Despite a bitter racial argument that reportedly almost got Ald. Richard Mell punched out in Council chambers, the Mayor says Chicago's aldermen will reach an agreement on a new ward map. more ›

With the concession must come balance and Emanuel also proposed that city sticker fees will increase across the board to accommodate the loss of cuts. more ›

Evelyn Diaz, Commissioner of the City's Department of Family and Support Services, had what can be sincerely described as a brain fart moment today during City Council budget hearings. more ›

Sure, every one has to tighten their belts, but is it right to cut the library's budget when it is an important resource for children, homeless and the unemployed? more ›

The report recommends halving the City Council, cutting fire department staff and privatizing Midway Airport. more ›

Alderman Tom Tunney (owner of Ann Sather's) is objecting to the new proposal to legalize and regulate food trucks. more ›

Attorneys for the city and Felony Franks owner Jim Andrews have reached an agreement to allow the West Side hot dog stand a sign. But 2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti may still oppose the sign. more ›

Mayor Daley's final City Council meeting is now underway. You can view the live stream from the City Clerk's website. We'll have a recap of some of the more choice quotes later. more ›

As Evanston faces its multi-million dollar budget deficit in 2012, officials are looking into new ways to raise money for the city. Case in point: slapping advertisements along structures on the lakefront as a quick means to raise money. This week, the city council gave approval for staff to seek out proposals from third-party advertising vendors, who would be in charge of soliciting advertisements for different city assets in the downtown area and along the lakefront. Evanston residents could eventually see ads on recycling or trash cans in the downtown area, or on lifeguard stands or beach houses on the lakefront. more ›

Che "Rhymefest" Smith, rapper and current 20th Ward aldermanic candidate, is leaving the platitudes behind in his race against incumbent Alderman Willie Cochran and instead seems to be running on a simple platform of "making things happen." Smith has been using social media like Twitter and YouTube to get his message across highlighting all that is wrong in the 20th Ward, which encompasses some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods such as Englewood, New City, Back of the Yards, Woodlawn and Washington Park. more ›

Remember last month when City Council was considering giving retail giant Costco a $1 million tax break over the next 12 years to build a Costco in the Medical District at 14th and Ashland? The tax deal was approved, only the tax break is larger than projected. more ›

earlier this week the Sun-Times ran an article on city workers who were still on the payroll, even though they were convicted of corruption and were awaiting sentencing. We know these articles can write themselves, and there always seems to be a new one like this in print or online with enough frequency that we aren't even shocked. What does shock us is that City Council finally seemed embarrassed by the latest Sun-Times story that they've introduced a bill that would have city workers fired once they're convicted. more ›

The challenges to Rahm Emanuel's mayoral candidacy on the February ballot is garnering most of the headlines these days, but other candidates and incumbents routinely have their places on the ballot questioned. Case in point, 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett, chair of the City Council Black Caucus. more ›

Did you know that, once upon a lonesome, there were 70 aldermen representing 35 wards in Chicago? That's one of the many tidbits you'll learn from a recent Better Government Association report that reopens the argument of whether we really need 50. more ›

We know that City Council has been a rubber stamp for MayDay throughout his time in office. One of the reasons for that is because, whenever they do leave the circle and take a look around, they approve ordinances without much discussion or ordinances that should not have been discussed in the first place. more ›

Mayor Daley has three vacancies to fill in City Council once again. For the second time in nine months, he's taking applications. With Toni Preckwinkle moving on to the County Board presidency, Ed Smith retiring and Tom Allen being appointed to a Circuit Court judgeship, Daley's looking for go-getters to serve as aldermen until the new City Council is sworn in next May. more ›

7th Ward Ald. Sandi Jackson filed petitions to run for re-election this week. At the same time, she also filed to run for city clerk, a seat being vacated by Miguel Del Valle who is running for mayor. Jackson has until the end of the month to decide which office she wants to run for and withdraw one of the petitions, but in either case she will likely face a candidate at least affiliated with county commissioner and former ward alderman Bill Beavers. Beavers's daughter Darcel, who lost to Jackson in 2006 is looking for a rematch, throwing her hat in the ring, and Mersaydes Young, a staffer in Beavers's office is running for city clerk. “We’re going to weigh both seats and pray,” Jackson told the Tribune of how she will make her decision. more ›

