“Dear Valued Partner,” the message from Chicago’s chief procurement officer Sharla Roberts begins. “In light of the difficult economic times, the City of Chicago faces news challenges to reduces its costs.” One sentence later the email gets to the point: “Therefore, the City requests a price reduction of minimally 3% off all invoices sent to the City for the next twelve months off any contracts you currently hold as a prime contract with the City.”

A Downers Grove Park District ordinance prohibits political or religious speech outside of the 15-by-15-foot zone in Fishel Park during park programming.

Last year alone, there were 2,300 nonfatal shootings in Chicago. The police made arrests in just 141 of them — a “clearance” rate of about 6 percent. And though Mayor Brandon Johnson pledged during his campaign to hire 200 more detectives, records show the number of detectives assigned to at least one shooting actually has fallen by nearly 20 percent. Experts say the chronic lack of arrests is a big part of the reason for as many shootings as there are in many Chicago neighborhoods plagued by gunfire.

“In the real world inhabited by real people, the answer in such circumstances is to reduce expenses: find the parts of the household or business budget that would be nice to have but aren’t absolutely necessary. And then excise them. But in the world inhabited by Mayor Johnson and his political benefactors at the Chicago Teachers Union, that option is anathema. Not ever worthy of a smidgeon of consideration.”

“I think domestic violence became a priority very, very quickly. Fifteen women have been killed who had pending domestic violence cases over the last several months. That’s a house on fire,” O’Neill Burke said.

“While the city is at a crossroads, the job of mayor is shrinking, and with it the likelihood that bold and competent future leadership can lift Chicago from a historic morass.”