The enrollment decline is likely due to several factors, including population declines among black and Latinx communities in Chicago as well as lower birth rates. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a major decline in enrollment in 2020, especially among pre-k and kindergarten students.

The offices the company is closing were its most “consistently underutilized,” with only about 2% of workspaces in use each week, Yelp’s CEO blogged.

The Citadel founder has given more than $600 million to arts, educational and cultural organizations here. Griffin currently serves on the board of the University of Chicago, the Chicago Public Education Fund, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, but a spokesman said that will be coming to an end.

After 47 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx weighs in on what more action can be taken.

“In Jacksonville, Florida’s biggest city, state’s attorney Melissa Nelson and local police have focused their efforts on arresting known violent criminals, especially gang members. They emphasize prosecution of repeat offenders and gun crimes. The straightforward goal is to identify and incapacitate violent offenders with stiff prison sentences, and the results have been encouraging. As Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia—all led by progressive prosecutors—saw sustained increases in violent crime last year, Jacksonville’s homicides declined by 30 percent, while shootings were down by 17%.”

The coalition is pushing for an increase on the city’s real estate transfer tax by 1.9 percentage points on properties over $1 million to create a dedicated revenue stream to address homelessness. Advocates are seeking to have the public weigh in via a referendum question in the Nov. 8 general election.

An IDOT spokesperson said that IDOT does not believe the slowdowns will push back estimated completion dates, but she also said if there isn’t a resolution soon, some of the ongoing work on the Jane Byrne interchange will have to be put on hold. Other IDOT projects, like resurfacing, aren’t getting started unless there’s a guarantee there’ll be product to complete the job.

Local software engineer and self-described “transit nerd” Fabio Göttlicher began studying train intervals at the California Blue Line station in Logan Square in December using publicly available data. Göttlicher found the CTA is only running 50-55% of its scheduled trains. “The Blue Line is supposed to come every six minutes. [Now,] it’s maybe every 20 minutes. This past Sunday, they only ran 29% of the scheduled trains.”

Ald. Rossana Rodriguez said the city has had four deputy mayors for public safety in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s three years, and this is needed. “It would take 1.5 percent of the city’s total budget to create an office that is actually going to develop strategy so that we can have the city we deserve.”

Neglected facilities in minority communities and cuts to swim programs have exacerbated the Park District’s lifeguard problem; After-school swim programs at public schools were shut down at the start of the pandemic, and no reopening date has been set, according to CPS’ website.

Alderman Michele Smith, whose 43rd Ward includes North Avenue Beach, said hundreds of people on the beach were drawn there by social media for what she calls an illegal gathering. She wants the city to hire private security, establish a security perimeter around the beach and install metal detectors.

Kevin Ryan, vice president of Chicago Transit Authority security, said, “We could do it like airports do it, but nobody would ever get on the train. There would be huge, long lines…(The better solution is) aggressive enforcement and aggressive prosecution once somebody is caught, and there are enhanced penalties for carrying weapons on public transportation.”

County finance officials said the projected budget gap heading into the 2023 fiscal year would be just $18.2 million — compared with a total 2023 budget of $8.1 billion — thanks to better than expected revenues from sales taxes, certain corporate income taxes and from fees to the county clerk that have been fueled by the recent construction boom. In addition, the tight labor market is leading to longer hiring time frames, keeping payroll costs lower, county officials said.

An Illinois city chose 16 residents to receive $25,000 each in reparations in a first-in-the-nation program to address harms from slavery to discriminatory housing policies. The money from the fund, which was created back in 2019, can only go toward a home down payment, mortgages or repairing homes in an effort to increase minority property value.