Only employees who make less than $26 an hour or $50,000 a year are covered by the protections. The law applies to businesses with 100 or more employees, to nonprofits with more than 250 employees, to restaurants with at least 30 locations and 250 employees globally, and to franchisees with four or more locations.

In the first 28 days in June, the number of murders was up 83% compared with numbers from the same period in 2019, Chicago Police Department statistics show. And the number of arrests was down 55%, street stops fell by 74% and traffic stops dropped by 86%.

“A recent study by Brown University projected that students ‘are likely to return in fall 2020 with approximately 63-68% of the learning gains in reading relative to a typical school year, and with 37-50% of the learning gains in math.’ CPS has to protect its students, but can’t afford for them to lose any more academic ground. The district has two months to put Chicago’s children back on the right track.”

“So many people make their livelihood in this industry, and so the notion of interrupting rent is a foolhardy notion,” said Mike Glasser, president of the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance. “What’s going to happen to stock of affordable and safe and secure housing if we’re out of business?”

The law also allows gaming at the state fair and provides pandemic relief for the state’s gambling industry.

The Workforce Partnership, which launched in 2012, will be required to set aside 85% of the funds for at least 30 neighborhood organizations that will conduct the work, officials said. Local organizations will be asked to submit proposals for that work in the coming weeks.

Chicago Police, FBI, and ATF investigators have released images and video of 18 people believed to be responsible for 53 acts of arson between May 30 and June 3. U.S. Attorney Jon Lausch said that while some of the incidents appeared to be coordinated attacks on businesses, others seemed to be random crimes of opportunity.

In addition to the grants – which total $5.4 million – the city offers assistance to businesses in contracting, permitting, financing and other needs that arise as the construction projects progress.

Chicago area single family home prices rose by just 1.4% over the last year while the national average was up by 4.7%. Even the second worst metro area – New York – was up a lot more at 2.5%. And 1.4% is slightly lower than March’s 1.5% appreciation rate.

The university said last week that it’s targeting a 3.5 percent increase in tuition and other fees to to $76,317 for on-campus students. But that’s not appeasing some students’ families, who have signed a petition pushing back against the price hike.

“This idea is potentially disastrous,” University of Chicago sociologist Robert Vargas said. “Let’s just assume that what the police are doing is lawful. Communities are tired of these interactions with the police. If you’re trying to arrest your way out of this problem, it’s not going to work.”

“Throughout our reporting, one overarching theme emerged: COVID-19 and the recent civil unrest over police brutality has brought into sharp focus the structural inequities and the disinvestment that has existed across Chicago for generations.”

An attorney representing the mother of three of the children argued the city and alderman should be held accountable because there were 39 violations at the building and the city allowed people to continue to live there.

The policy will apply to thousands of people arrested for things like violating the curfew or disorderly conduct in Chicago, though it excludes people who “intentionally cause[d] harm or damage.”

“Over the past month we have seen righteous anger, collective grief, action, and demands for justice,” said Kim Foxx, Cook County state’s attorney, in the press release. “I’m encouraged by the efforts

Comment: In fact, the policy applies to all charges except those who intentionally caused harm or damage.