-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Given similar sprees that have popped up in the area and surrounding neighborhoods over the past month, it seems certain that armed crews are once again working the area with regularity.
Third Coast Music, a barely three-year-old nonprofit, won the city’s call for proposals to develop the landmarked former Stockyards Bank Building and an adjacent empty lot into an $80 million music production center and event space.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said of President Carter, in part, “He continued to serve our country with honor after his presidency by dedicating his retirement to building affordable housing and empowering others to value service and care for our neighbors. President Carter was a personal inspiration to me as a man of deep faith in the political arena, and his values remain a north star guiding us all.
Starting Jan. 1, many employers in Illinois that post a job opening will have to disclose the wage or salary range and benefits for that position.
“But even during these tough times, there are plenty of reasons to stay hopeful,” she said. “On the South side of Chicago, the Obama Presidential Center continues to rise as a symbol of hope and community.”
Just three weeks ago, a video Colton Lexus, 30, posted to YouTube and TikTok began circulating online because he claimed that his private security company’s client list had exploded from six people to “over 200 subjects” within six months. “Our justice system in Chicago is not working,” Lexus claimed, saying repeat offenders keep getting released to commit more crimes.
Chicago’s small apartment building investors in six rapidly appreciating Northwest and West Side neighborhoods say the mayor – an avowed Democratic Socialist – and his left-wing City Council have launched an attack on their ownership rights.
About a dozen new Illinois laws set to take effect Jan. 1 impact employers.
“People are afraid of gentrification, that they’re going to get pushed out with the taxes. But again, there’s nothing that’s happened there in 50 years,” said Carlos Sanchez, who grew up near the South Works site and, today is the owner and managing broker of Bloom/Sanchez Realty. “There’s no job hubs like U.S. Steel was back in the ’70s and ’80s.”
State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit says proposed legislation includes topics like assistance programs for homeless individuals and an increase in Tier 2 pension programs for state employees. “(O)ur pension system does not pay into social security. Federal government mandates us to have a pension system that’s equal to or greater than social security, because they don’t get social security. Individuals don’t get social security that work for the state of Illinois such as teachers, university professors, some state employees, and Illinois State Police officers.”
Within the last year and a half, housing attorneys have filed some of the first lawsuits allowed under Illinois’ nearly two-year-old statewide law preventing discrimination on the basis of someone’s source of income. All the complaints allege that the plaintiffs, who had housing vouchers, were discriminated against. Chicagoan Mikia Knighten, who lives in Lansing, is suing 14 parties, ranging from individuals to real estate brokerages to smaller corporations.
In Illinois, Chicago has long been plagued with illegal border crosser crime, serving as a major hub for drug trafficking operations run by the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel and transnational criminal organizations working with street gangs, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has reported.
The total number of jobs in the Chicago metropolitan area declined slightly by about 0.2 percent, or around 6,700 non-farm jobs, between November 2023 and last month, according to the latest employment numbers. The region’s unemployment rate also ticked up from 4 percent last year to 5 percent at the end of this year. The sectors with the largest job gains included private education, health services, other services, and government.
Plenty of bills, on topics ranging from corporal punishment to catalytic converters, cleared both the House and Senate and will soon take effect statewide.
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