“We’ve seen a tremendous number of restaurants closed since this was enacted. We’re also seeing that restaurateurs are having to have less back-of-the-house staff because they’re having to pay their servers so much more money,” Ald. Samantha Nugent said. “The federal minimum wage is $7.25 … I just want to contextualize where we are on this.”

“Douglass High School was built for 912 students but today has only 28 kids thanks to the number of people moving away each year from Brandon Johnson’s drowning Windy City. … Not one of its 28 students are proficient at reading. … The proper move would be to close the doors on schools like Douglass and consolidate students in other areas. That would literally save the school district and the city millions a year operating, heating, and keeping the lights on in buildings that serve a tiny number of students.”

The driver went into a local bakery while on a quick break at 47th and Ashland, and was attacked when he stepped outside. Surveillance video shows the man repeatedly punching the driver as he was lying on the curb.

The firm said the petition was being filed on behalf of “a coalition of more than 200 elected officials, community organizations, journalists, attorneys, academics, religious leaders, and other stakeholders.” The firm asserted a court-appointed special prosecutor is needed because neither Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke nor any other state or federal agency has launched an investigation or prosecution of any agents who they claim committed crimes “under the guise of conducting immigration enforcement operations” which “terrorized Cook County communities.”

Ald. Nick Sposato, who attended the confidential aldermanic briefing on the case, said he doesn’t understand how a $10 million jury award turned into a $27 million settlement. “It’s another one of those things where you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. You’re in a police chase. We’re wrong if we chase them. We’re wrong if we don’t. Somebody got severely hurt, and now we’re responsible for it because we’ve got the deep pockets,” Sposato said.

Just 27.5 percent of Chicago voters have a favorable opinion of CTU. Half are less likely to vote for a candidate who takes money from the union.

Said Ald. Andre Vasquez, chair of the City Council’s Immigrant and Refugee Rights committee: “I do have concerns about DHS returning in March, and believe the best thing we can do is support the rapid responder efforts. We have also submitted over a dozen new ordinances to get better reporting and accountability from the city in case there are more ICE incidents and interactions with city departments, including CPD.”

“That kind of hostility raises troubling questions about the cultural moment we are living in. When empathy is framed as weakness and equality as provocation, anger becomes a reflex. The result is that even the simple act of standing peacefully with a sign, calling for women’s rights, accountability and peace, can provoke resentment strong enough to spill into public intimidation.”

Six-hundred-thousand visitors are expected per year, bringing tourist dollars to the city and South Side.

Chicago saw craft beer boom a little more than a decade ago. Since 2011, the number of breweries in Illinois climbed from 54 to nearly 300 in 2024, but the existing amount has mostly plateaued since the pandemic year, according to the Brewers Association’s report.

The tax bill situation caused a lot of downstream financial costs and operational issues “that are now being borne by entities that really had no control over the tax system upgrade,” an analyst said, adding that there is reportedly a group of school boards considering a class-action lawsuit.

“The provocation really is just looking at what’s coming from the federal government where the president has made it very clear that he wants to suppress the vote of working people, and even more dramatic, that he’s very clear about targeting Black and Brown folks,” the mayor told reporters.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has tossed out a preliminary injunction against federal officers enforcing immigration law in the Chicago area issued by Obama-appointed Judge Sara Ellis. The circuit court issued a blistering rebuke of Ellis’ injunction, calling it “overbroad” and “constitutionally suspect.”