Ken Griffin, the hedge fund billionaire and major Republican donor, was repeatedly criticized by Brandon Johnson on Wednesday night in a televised debate with fellow Democrat Paul Vallas. Griffin, 54, said in an interview this week in Palm Beach, Florida, that he was done with Chicago politics but wants a Vallas victory.

“The latest case in point comes in the form of news that the plan to host a NASCAR race through the streets of the Loop on July 1 and 2 is going to shut down the area in and around Grant Park for far longer than the Lightfoot administration originally reckoned. Even worse, it now appears the expanding NASCAR time frame means City Hall must find a new place and potentially a new time to hold Taste of Chicago…. Worse still: The local alderman, Brendan Reilly, says he learned of the proposed Taste move not from the administration but

Andy Shaw: “None of Vallas’ deep-pocketed donors are, in my experience, racist, right-wing ideologues. Yes — most are conservative business people, and perhaps Trump or DeSantis supporters — but none have city contracts. So their Vallas support, like their contributions to my nonprofit work, is not about deeper pockets, but about a city that’s safer, less corrupt and more business-friendly.”

“CPS needs to get its act together, but, instead, has consistently prioritized its relationship with CTU members over parents and children…The problems are fixable but will not be seen overnight, which means another few years of searching for the light at the end of the tunnel.”

The health department will use the money to reduce youth vaping through education, local policies, parent and teacher supports, cessation supports, improvements in data and community engagement and outreach initiatives, according to the city.

A non-binding ballot question in the Feb. 28 election asked whether the 5th Ward alderperson and mayor should support a community benefits agreement ordinance to prevent displacement in South Shore. The “yes” option won 88.9 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Even if the federal grant is approved by Congress, Chicago would need an additional $2.4 billion to cover the total cost of the project, much of which city officials hope will come from the federal government in future years. Mayor Lori Lightfoot created a new tax-increment financing district along the southern branch of the CTA Red Line to generate $959 million for the project first proposed by former Mayor Richard J. Daley in the 1950s.

“…(E)ven under the proposal’s optimistic outlook, the casino’s annual revenue is only a fraction of the annual required contributions to the city’s police and fire pension fund. Due to the gargantuan amount of unfunded liabilities the city already owes, this move is unlikely to mitigate future tax hikes, and a significant effort to fulfill the pension promises made to workers still lies ahead.”

Not long ago, the importance of marriage and family to basic economic advancement was a legitimate part of policy discussion, even on the political left. In 2008, then–presidential candidate Barack Obama delivered a Father’s Day speech in a Chicago church emphasizing the link between the family and economic success: “Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important,” he said. “Yes, we need more jobs and more job training and more opportunity in our communities. But we also

Poor record-keeping by the Department of Buildings, inconsistent follow-through from inspectors and the lack of any proactive inspection regimen all contributed to an urgent problem that continues to put city residents in peril.

The report does not include an analysis of student academic achievements based on state funding because it takes about 10 years to see the impact of long-term policy changes, report author Allison Flanagan said.

Per the study, the park gets an average of 25 million visitors per year. The popular Loop destination finished in a tie for eighth on their list with the Epcot Center at Walt Disney World.

“The comments came during a lull in (mayoral candidate Paul) Vallas’ political life, two years after losing the 2019 mayoral race and before he geared up for another bid. But they now could affect his future as he looks to run the nation’s third-largest city, where Obama remains a revered figure”