“I knew it was a problem, but to watch it up close, right on my own block, right here in Avalon Park has been wild,” said state Rep. Marcus Evans. In May, Illinois lawmakers passed a “squatter bill,” which would give police the power to remove squatters from someone’s property the moment the rightful owner can prove it’s their home, but that bill is currently sitting on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.

Ald. Brian Hopkins acknowledged the race’s economic impact but noted it also brought noise, disruption, and road closures to the city’s downtown.

“I don’t know what alderman in their right mind wants to give up that authority,” said Ald. Anthony Beale, who voted against the ordinance in the Committee on Zoning. He represents the 9th Ward, which saw a total of six new construction permits approved in 2024. That amounts to 1.3 permits per 10,000 residents.

By actuary Mary Pat Campbell.

Will Johnson, of The Harris Poll: “Our public opinion research has shown that Chicago residents generally reject most of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s progressive policies and consider him largely ineffective. But when it comes to shielding immigrants, many of them have got his back: Supporters of sanctuary policies at the city or state level outnumber opponents by 2 to 1, with a plurality of 46 percent of Chicago adults in favor, according to our polling.”

Taylor said reviving a standalone Department of Aging, which was folded in the Department of Family and Support Services in 2009, would allow older people to have a direct connection to the city in which they’ve invested and paid taxes.

“Yes, it is true that there are more of them and, yes, it is true that it costs more to do that in the short run. But it is also true that the savings are significant in the long run. So we’re on that course,” Mary Richardson-Lowry, corporation counsel for the city of Chicago and leader of the city’s Law Department, said of police misconduct cases.”We will continue to look for opportunities to settle. We try cases where we must. What it means for the taxpayer is they benefit in the end because in the long term we’re not spending

City ordinance requires the mayor to choose Witzburg’s replacement after a national search for a candidate, who must be confirmed by the City Council. Witzburg was appointed to her role by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot after she declined to reappoint Witzburg’s predecessor Joseph Ferguson to a fourth term in office.

Ald. Anthony Beale and Ald. Gilbert Villegas have introduced ordinances to legalize video gambling in the city. The report said that Beale wants video gambling citywide, allowing machines in bars and restaurants. Villegas focused on the airports, authorizing machines after security checkpoints at O’Hare and Midway.

Data shows over the last two years alone, the central business district has lost 2.3 million square feet of office tenants, or almost twice the amount of space companies vacated over a two-year period beginning in 2009 during the worst of the Great Recession.

Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jackson Potter said CTU needs to be more involved in other school districts. That means 52 school districts negotiating teachers contracts this year are targets for CTU tactics and militancy.

“What he should really do is look at Chicago with the amount of criminal aliens that he’s harboring under his sanctuary policies,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said.

It’s been nearly 10 years since the case was filed and almost five years since a federal judge ruled in favor of the officers, who argued that the city “willfully violated” labor laws by miscalculating overtime pay they were due over a span of years. But the two sides are still fighting over how much the city will have to pay.

More people were unhoused in Chicago in January 2025 than at any point since Chicago began conducting this annual survey in 2005, city officials said. That significant drop reflects the end of the city’s effort to care for migrants who make their way to Chicago after crossing the southern border.