Daley's budget plan doesn't raise taxes, fees or fines. "I do not believe it is right to raise taxes with the economy as bad as it is," he said. The press release also highlights freezes on non-safety hiring, job cuts, department consolidations and the use of furlough days to help balance the budget. Daley also called his decision to raid the parking meter funds, which leave only $78 million from the one-time $1.18 billion payment, "controversial" while emphasizing he did not touch the reserves from the Chicago Skyway privatization. more ›

At times we imagine the newly emboldened City Council in the wake of Mayor Daley's announcement that he wouldn't seek a seventh term as waking from a dream and asking themselves, "We did what with the parking meters?" more ›

23rd Ward Alderman Michael Zalewski, Mayor Daley's handpicked choice for City Council president pro-tempore, suggested that the city could save $1 million annually if City Council consolidated its 19 committee chairs. more ›

Before she takes the reins of Cook County Government, Board President-elect Toni Preckwinkle is tending to some last-minute business in her 4th Ward. More important to Preckwinkle is that there's no gap in her health insurance coverage between moving from her Alderman seat to the County Board. more ›

Despite speculation that Mayor Daley's impending retirement from the position of Mayor for Life™ might lead to City Council meddling with his budget, it was instead approved by the City Council’s Budget Committee Monday. With only one amendment, restoring $3.5 million in funding cuts to local chambers of commerce and other neighborhood planning groups, the budget passed committee. A final vote on the budget by the entire council is set for November 17th. more ›

Given Hendon's loose cannon reputation, it was doubtful that the Chicago Coalition for Mayor ever seriously considered Hendon a viable candidate for mayor. Moreover, Hendon's announcement was curiously timed, coming one week after a federal grand jury sent out subpoenas looking into how dozens of state grants awarded for job training and educational programs, many of them sponsored by Hendon, were spent. more ›

Reacting to criticism about raising the minimum age limit for taking the police exam to 25, Police Superintendent Jody Weis struck a compromise that either is wise like Solomon or reeks of politics. more ›

Almost six months after voting to create a watchdog post in the City Council, aldermen have finally finished establishing a commission to pick the person that will hold the post. Five people have been invited to join a panel to pick three candidates for the job. The city council will then vote on which candidate becomes the legislative IG. more ›

We all have that one relative in our family who's reached an age where he feels he can speak his mind whenever he wants because he feels he's earned it simply by living as long as he has. more ›

Per the folks over at Fake Shore Drive, Che "Rhymefest" Smith is putting months of speculation to rest and released a brief video announcing he's running for 20th Ward Alderman. The 20th Ward encompasses parts of Englewood, New City, Back of the Yards, Woodlawn and Washington Park. Under incumbent Alderman Willie Cochran, capital improvements in the ward have been slow in coming over the years, which Rhymefest dutifully notes in his video. more ›

In an effort to balance the gaping holes in the City’s budget, Mayor Daley plans to maintain a freeze on hiring non-safety employees and consolidate the departments of Community Development and Zoning. The move projects $13 million in savings for the city by eliminating 277 positions. The plan would merge six city departments into three. more ›

Walmart's CEO offered details of the plans the world's largest retailer has for Chicago earlier this week. The plans include up to 24 stores in the city, with three different size levels of store, depending on neighborhood. more ›

• It seems some aldermen are pretty steamed about Rahm Emanuel's impending run for Mayor.
• It seems Tony Rezko , who pleaded guilty today to another fraud charge, is "ready and willing" to testify against ex-gov Rod Blagojevich if given the chance at the next Blago trial.
• Allan Kustok, the husband of slain teacher Anita Jeanie Kustok and charged with her murder, has been ordered held on $2 million bond.