The Cook County sheriff’s office estimated 62 foreigners were arrested for shoplifting in January, up from six during the same month last year. Sheriff’s officials released the information this week as they announced the arrests of three men who allegedly ran a fake ID mill, an investigation that began after police learned that people were hiring the migrants to shoplift certain products in exchange for fraudulent IDs.

Savills Regional Research Director Anders Klein said that while conditions have modestly improved among Class A buildings in some markets, there has been no sign yet of any overall recovery in the suburban office market apart from some diminishing of its stock. “Outside of O’Hare, availability has ticked lower in some areas as office buildings are targeted for repurposing and available office space is permanently pulled off the leasing market,” he said.

University of Illinois-Chicago political science professor and former alderman Dick Simpson says today’s council is more like a true deliberative body, compared to previous eras of rubber-stamp councils under iron-fisted mayors. Still, he says, divided doesn’t have to mean counter-productive.

The turmoil at the Heartland Alliance, a sprawling nonprofit encompassing five divisions providing a vast array of social services, threatens to upend important safety net programs at a time when Chicago is experiencing an influx of migrants, many of whom need help with health care and housing.

The decision by the Illinois Pollution Control Board delays but doesn’t kill the project, which was opposed by some Latino residents who called the plan racist . Opponents said that their community would be a landing place for garbage hauled from white communities, including Naperville and Wheaton.

The team’s attorney argued at a Cook County Board of Review hearing that the property should be valued at $60 million and taxed at the 10% rate for residential and vacant land, due to the work done to demolish the existing structures on the site, versus the 25% tax rate for commercial properties. Three surrounding school districts – which rely on property taxes for their funding – intervened in the Bears’ appeal, submitting an appraisal finding the site to be worth $160 million. This $100 million gap is too much to believe both parties will eventually shake hands on a

The clip of Weekend Update host Michael Che’s joke has soon gone viral on social media, as an X user who shared the video said: ‘Even “left-leaning” media is laughing at Chicago.’ ‘Far too often, Chicago is the punchline to a joke. Elect clowns, expect a circus. Do better, Chicago,’ the user wrote. Another user wrote: ‘Oh boy, I’m glad I moved. Please be safe.’

“The fact is many outside pressures including higher supply and labor costs are converging as healthcare delivery rapidly evolves,” president Tom Jackiewicz and Mark Anderson, executive vice president of medical affairs, wrote in a memo to employees on Thursday. “Additionally, we grew our staff to address the pandemic, which was necessary for that moment but cannot be maintained.”

A number of elected officials pledged their support for the coalition’s policy platform, which includes calls for immigrant healthcare and more funding for community services. “We are way overdue in creating a system of migration rooted in compassion and in justice,” said U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

According to the CPD, the number of robberies — which spiked throughout 2023 — is down 28% thus far when compared to the same time last year. Since the start of the year, the city has recorded 72 vehicular hijackings, down 52% compared to 2023, according to the CPD. Officers have made 146 motor vehicle-related arrests already this year, and of the 35 arrests for vehicular hijacking, 49% have been juvenile offenders.