrick’s Day weekend after all, but the usual cheering throngs crowding the banks during the annual dumping of the dye were much thinner.In a remarkable attempt to give Chicagoans a bit of mid-March normalcy, while also trying to avoid the kind of large public gathering she’s still discouraging during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Lori Lightfoot sanctioned the famous river dyeing to proceed Saturday without confirming the exact time, marveling passing revelers, dog walkers and...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMar 14, 2021 at 6:21 pmThe Chicago River glowed Kelly green downtown this St. Patrick’s Day weekend after all, but the usual cheering throngs crowding the banks during the annual dumping of the dye were much thinner.In a remarkable attempt to give Chicagoans a bit of mid-March normalcy, while also trying to avoid the kind of large public gathering she’s still discouraging during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Lori Lightfoot sanctioned the famous river dyeing to proceed Saturday without confirming the exact time, marveling passing revelers, dog walkers and...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneFeb 18, 2021 at 12:25 pmMayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration spent $281.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief money on Chicago Police Department personnel costs, prompting an angry response Wednesday from activists and some aldermen.The number came to light as Lightfoot seeks City Council approval to transfer about $65 million in unspent federal COVID-19 money into the 2021 budget, after the Biden administration waived Federal Emergency Management Agency local funding matches and extended the deadline to spend federal dollars until the end of the...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneFeb 18, 2021 at 12:25 pmMayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration spent $281.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief money on Chicago Police Department personnel costs, prompting an angry response Wednesday from activists and some aldermen.The number came to light as Lightfoot seeks City Council approval to transfer about $65 million in unspent federal COVID-19 money into the 2021 budget, after the Biden administration waived Federal Emergency Management Agency local funding matches and extended the deadline to spend federal dollars until the end of the...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneFeb 08, 2021 at 5:06 pmChicago’s health commissioner on Monday rejected the idea of adding librarians to the ranks of essential workers to get prioritized for COVID-19 vaccine, saying the infection rates aren’t high enough within that group to justify the move.After called for public library workers to be considered front-line workers and moved up the vaccine line, Dr. Allison Arwady said the stats don’t support such a change.Advertisement“Librarians in particular ... they are the lowest department for cases, honestly,” Arwady said. Only city public safety...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneFeb 08, 2021 at 5:06 pmChicago’s health commissioner on Monday rejected the idea of adding librarians to the ranks of essential workers to get prioritized for COVID-19 vaccine, saying the infection rates aren’t high enough within that group to justify the move.After called for public library workers to be considered front-line workers and moved up the vaccine line, Dr. Allison Arwady said the stats don’t support such a change.Advertisement“Librarians in particular ... they are the lowest department for cases, honestly,” Arwady said. Only city public safety...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneFeb 06, 2021 at 5:00 amDuring the 2019 run-up to what would become the Chicago Teachers Union’s longest strike in decades, Mayor Lori Lightfoot took stock of the differences between the labor issues she was facing and those that haunted her predecessor, Rahm Emanuel.There were many distinctions, Lightfoot said, between the situation when teachers walked out in 2012 and what she was confronting seven years later. But to her, one key point stood out.Advertisement“I’m not Rahm,” with conviction.Nevertheless, like Emanuel, Lightfoot has endured a teachers strike...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneFeb 06, 2021 at 5:00 amDuring the 2019 run-up to what would become the Chicago Teachers Union’s longest strike in decades, Mayor Lori Lightfoot took stock of the differences between the labor issues she was facing and those that haunted her predecessor, Rahm Emanuel.There were many distinctions, Lightfoot said, between the situation when teachers walked out in 2012 and what she was confronting seven years later. But to her, one key point stood out.Advertisement“I’m not Rahm,” with conviction.Nevertheless, like Emanuel, Lightfoot has endured a teachers strike...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJan 22, 2021 at 3:00 pmThe recent “ridiculous spike” in carjackings across Chicago is due largely to young people taking cars around the city to joyride in the vehicles then dump them, a police official told aldermen Friday.With members of the City Council Public Safety Committee describing residents in neighborhoods across Chicago as fearful of being carjacked while running daylight errands, .AdvertisementChief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said some of the cars being stolen, often at gunpoint, are being used in other crimes, or cut up or resold by criminal...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJan 22, 2021 at 3:00 pmThe recent “ridiculous spike” in carjackings across Chicago is due largely to young people taking cars around the city to joyride in the vehicles then dump them, a police official told aldermen Friday.With members of the City Council Public Safety Committee describing residents in neighborhoods across Chicago as fearful of being carjacked while running daylight errands, .AdvertisementChief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said some of the cars being stolen, often at gunpoint, are being used in other crimes, or cut up or resold by criminal...