Jaylun Sanders, 21, is the 20th person charged with killing or shooting — or trying to shoot or kill — someone in Chicago this year while awaiting trial for a felony.

If you interpret the numbers as a per housing unit rate, Cleveland manages to pull ahead of Chicago with almost one in every 500 homes foreclosed since the start of 2022. But by the same metric, Illinois still leads the nation on a state level – close to one out of every 800 homes.

Police have been left with the challenge of keeping everyone safe in an open park and other areas meant to be attractions in a glittering global city. And city leaders including Mayor Lori Lightfoot have found themselves trying to limit such impromptu gatherings without denying the young people’s rights to hang out where they want and their need, some say, to find fun outside of troubled neighborhoods.

“This is not hysterical fear. It is reasonable fear, supported by evidence, from all the murders and shootings in the city, to the violent mobs descending on downtown at night, to the many hundreds of unsolved shootings on the expressways…If you follow Chicago politics carefully, and follow the body counts and the anguish of the people, you know the Four Furies of Chicago: Toni, Kim and Lori. And Tim.”

During the election, Members First criticized current leadership for overreaching on social issues not directly connected to the classroom, and said the union was too quick to strike in January. REAL also criticized the handling of the strike; They argued that current leadership was disconnected from members and spent too much money supporting political candidates without giving members a full accounting.

The Civic Federation has concerns over the City of Chicago’s proposed reliance on casino revenues as a major funding source for its Police and Firefighter pension funds. While a casino may generate some budgetary relief, gaming revenues can be unreliable, particularly over the long run, and should be budgeted with caution.

New York City has had three mass shootings so far this year, and Los Angeles has had two, but Chicago –despite a smaller population than both of those cities – has already had 10.

The amendments include, among other things, modified definitions of “sexual orientation” and “sexual harassment,” a new written policy requirement for employers, increased sexual harassment prevention training requirements, and stricter penalties for violations. The amendments take effect July 1, 2022.

“I really feel unsafe all the time to be honest,” 19-year-old Dayvon Moore said. “I’m a young Black, African American man walking the streets and you know it’s not really safe for us.”