But the biggest issue looming over the legalization push is the city’s need for a better split in tax revenue with the state, a mayoral spokesman said. As it stands, Chicago would receive just 5 percent of the revenue from the machines, while state government would get a 30 percent split. The city’s video gambling machine share is far below the around 20 percent it receives from casino slot machines.

“In Lincoln Square, there’s a three-bedroom house selling for $1,099,000. In Buffalo Grove, there’s a four-bedroom house on sale for $425,000. At those prices, who can blame a middle-class family for leaving the city?”

“There were some real constitutional challenges (in the original ordinance) there that I believe would have put the city at risk of litigation and lawsuit. This particular proposal — especially the measure around holding social media companies accountable on how these gatherings get ignited — gives me a little bit more confidence to have more conversations around this particular proposal,” the mayor said.

LaVonte Stewart, executive director of the sports and mentorship program Lost Boyz Inc., said he had to lay off 60 percent of his staff after pandemic stimulus funds ran out last year. He’s now turning to the city to fill that gap. But the mayor has called on Springfield and local philanthropists to step up.

Although organizers with Southside Together collected enough signatures to qualify for the March 17 ballot, the question — which poses seven queries about the fate of the long vacant and deeply contaminated land on the city’s southeastern tip — violates state law, the three-member board unanimously decided. State law requires all ballot questions to ask just one question, the board determined.

Chicago Ald. Jim Gardiner recently urged people to “avoid using CTA public transportation after sundown until noticeable improvements are made.” The mayor responded, “Violence continues to be a challenge on the CTA, but progress has been made. There’s more work to be done. No one is patting theirselves on the back. Do these incidents frustrate me? Of course they do. Do they have the potential to set us back? Absolutely.”

President Donald Trump says crime in Chicago would go down virtually 100 percent if not for Gov. JB Pritzker.

“The inspector general’s findings serve as a reminder that protecting students requires constant vigilance and an intolerance for blurred boundaries. Public trust in schools rests on a simple promise: that no child will be asked to trade their safety for an education.”

“It is an indictment of the adults who entered CPS as teachers or administrators, failed upward, and then migrated into politics, unions, and city governance. Chicago is now being run by people who learned their managerial habits inside a system where accountability is optional and ideology substitutes for results.”

Chicago has long struggled with elevated gun violence, which has led to significant financial investment in violence prevention. In 2024, city and state officials reached a fundraising milestone, allocating $100 million to community violence intervention with the goal of reducing shootings and homicides by 75 percent over the next decade. But advocates say not enough funding and attention has gone specifically to domestic violence prevention, which may be one reason why homicides have increased.

The superintendents of West Northfield School District 31 and Mount Prospect School District 57 wrote to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Treasurer Maria Pappas, “… there is no question that Cook County bears responsibility for its continued oversight, monitoring, and use of that system, as well as for the lack of clear, proactive communication regarding delays, timelines, and expectations.”

Lightfoot was served in October at her Chicago home with a lawsuit from JPMorgan Chase Bank for allegedly failing to pay about $11,078 in bills, according to a copy of the complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

“Two key developments — not City Hall policy or mayoral rhetoric — explain the improved crime picture. First, the appointment of Superintendent Larry Snelling, a 30-year CPD veteran, deserves significant recognition. … Second, the election of State’s Attorney Eileen Burke reversed Kim Foxx’s legacy.”