At $3.6 billion, the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line extension to 130th Street will be, on a cost-per-ride basis, one of the most expensive rail transit projects in the world. It will siphon hundreds of millions of tax dollars out of Bronzeville, one of Chicago’s most promising majority Black neighborhoods. Ridership is likely to be much less than projected…..Still, there’s little choice but to proceed. The project is politically popular—I had difficulty getting anyone to comment about it on the record, although many acknowledged misgivings privately. It’s too late

The Chicago Tribune has won the right to get a potentially revealing letter about claims that workers were fired two years ago from the office of city Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin after they refused to participate in alleged illegal and unethical conduct.

Assessor Fritz Kaegi says a new round of tax assessments shows his policies are working. But the picture for north-suburban homeowners is more complicated.

Black voters in Chicago during the midterm election supported Governor JB Pritzker at the polls more than any ethnic group in the city, according to an extensive analysis from the Chicago Board of Elections.

Lightfoot is facing a tough reelection campaign, with nine other candidates potentially running against her. “We’ve got to keep reminding people what we’ve done, but also what the vision is, because the work’s not done,” she said.

There are 5,000 Chicago residents who for the past four months have received $500 a month as part of a one-year program known as Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot. Some Chicago residents will also be part of the Cook County Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot, which recently selected the 3,250 participants via lottery who will receive $500 for two years. Both pilots, which are separate, are funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act, and academic researchers are closely monitoring the programs.