“There’s little reason to doubt what happened [Firday night] — the firing of Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez — will go down in Chicago history as another example of rotten government at work.”

The mayor can now install a new schools chief who will likely forge ahead with the progressive mayor’s education agenda that has come under fire from critics and allies alike due to his controversial push to take out a high-interest loan. The firing occurred just hours after Martinez’s attorney filed for an injunction against the board for acting outside of its fiduciary duties.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has touted his administration’s commitment and year-over-year growth in youth employment, saying, “They want the opportunities.”

CPD said officials continue to monitor the incident after a car plowed into the crowded German Christmas market on Friday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 60 others.

The latest and final reported total is 51,649 migrants.

The letter said any move to fire Martinez would make each board member liable for damages in a lawsuit, claiming there are questions about whether they have the power to terminate the CEO, “due to the Board members’ failure to hold the ‘same qualifications’ as their predecessors and their apparent failure to complete mandatory training required of Board members before participating in Board action.”

Advocates and elected officials began calling for Judge Thomas E. Nowinski to be reassigned from Cook County’s Domestic Violence Division in November, after the judge denied a request by prosecutors to detain Constantin Beldie, 57, before his trial on multiple felony charges for allegedly punching and suffocating his wife and trying to kidnap her in a rented car in October. On Nov. 19 — while out on GPS electronic monitoring — Constantin Beldie allegedly fatally stabbed his estranged wife.

A Cook County judge has permanently blocked Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard’s picks to serve as the village’s police chief, administrator, and attorney, after she sought to put them in office without the approval of the village board. In addition, the judge ruled that Dolton village administrator Keith Freeman, whom Henyard tried to fire and replace earlier this year, will stay in his job until or unless Henyard follows proper procedure to remove him, or he resigns on his own.

Chicago was the first city in the nation to apply such a tax to streaming services, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. The city’s amusement tax generated $258 million in revenue during 2023, up from $141 million in 2015 when streaming services were first included.

“That argument about financial responsibility has contributed to the answer of how this got so messy: It has turned the school system’s budget struggle into an ideological and political battleground — one pitting more conservative, business-oriented corners that have long opposed high spending and the CTU — against a progressive mayor who sees those groups as quick to adopt austerity austere measures, leaving poor families and schools vulnerable.”

Brandon Johnson’s campaign has had problems adhering to the rule previously. After accepting numerous contributions from city contractors and others — money that probably shouldn’t have been accepted under city ethics rules — Johnson’s campaign fund refunded more than $50,000 late last year.