Browsing: Local Stories
After receiving the opinion from the city’s ethics chief, Steve Berlin, at 9:52 a.m. on April 13, Flessner forwarded the opinion to Lightfoot. The mayor then forwarded it to her then-chief of staff, Maurice Classen, and interim corporation counsel Celia Meza seven minutes later, writing only, “FYI.”
“The precedent that it sets is, there must be affordable housing in every area of our city. I’m all for that,” Lightfoot said after the City Council approved the 297-unit complex east of O’Hare International Airport, including 59 apartments priced below market.
The definition of “relative” would be expanded to crack down on nepotism, as would restrictions on employees with an outside job. And the bans on improper influence, or leveraging a county position for personal benefit, as well as the type of situations that require recusal due to a conflict of interest, would increase in scope.
On Dec. 15, 2020, the first Chicago front line medical workers were vaccinated, and then on April 19, 2021, the eligibility for vaccination opened to anyone 16 and over. And by May 12, 2021, the Pfizer vaccine had been approved for 12- to 15-year-olds. By Oct. 25, 2021, the first booster shots of the vaccine were available for Chicagoans and on Nov. 3, 2021, the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was approved for children 5 to 11.
Employees prepare to take bets in Rivers Casino’s sports betting area when it opened last year as the state’s first legal sportsbook. Wednesday, the Chicago City Council gave the go-ahead to professional arenas and stadiums to open their own sportsbooks. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Meanwhile, in August 2020, the Webb team issued a news release summarizing their investigation into police and prosecutors. They did not find evidence of criminal conduct, but prosecutors including State’s Attorney Kim Foxx acted unethically by repeatedly making false or misleading public statements about the Smollett matter, according to the news release. Overall, their investigation found “substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures” throughout the state’s attorney’s office.
Anjanette Young and attorney Keenan Saulter speak out in June on their efforts to resolve her case against the city. That effort took six more months, with the City Council approving a nearly $3 million settlement Wednesday. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
It can be tough, Thiel said, to find appropriate spaces to provide the infusions, given that the patients who are receiving them are COVID-19 positive. Also, the system has limited staff who can administer the treatments, partly because of nationwide staff shortages and partly because many of them are still so focused on other efforts to combat COVID-19, such as giving vaccinations and administering tests, he said.
To the chagrin of preservationists, who consider the Helmut-Jahn building an iconic example of postmodern architecture, state officials had previously said they have no preference whether new owners tear down the existing structure, which officials say would cost $325 million to repair.
“I’m pleased to be joining the team at MPP, where I will continue my yearslong effort to develop and support cannabis legalization legislation that centers on equity and repairing the harms of the past,” Hutchinson said in a news release. “We are incredibly proud of the hard work and lessons learned in Illinois, standing up programs to invest in equity entrepreneurs, reinvesting in communities, and clearing hundreds of thousands of arrests and criminal records.”