“Parents are not going to read this fact-finding report and even think [a strike] makes sense to them,” union president Stacy Davis Gates said. “They’re going to read this fact-finding report and they’re going to question why the CEO continues to give doomsday reporting vis-a-vis the budgeting. We’re not crazy. We know the state of Illinois does not fund our schools in the way that it needs to. … We’re not even going to let them off the hook, either.”

The Illinois Labor Relations Board has twice ruled that the city violated employees’ collective bargaining rights by failing to bargain collectively before imposing the vaccine mandate and placing employees who defied it on “non-disciplinary, no-pay status” before moving to fire them. The board further demanded that the city reverse “any discipline” against employees who violated the vaccine mandate and expunge it from their records. The city appealed both rulings to the Illinois Appellate Court.

City Clerk Anna Valencia said a mayoral staffer improperly contacted her office, asking a staff member to edit the video of Tuesday’s City Council hearing on controversial artwork at the Cultural Center. The clerk’s office employee declined, instead removing the video entirely. Valencia stated she did not approve the removal and restored the video on Wednesday.

“In many ways, this is a story about the hazards of running a district deeply into debt. With a projected $500 million annual deficit and holding a whopping $9.3 billion in long-term debt, the district depends on the city of Chicago, which also runs in the red, to provide most of its $9.9 billion in funding. Making matters more precarious, the district has to rely on short-term loans at high interest rates to make payroll. It is also the largest issuer of junk bonds in the U.S.”

A cross-town police chase ended with two men in custody and facing felony charges Tuesday afternoon. But the real story is the video; Footage that shows a “welcoming committee” of residents waiting for the two men as they screeched to a stop, left the car rolling down the street, and bolted into a residential building as cops hustled to catch up.

“Consolidations and efficiencies and cuts were used as rationale and justification to close 50 schools. So when I hear deficiencies, I hear it through the experience of individuals saying, ‘We need these efficiencies. It’s going to save us money.’ And it turns out, it doesn’t,” Johnson said. Thus, the mayor continues to bang the drum on new, progressive revenue, most of which would hinge on either Springfield or voter buy-in. But Johnson’s relationship with Gov. JB Pritzker remains tenuous at best.

“It’s going to take more law enforcement and laws that allow judges to detain people in jail who are dangerous,” state Sen. Steve McClure said. “Right now, too many people will not be detained who are dangerous and that puts all of us at risk. Right now, the bad guys are winning on the streets of our state because the people that are supposed to be serving the public don’t want to tie their hands.”

Five years following the stateside onset of COVID-19, and as work-from-home trends continue for many American

Interim Superintendent Creg Williams said aside from Monday’s national Day Without Immigrants protest that encouraged immigrants and community members to stay home from work and school and refrain from shopping in protest of mass deportations, the district has seen an average of 10 to 15 additional absences over the past week.

A new version of the Anjanette Young ordinance would mandate regular reporting on search warrants, public release of materials related to certain raids, “agreements related to training” and unspecified changes to “process” and “service of warrants,” according to a copy of the briefing materials obtained by the Tribune. But the presentation made no explicit mention of a no-knock warrant ban.

On the Bally’s Chicago, Inc. securities offering: “And so I feel some sense of civic duty, as a Chicagoan, taxpayer, and reasonably financially sophisticated person, to say the following publicly: What the hell, Chicago.”

By actuary Mary Pat Campbell.

Just like all 50 members of the Chicago City Council rejected a $300 million property tax hike in November, a majority of Chicago voters rejected the proposal to hike the real estate transfer tax, which amounted to a backdoor property tax hike. “It has been a consistent message,” said Farzin Parang, of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago. “Rather than name-calling and making excuses, the mayor should convene a real effort to address homelessness. Name-calling is not doing the work.”

“It is important for us as a county, as a government, to redress historical injustices, to acknowledge the part that we played,” Deb Kutska, Cook County’s interim deputy director of sustainability, said. Residents have also been asked for their thoughts on a range of action items, such as hiring two full-time environmental justice staffers, mapping and defining all the environmental justice communities in Cook County, and a tree planting program to prioritize communities that need an expanded canopy. Kutska said recurring themes raised by residents include flooding, air pollution and monitoring, lead pipes, land pollution, and soil remediation.

A controversial art display divided Chicago residents during a city council meeting this week, with some accusing the government-run Chicago Cultural Center of harboring antisemitism. It depicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Uncle Sam as murderers.