Payments to cover the pensions of non-teacher CPS retirees have shifted in part from the city to the district over the last four years as part of an effort to disentangle finances before CPS transitions to a fully elected school board. That this year’s pension payment was not included in CPS’ budget is among Mayor Brandon Johnson’s criticisms of the spending plan.

Asked about commuters’ security concerns during a news conference after Monday’s shooting, CTA President Dorval Carter said the CTA is continuing to evaluate safety, but there are no plans to revive a long-defunct transit police force, explaining the agency relies more on police.

Bears CEO Kevin Warren told members of the Economic Club of Chicago that he’s now ready to partner with the White Sox or other teams that are also looking for public funding for new stadiums to get a deal done. “We have great respect for the Reinsdorf family, and we’re definitely going to work together to see what we can work out.”

You still don’t have to pay to read the Chicago Sun-Times online, but doing so may save you from 15 seconds of ads a pop. Two years after eliminating its paywall and giving people access to articles with just an email registration, readers today were met with a message inviting them to sign up for recurring donations or watch a video with advertisements.

Several residents reported the shootout around 6 p.m., moments after it started in the the Budlong Woods area of Lincoln Square. Chicago cops responded quickly, finding shell casings stretched along a city block and some bullet-damaged cars. No injuries were reported.

The increased rates of recent years owe more to the pandemic-related ridership nosedive than to violent crime increases in the transit system since 2015, the analysis found. In other words, the number of violent crimes has remained stable but the number of people riding the CTA has dropped, increasing the odds of a rider becoming a victim.

The policy ignores the fact teachers may be uncomfortable hiding information from parents about a child. Teachers in Kansas and California sued their school districts for that very reason.

Hattie Knazze, a retired 77-year-old Hyde Park resident and breast cancer survivor, saw her property taxes go up by more than $4,000 after county records show her three-flat building was assessed at $301,000 compared to last year’s $140,000. “Why at this point in my life am I forced to get another job?” Knazze said. “I love this city. I’ve been in this city my entire life. Where am I to go?”

Tim Pool, 39, isn’t charged with wrongdoing in the New York-based indictment, which targeted two Russian nationals. The indictment highlights concerns by the U.S. government and technology watchdog groups that Russia and other countries are taking an active role in trying to influence American thinking ahead of November’s presidential election.

When they first arrived in Chicago in 2022 from Venezuela, they landed at Grace and Peace Church. Their new home is the first of four distressed West Side homes the church bought, rehabbed and sold. Members of the family have been working in food service, delivering food, doing factory work and working as auto mechanics.

Led by troubled buildings in the urban core, almost $7.2 billion worth of Chicago-area commercial properties were distressed midway through the year, dwarfing the amount in any other major market except for New York City and San Francisco, according to research firm MSCI Real Assets. It’s a historic wave of financial pain fueled by the highest interest rates in more than two decades, new work patterns and investors wary of betting on downtown Chicago. Crain’s maps out prominent distressed buildings to track downtown’s post-COVID

After back-to-back years of sharp increases in property tax bills for residents in a number of local suburbs, Kaegi called on state and county officials to help provide relief for Chicago area residents who have endured some of the most painful tax bill jumps despite being the most ill-equipped to pay them.

“Chicago’s fiscal picture had improved in recent years, with pandemic relief funding and the city’s choice to increase pension contributions bringing a series of rating upgrades.”

“We can really reimagine education and how we do it here in Chicago, and open up new possibilities for our students,” said CPS parent and former candidate Anthony Hargrove of Chicago’s first school board election this fall. “But unfortunately, Chicago politics is playing a role in these races. And we’ll get what we get.”

City Hall’s contract allowing for ”emergency” spending of up to $1 million for fencing says that this was needed “to address a threat to public safety and city operations during the 2024 Democratic National Convention.”

“We’re angry, the members are afraid, they don’t know what the next step would be. A lot of them are at a point that they don’t even want to come to work, because of the safety issues that they have to deal with,” union president Pennie McCoach said.

Eight months after the panels were installed at Eisenhower High School and more than a year after they began fueling Delta Learning Center, the district has not yet seen any of the savings promised when the schools qualified for Illinois Solar For All, a state program to fund installing solar panels for low-income communities at no upfront cost.