“These programs are a public safety disaster, but at least the Sheriff’s electronic monitoring program had law enforcement officers monitoring these individuals, who have the power of arrest when defendants break the rules. … The Chief Judge’s staff can only request that an arrest warrant is issued, which will just go on top of the current pile of almost 32,000 criminal arrest warrants at the Sheriff’s Office.”

In a letter sent Friday, board members demanded “a fully executed contract in the coming days” — an extraordinary ask given that the two sides remain far apart on key issues and are gearing up to bring in a neutral fact-finder to assess the district’s financial situation and the potential impact of union proposals in December.

Karen Murphy and Mark Kmiecik sued Markham on behalf of all drivers who got red light tickets from June through November 2017, alleging the tickets were invalid because a link on the city’s website was inoperable, preventing peopled from accessing notices and reports required by Illinois traffic laws.

The Chicago Resilient Communities pilot, which provided 5,000 city residents with $500 for 12 months with no strings attached and ended in 2023, was funded through federal pandemic relief funds. A second city pilot, rebranded as the Chicago Empowerment Fund, is expected to launch sometime in 2025, according to the city’s proposed budget. The program will again serve 5,000 “low-income families and returning Chicago residents,” and provide $500 for 12 months.

The alders’ idea is to move almost all city departments back to their budget allocation from 2020, but to add an inflation adjustment. If this happened, the alders claim, the city would city over $500 million this year. “We don’t want a city shutdown, but the mayor is making us choose between a property tax increase or a city shutdown,” Ald. Silvana Tabares said. “Those are the options that he is giving us, and that’s not what we want.”

The combined purchase at the 9 W. Walton St. building represents the highest price anyone has paid this year for a Chicago-area residence, and it’s the fourth-highest price anyone has ever paid for any home within Chicago’s city limits.

The alleged behavior ranged from unwanted physical contact to making disparaging comments about marginalized groups and intimidation tactics, according to the complaints. Responding to these complaints, the chief of staff “repeatedly advocated for (Ronnie) Reese’s inclusion in meetings about this matter and referenced ‘peace circles,’ but the team was unanimously against his inclusion due to the shared fear of retaliation,” according to the complaint. She “brought up restorative justice” as a way of dealing with the staffers’ concerns.

“Those who want me to fail call themselves allies to Blacks, but their actions always result in the same song and dance: keeping Blacks down and victimized. The head of the Chicago Teacher’s Union blames white supremacy for the failure of far too many Black children to read and do math at grade level. … Our city’s attorneys let far too many crimes go unsolved, allowing murderers to murder again, and yet they’ll bend over backwards to give that great exploiter of Black pain for personal gain, Jussie Smollett, a clean slate. “

Sgt. Lenny Pierri said a few people who are affiliated with some of the city’s smaller gangs like the Latin Brothers have moved to the neighborhood and are now fighting over the park. Most of the people involved are teens, some as young as 11 or 12, Sgt. Lenny Pierri said.

Downtown safety is in the spotlight after a woman was shot outside the flagship Chicago Macy’s store downtown Saturday night—as thousands gathered for early holiday festivities.

The Chicago Teachers Union is pushing to expand the 20 “sustainable community schools” in the district. The model integrates additional student services coordinated by the school with outside organizations, such as housing or food assistance, medical or dental care, mental health services, English language or parenting classes. But the model doesn’t work: fewer students are proficient, absenteeism is higher.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s nearly $2.1 billion CPD budget does not account for pensions, benefits or vastly underbudgeted spending on overtime and legal defense, according to Jonathan Silverstein, who left the Council Office of Financial Analysis in 2020. Chicago appears to spend $784 per capita for policing, but factoring in the hidden costs, the figure increases to $1,433 per person, he said.

It’s one of the largest downtown office properties to fall into distress as the remote work movement and elevated interest rates hammer property values and leave landlords with few options to pay off maturing debt.