The first phase of development will be the centerpiece of a 15-year, $7 billion plan dubbed the 1901 Project that could eventually bring 9,463 new homes, with 20% reserved for affordable housing, to the United Center, which is now mostly surrounded by unsightly parking lots. The 1901 Project, named after the United Center’s address at 1901 W. Madison St., will also include 1,309 hotel rooms and open space totaling 25 acres.

If the City Council and the County Board approve the incentive, it could save Bally’s nearly $300 million over ten years. But Mayor Brandon Johnson and Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry argued this week that the city’s host agreement with Bally’s does not include the lucrative tax break.

The group, called the People’s March for Justice, is part of a national coalition fighting against the goals of the incoming administration. They said forming the alliance is just the start to accomplishing that.

In addition to the messages sent by individual school districts, the state board of education is also working on messaging it plans to distribute next week.

“Everyone should understand by now that CPS has a CTU problem, not a revenue problem.”

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, gave an end-of-year update on her prolific philanthropic efforts, which now total $19.2 billion in donations since 2019, in a blog post in December. Here’s how 2024 is stacking up for Chicago — and for Illinois overall.

The move comes as negotiations among state lawmakers drag on about how to regulate the hemp industry, which has propped up hundreds of city businesses legally selling hemp’s THC extract in edibles, drinks, vapes and pre-rolled joints through a loophole in a federal farming act.

Also in he OIG’s report, a Department of Streets and Sanitation ward superintendent was found to have tried to sell an illegal machine gun to an undercover law enforcement agent while on city time, and while using a city vehicle.

The S&P statement said Chicago’s practical options for raising new revenue “appear less certain, as does the willingness of city leadership to cut spending, creating a level of uncertainty around its financial trajectory that is more appropriately reflected in the lower rating.” The mayor said he would consider a congestion tax, and he criticized outgoing Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, saying Martinez’ budget did not provide enough money for Chicago Teachers Union members.

While the county’s tax remains enforceable, Maxon Shooter’s Supplies owner and member of Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois Dan Eldridge hoped for clarification on the district judge’s summary judgment in the days and weeks ahead. “Or are we going to have to relitigate this for another six years,” he said.

“The board, we think, should say no to the 4 percent annual raises CPS has put on the table — the average raise Americans got in 2024 was 3 percent to 3.5 percent — and to all but essential new hires. If CPS and CTU can come to a compromise on these crucial points, so much the better. But Job No. 1 is to keep the district afloat. Heading down the road to insolvency doesn’t help kids.”

“As Chicagoans continue to suffer from inflation and a cost of living that’s rising faster than wage growth, plus continued basic government service failures, city officials need to come up with a long-term plan. Our city cannot afford to eke by year after year building on a Leviathan spending baseline that isn’t giving residents what they need, while also crippling the city’s finances and reputation.”

Many of these South Side projects are dependent on promised federal funding from the Biden administration, which could be in jeopardy with the incoming Trump administration.

Retired Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel: “Every officer who is sworn into service knows that there is a possibility of being shot or killed in the line of duty. However, that is remote. Or, at least, I used to think it was. The growing rate of violence directed toward police officers in the form of firearms is alarming.”

“It sounds crazy, [but] it felt very much like divine intervention that I was a Black immigrant woman, refugee, focused on health equity and racial health disparities, and that I would have the opportunity to be chief of policy for the City of Chicago.”

One resident who spoke at the city council meeting on Wednesday slammed Mayor Brandon Johnson. “Who are you loyal to? The American citizens in Chicago or the illegal immigrants in Chicago?,” the man said. “The sanctuary law that Brandon Johnson allowed has brought criminals, drug dealers, and now terrorists.”