The flub is hitting Tier 2 members of the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, those who started working for the CPD on or after Jan. 1, 2011; hose members make up roughly half of the more than 12,000 active members of the fund. The union says the charge for some members is as low as about $80, and for others as high as $1,300.

“I liken it, frankly, to the airlines deal that was negotiated two administrations ago. There were some challenges in there,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “I know our team is working with ownership to figure it out like we figured out some of the other things that I’ve inherited.”

“The data indicates that setting … arbitrary curfews does not yield results that are favorable,” the mayor said Monday. “For my administration, it’s not just about youth employment. … We have to create safe spaces for [young] people. … The more activity that you have in neighborhoods, including downtown, that actually creates safer spaces.”

“It is said that no one celebrates summer more joyfully than Chicagoans. How distressingly ironic then that over the past several years virtually every summer weekend in Chicago has become effectively a set of tragedies in waiting.”

Ald. Brian Hopkins came up with the idea following a violent attack on May 31 when a group of teenagers allegedly assaulted a couple in the Streeterville neighborhood. If the curfew were to go into effect, it would affect the Central Business District, including Streeterville, River North, the Loop and parts of the South and West Loop.

According to the union, this session will be focused on “Healthy, Safe, Green Schools” and how schools can be updated to support student learning.

“Unlike Mayor Lightfoot, Mayor Brandon Johnson does not do accountability Mondays to analyze weekend violence. In fact, at an event Monday, Johnson avoided commenting on shootings and murders over the past weekend. Instead, he highlighted investments. But for the third straight weekend in Chicago, soaring summer violence.”

“There was a time when religious groups and local fraternal organizations performed volunteer duties for residents. However, this great tradition is nearly obsolete, due in large part to government assuming a greater role in our daily lives. Snow removal for the elderly and individuals of limited mobility is a unique and rare opportunity for the mayor to revive this custom. Neighbors helping neighbors, through volunteering to assist the elderly and disabled, the communal bonds of affection, trust, familiarity, and friendship are strengthened.”

“I can tell you with absolute assurance that in my career in law enforcement, especially as chief, my officers confiscated drugs and weapons, picked up individuals on felony warrants, including out-of-state felony warrants, and arrested DUI offenders based on minor Illinois vehicle code violations as the initial stop,” retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said.

The new positions include: librarian, librarian assistant, social worker, newcomer liaison, case manager, restorative justice coordinator, reading specialist and interventionist (elementary schools), three elective teachers (middle schools), technology coordinator, “climate champion,” and gender support coordinator and/or LGBTQ+ lead/specialist and option to expand LGBTQ+ faculty support teams at each school.

“So the previous justifications for charging people when they drive into the Loop — alleviating central business district traffic jams — aren’t valid anymore. Will those conditions return in the future? Maybe. But for the time being, policymakers ought to be cheering for more Loop action (including the return of our lost old-school taxis) rather than trying to discourage workers and visitors from coming downtown.”

“Downtown and Near North Side Chicago’s luxury apartment rents are on an upward elevator ride. Rents for top-tier apartments rose 3 percent year-over-year, pushing the average monthly rent for a downtown Class A apartment above $3,100 for the first time ever…”

The first shooting happened about 9:20 p.m. Friday in the 500 block of East 31st Street. Someone in a silver sedan opened fire, striking the 12-year-old walking with a group of people and a 15-year-old girl sitting in a car, Chicago police said.

The audit found 42 buildings were allowed to be constructed between 2017 and 2019, despite passing just 11 of the 398 combined safety inspections that were required of them. Now, the Office of the Inspector General says the department has made no improvements to prevent potentially unsafe construction.

“The mayor’s pledge to keep selective enrollment schools is welcome. However, the continued risk to charter schools and the fact that the issue reached the state legislature in the first place highlight a bigger-picture problem for Chicago: Leaders regularly side with progressive dogma over the well-being of their young residents.”