“Some days you’re feeling safe. You can travel Chicago feeling worriless,” CTA rider Travon Smith said. “Some days it’s the craziest thing out of all the week.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s approval rating was just 26 percent around mid-2025, according to one poll. Another published in October showed 31 percent approving of the mayor’s job. A spokesperson for Johnson said the polls were inaccurate.

In a posting to X this week, the union stated that its New Year’s resolution is to “speak truth to power,” and it committed to “defending Black and brown and immigrant communities who are targeted by federal agents,” as well as “fighting back against an administration trying to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and roll back civil rights protections.”

“The big scandal isn’t the board voting to hike property taxes by $25 million, though that is worth noting. And while it is absurd, of course, the big scandal isn’t even the investigation into how taxpayers learned about the meeting. The biggest scandal here is that the school board is subverting democracy. Specifically, Chicagoans should be seeing a referendum vote on an extra $550 million increase in property tax collections that will flow to Chicago Public Schools this year, above what’s allowed under the state’s property tax cap.”

A 34-year-old man got into an argument with an unknown suspect, police said. The suspect then stabbed the victim in the chest.

Police said they have not yet determined when or where the man was stabbed, and no one is in custody as the investigation continues.

A major one held in the city temporarily brought the Magnificent Mile to a halt.

The Chicago Education Alliance is the result of several philanthropies coming together in 2023 to understand what players are pushing education agendas in the city and what is needed to focus on students and academic outcomes. Executive Director Arnie Rivera was plucked from CPS’ central office by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel to serve as deputy chief of staff for education. He then was a senior advisor at After School Matters, a CPS school board member, and under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot he was CPS’ chief operating officer.

“That’s why our goal is to make sure every member of the Foundation team is committed to anti-racism, sets expectations for how we will engage, and makes space for the work,” the statement said. “We’re focused on making sure our actions match our intent – removing barriers for diverse vendors, building anti-racism and equity into our hiring practices, and recruiting diverse cohorts for our leadership programs.”