Students are not the only ones speaking out against the school’s restrictions. Professor Rachel Fulton Brown said, ““It is time to do what the Great Barrington Declaration says we should have done from the beginning: concentrate on caring for the most vulnerable, while allowing everyone else to get back to school.”

Six months ago, Ald. Brendan Reilly proposed banning pedicabs altogether from the River North entertainment district after 6 p.m. and prohibiting pedicabs from using amplified sound during all hours of the day and night. On Wednesday, Reilly settled for allowing pedicabs to play music between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily — but only so long as the pedicab playing that music is “in the act of transporting passengers.”

“Vilifying the economic engine of your state just strikes me as a really foolhardy strategy,” the mayor told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday.

A usually routine transfer of funds to the CTA turned into a gripe session, as Council members slammed the agency, then held up approval of a $26.1 million windfall from the CTA’s portion of the real estate transfer tax.

“We are working with Dr. (Allison) Arwady just to understand all the operational logistics because it isn’t just as simple as shortening (the period) to five days. There are a lot of other requirements that happen for both students and staff, so we’re in the process right now of identifying those operational logistics,” district CEO Pedro Martinez said.

Alicia Mandujano, who served as a loan servicer and secretary under the former president of the defunct Washington Federal Bank for Saving in Bridgeport admitted Jan. 12 to covering up millions in unpaid loans at her boss’ behest. Those included $219,000 in loans to Chicago Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, prosecutors said.

“Asking people in my area to show proof of vaccination is almost asking them for a fight,” Carmella Coqmard, owner of The Foodie’s Spot in the Grand Crossing neighborhood told the Chicago Tribune. “People are very, ‘Don’t do that.’ They’re getting very defensive. I’m losing customers.”

A CDPH spokesman said there might be some reason for optimism that some states could be removed from the list in two weeks, as case rates have started dropping in some parts of the U.S., and even in states where there are still increases, those increases aren’t as steep as they were one week ago.

“There is no evidence that individuals released from pretrial detention are driving this wave of violence,” Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ office said in a Tuesday statement that described his letter to Lightfoot. “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, [the violence] has struck both cities like Chicago that have undergone bail reform and cities that have not.”

Chicago and a few other cities have categorized streaming services as electronically delivered amusements subject to the amusement tax they levy on other forms of entertainment. Chicago pulled in $9.4 million from streaming services under its amusement tax in 2017, the first full year of implementation; By 2021, the revenue from the tax had more than tripled to $31.3 million.

“The root causes of the crime and violence in our communities are connected to historic disinvestment and marginalization,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said. “Disinvestment and marginalization experienced by the neighborhoods that are experiencing the most violence. The problem is complicated and systemic.”

The gun violence involving teens Tuesday began just after noon in the 6500 block of South Paulina Avenue. Police said a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl were walking down the street when shots were fired from an unknown black vehicle.

Each business was issued two citations, which will trigger a hearing before fines ranging between $100 and $10,000 can be imposed.

The report — “City of Chicago Water Affordability Analysis” — authored by Elevate and the Metropolitan Planning Council outlines how water has become unaffordable for Chicago’s poorest residents. In 2015, non-metered single family customers paid, on average, $200 more per year than metered customers. By 2019, non-metered customers were paying, on average, $500 more annually than metered customers.

The district has purchased 40,000 N95 and KN95 masks, half for students, the other half for staff. Those masks provide “the highest level of protection,” according to Assistant Superintendent Romy DeCristofaro, adding that a paper surgical mask underneath a cloth mask also provides good coverage.

“The department has been in a constant state of reorganization since Brown arrived, which is evidence that he has no strategy and doesn’t know what he’s doing,” one source said.

WBEZ reported that the merger would mean the Sun-Times would become a not-for-profit subsidiary of Chicago Public Media – as WBEZ already is. The Sun-Times would get a nonprofit board of its own, and the Sun-Times and WBEZ newsrooms would maintain their own editorial independence and maintain their respective newsrooms.