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJan 14, 2021 at 12:15 pmChicago’s health commissioner Thursday defended the city’s widespread use of COVID-19 tests if given to people not showing symptoms.With Mayor Lori Lightfoot looking on, Dr. Allison Arwady said the city sees no need to stop administering the Curative tests at city-run testing sites.Advertisement“We have looked closely, and our rates of positivity, the way that these tests are performing in these neighborhoods, is absolutely in line with what we are seeing in the other surrounding areas,” Arwady said during a news conference to promote...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJan 14, 2021 at 12:15 pmChicago’s health commissioner Thursday defended the city’s widespread use of COVID-19 tests if given to people not showing symptoms.With Mayor Lori Lightfoot looking on, Dr. Allison Arwady said the city sees no need to stop administering the Curative tests at city-run testing sites.Advertisement“We have looked closely, and our rates of positivity, the way that these tests are performing in these neighborhoods, is absolutely in line with what we are seeing in the other surrounding areas,” Arwady said during a news conference to promote...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneDec 30, 2020 at 10:12 amWith 2021 upon us, Mayor Lori Lightfoot will soon end Chicago motorists’ carefree days of driving up to 9 miles per hour over the posted speed limit.The city will start issuing tickets in the new year to people . Lightfoot is counting on millions of dollars in new revenue in 2021 from the $35 tickets to help close a $1.2 billion deficit.AdvertisementBut city officials are so far offering few specifics on when and how the stricter enforcement will be rolled out, beyond saying speeders will receive a written warning in the mail after the...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneDec 30, 2020 at 10:12 amWith 2021 upon us, Mayor Lori Lightfoot will soon end Chicago motorists’ carefree days of driving up to 9 miles per hour over the posted speed limit.The city will start issuing tickets in the new year to people . Lightfoot is counting on millions of dollars in new revenue in 2021 from the $35 tickets to help close a $1.2 billion deficit.AdvertisementBut city officials are so far offering few specifics on when and how the stricter enforcement will be rolled out, beyond saying speeders will receive a written warning in the mail after the...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneNov 16, 2020 at 12:33 pmAn employee tax aimed at online giant Amazon and other big retailers is among the proposals progressive aldermen brought forward Monday to balance Chicago’s 2021 budget.With Mayor Lori Lightfoot fighting behind the scenes to get the 26 votes she needs to pass her spending plan, different City Council groups are bringing forward their own plans to try to put their imprint on the final version.AdvertisementProgressive aldermen also introduced ordinances to the City Council on Monday to fund a program within the city Public Health...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneNov 16, 2020 at 12:33 pmAn employee tax aimed at online giant Amazon and other big retailers is among the proposals progressive aldermen brought forward Monday to balance Chicago’s 2021 budget.With Mayor Lori Lightfoot fighting behind the scenes to get the 26 votes she needs to pass her spending plan, different City Council groups are bringing forward their own plans to try to put their imprint on the final version.AdvertisementProgressive aldermen also introduced ordinances to the City Council on Monday to fund a program within the city Public Health...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneNov 12, 2020 at 5:52 pmAs Mayor Lori Lightfoot works behind the scenes to muster the 26 votes she needs to pass her 2021 city budget, she has delivered a message to City Council members: Those who vote against her spending plan should not expect their wards' needs to be prioritized, according to aldermen.In recent weeks, Lightfoot has held a series of meetings with aldermen to lobby them to support her , which includes a $94 million property tax increase this year and annual bumps in the future, hundreds of city employee layoffs and a gas tax hike. The mayor’s...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneNov 12, 2020 at 5:52 pmAs Mayor Lori Lightfoot works behind the scenes to muster the 26 votes she needs to pass her 2021 city budget, she has delivered a message to City Council members: Those who vote against her spending plan should not expect their wards' needs to be prioritized, according to aldermen.In recent weeks, Lightfoot has held a series of meetings with aldermen to lobby them to support her , which includes a $94 million property tax increase this year and annual bumps in the future, hundreds of city employee layoffs and a gas tax hike. The mayor’s...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneApr 21, 2021 at 6:43 pmAt their first in-person meeting since the early days of the pandemic, Chicago aldermen on Wednesday approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s long-promised changes to the city’s affordable housing requirements for developers.Following a mayoral task force that studied how to improve the city statute that was first put in place over a decade ago, the council passed the mayor’s ordinance by a 42-8 vote.Advertisement“I think this is the best compromise we can get at this time,” Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, said during council debate.Under the mayor’s...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneApr 21, 2021 at 6:43 pmAt their first in-person meeting since the early days of the pandemic, Chicago aldermen on Wednesday approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s long-promised changes to the city’s affordable housing requirements for developers.Following a mayoral task force that studied how to improve the city statute that was first put in place over a decade ago, the council passed the mayor’s ordinance by a 42-8 vote.Advertisement“I think this is the best compromise we can get at this time,” Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, said during council debate.Under the mayor’s...WW…