“The voters saw through all the noise and understood this could have a negative impact on their bottom line, not just mansions and millionaires,” Ald. Brendan Reilly said. “My hope is the administration will pump the brakes, and take a more moderate view of things, slow down their progressive agenda and allow this economy to recover, because people are still struggling. And this is not the time to layer on more tax burden.”

Foxx became a national figure during her time in office, though a polarizing one who has had a significant impact on criminal justice in Cook County. Under Foxx, the office overturned hundreds of convictions of people who were victims of alleged police misconduct and undertook efforts to vacate convictions for low-level marijuana offenses after the state legalized recreational marijuana. She also was an important supporter of the SAFE-T Act, which made Illinois the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail. Foxx also clashed with Lori Lightfoot and her police superintendent on cases where her office declined to approve

Elementary school kids who applied to selective and magnet programs are due to get their offers Friday but will have to decide whether they can get to those schools on their own. “We must continue to prioritize our [homeless] students and students with diverse learning needs,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said.

Transitioning away from student-based budgeting is in line with Mayor Brandon Johnson’s remaking public schools agenda. His board has already approved plans to remove police officers from schools, declared a shift away from school choice and pledged to focus on neighborhood schools. The new funding formula will likely favor neighborhood schools, especially ones that serve low-income students. However, the district faces a $391 million deficit for next school year

Mayor Brandon Johnson said the city had no choice but to evict migrants without additional substantial help from federal officials. “The reality is that we have restraints,” Johnson said. “I’ve said from the very beginning that this mission is unsustainable. Local municipalities are not designed to deal with an international global crisis, particularly as it relates to migrants and asylum seekers.”

About 4,500 people were originally scheduled for eviction from Chicago’s shelters this spring, but more than half were granted exemptions and extensions under a modified version of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 60-day shelter exit policy, which remains under heavy criticism by other local politicians and community activists. Other cities where more migrants have been bused from the southern border by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have for the most part stuck to eviction deadlines.

“I’m still here standing, and I will be punching back,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

“I’m not aware of other campaigns that are targeting communities in this particular way,” said David Goldenberg, director of the ADL’s Midwest chapter. His group has recorded more acts of antisemitism during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war than all of the 75 incidents recorded in 2011 and 2022, he said.

“More Black people have left the Chicago region than any other U.S. metro except New York….What an effective strategy would look like is a subject for another day. The point is, we need to attract more young Black talent.”

“A Chinese virus, COVID-19, was leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, to the rest of the world causing mass hysteria and a race for a vaccine. The U.S. forced its people to submit to vaccinations to combat this deadly disease and ensured citizens had vaccination cards to prove that they received vaccinations to board planes, for example. Nonetheless, the need for global citizens to remain vigilant and follow health guidelines has now been turned on its head because of an open border and sanctuary city policy that is not only bringing back diseases that had long since vanished in

For three consecutive meetings, residents and nearby community members have pushed council members to take a stand on the Israel-Hamas War and chastised them for not addressing the issue locally. “To be clear, the city council does not intend to initiate a ceasefire resolution,” Mayor Scott Wehrli said. “This situation is clearly outside the scope of our local municipal government.”

The groups were appealing the city’s decision not to approve their requested march routes, saying they have a First Amendment right to protest near the Democratic National Convention. Dod McColgan, an organizing member of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said the organizations now plan to take their case to federal court.

Judge Michael Mullen’s decision, which is subject to appeal, upholds the effort backed by the city’s largest police union to upend the system used for 60 years to punish officers. Mullen found that allowing cases that could allow officers to be fired or suspended for more than a year to take place behind closed doors goes “against a dominant and well-defined public policy.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson was asked about the possibility of a property tax increase to make up for the money that won’t be coming from an increase in the real estate transfer tax. He said it is not something he is considering.

In response to the measles outbreak, the city has now mandated that all new arrivals must have the MMR vaccine, a shot that is being administered at the Landing Zone. Officials stated that migrants who arrive at the Landing Zone without proof of prior vaccination and refuse the vaccine will no longer be placed into shelter.

Richard Guidice’s resignation comes as the mayor’s rift with more moderate politicians and the city’s business community has widened since Johnson assumed office last May. Many felt Guidice’s experience would help steer the new administration and smooth concerns over whether Johnson’s nontraditional roots as a labor organizer would lead to radical changes in how City Hall was run; Cristina Pacione-Zayas’s presence as deputy chief of staff showed the progressive movement would also have a strong champion on staff.

“We realize the challenges in managing the vast Lakefront lands, and we want to encourage partnerships realizing the costs associated with this massive endeavor,” Preservation Chicago has written. In 2019, the Indiana Dunes Lakeshore also became a National Park, a move that came without any additional funding.

“On Tuesday voters shocked everyone by soundly rejecting a ballot referendum to raise the city’s real-estate transfer tax, despite active support by Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). Or perhaps the defeat was because of their support.”

“There are 68,000 people who are unhoused,” he said. “There’s not a fight that we’ve taken on that we won’t have the ability to win. [So] guess what? Buckle up.”

Whoever wins in heavily Democratic Cook County will have a major advantage in November’s general election. The winner will face former Chicago Ald. Bob Fioretti, an attorney who previously ran for the post as a Democrat but this year is running as a Republican. Cook County voters have not elected a Republican as state’s attorney since 1992.