“It’s as if criminals are winning the war on crime in Chicago and Cook County,” State House Republican Leader Rep. Jim Durkin said. “It’s not because of police. It’s because we have a prosecuting attorney who is choosing not to work with police and has turned her back on police on some many occasions.”

In addition, Lightfoot’s proposal sets aside $1.3 billion, or about 68% of the city’s share of federal relief funds, to cover the cost of providing city services and paying city workers between 2020 and 2023 to make up for revenue lost as a result of the economic collapse triggered by the pandemic.

District officials say the five-year graduation rate for high school students is now 83.8 percent, which is up from 56.9 percent in 2011.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority reported this fiscal year – which started in July and ends next June – the will host 122 events that will bring in 2.3 million visitors. More than 700,000 hotel room nights will be involved.

At a hearing, Moshe Jacobius, presiding judge of the Chancery Division for the Cook County Circuit Court, cautioned both sides saying, “When you see what’s going on, and you see the sensationalization of this, people need to really consider, everybody that’s involved here is in public service.”

The lawsuit alleges that the Sept. 3 executive order signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker “exceeds the authority granted to the governor and to governmental units granted by statute, and is therefore null and void as to the vaccine mandates complained of here.”

The Supreme Court’s Thursday opinion, written by Justice Mary Jane Theis, stated that, “While the taxes do not directly burden a law-abiding citizen’s right to use a firearm for self-defense, they do directly burden a law-abiding citizen’s right to acquire a firearm and the necessary ammunition for self-defense.”

“Several residents have approached our office to ask whether the city will accept donations to help buy additional police cameras,” Ald. Michele Smith wrote in a recent email to constituents in Lincoln Park.“Please note, the locations must be approved by the police.”

“For Chicago to compete globally, it has to think, dream and build on a daring scale. But with risk comes the need to assess the hit on taxpayers.”

Lightfoot’s budget is expected to pass, but a property tax increase as many Chicagoans are struggling is a tough pill to swallow. Ald. Gilbert Villegas said he’d like to tap into the city’s tax increment-financing reserves instead. “You’ve got tree trimming that takes a year, you have violence that is just out of control. You have folks that just don’t feel safe … and so they’re paying but just not getting a return on their investment.”

The ordinance, filed by Aldermen Silvana Tabares and Anthony Napolitano, seeks to make sure that any policy that puts city employees on no-pay status requires City Council approval. Tabares was one of six aldermen who sent a letter to the mayor last month opposing the mandate.

A new police contract was entered last September — four years after the previous contract expired — but little else has thawed the otherwise icy relationship between Lightfoot and the FOP. In May, the union issued a no-confidence vote in Lightfoot, CPD Supt. David Brown and First Deputy Supt. Eric Carter over their “lack of consideration” for officers’ working conditions.

Mark Konkol: “Before (Sen. Jeff) Merkley’s allotted time to question Emanuel expired Wednesday, the Oregon Democrat mentioned a letter from Chicago public officials calling for the Senate to reject the former mayor’s appointment — and expressed disbelief that Emanuel was actually clueless about details of Laquan’s murder and efforts to keep video of the teen’s death secret for as long as the former mayor claims.”

“Welcome to Indiana,” U.S. Sen. Mike Braun said in a tweet. “My office stands ready to help connect Chicago police officers to an Indiana police department that is hiring now and doesn’t have a vaccine mandate.”

“Yes, there was a big shake-up when people started to work remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” one commercial realtor said. “But there was a market overreaction to the damage that the cities would suffer. What we’ve seen is that the big cities have actually bounced back much quicker than we thought they were going to a year ago.”

Chicago already has a “strong” network for vaccinating kids, as there are hundreds of pediatricians who regularly vaccinate kids against various illnesses, Dr. Allison Arwady said. Officials have also worked to ensure pharmacy workers are trained to vaccinate kids, she said.

“I don’t envy my friends in Chicago. I knew fiscal doom would hit the city in this decade, but this was not the form I was expecting.”

“A few homes in a Chicago neighborhood selling for 25-30 percent below the market in the coming years could shift the market entirely,” an entrepreneur and investor with growing property interests in NW Indiana, along with a ghost home in Chicago, observes. “The Big Northside Short is sadly coming.”