For voters in 14 wards, it's Election Day again as the polls are now open for the ward runoffs. The city Board of Elections is predicting a low voter turnout - fewer than one in four voters are expected to cast ballots - and that tends to favor incumbents. So if you're wanting to get rid of Danny Solis in the 25th Ward because he took campaign donations from the companies responsible for the elevated lead levels in the air around Perez Elementary in Pilsen; or if you want to Rhymefest to be your alderman in the 20th Ward because he may have some ideas to improve the ward you agree with (and/or because he co-wrote "Jesus Walks"); or if you want to hand old and crotchety Bernard Stone his walking papers in the 50th, today is your opportunity. more ›

James Cappleman and Molly Phelan, the two candidates vying to replace outgoing Ald. Helen Shiller in the 46th Ward, are meeting in a transportation-focused forum this evening that should be a good primer to the Monday forum Shiller and 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney are moderating between the two at Truman College. Cappleman and Phelan will discuss their plans for improving walking, biking and public transit in the 46th Ward. The forum will also propose some ideas to use alternate means of transportation make the ward safer for businesses and to reduce crime. more ›

46th Ward Ald. Helen Shiller is a lame duck alderman. The candidates to succeed her in the runoff election, James Cappleman and Molly Phelan, are running as much against Shiller's record as each other. Shiller is (wisely) not endorsing either of them, and a Shiller endorsement may be seen by the candidates and some voters in the 46th Ward as an albatross they don't want around their necks. But Shiller is co-moderating (with 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney) a forum between Cappleman and Phelan March 28 at Truman College that we're going to make a note to attend, and we don't even live in the 46th. This forum has the possibility to show the ugly side of democracy. (h/t Uptown Update) more ›

Is it a coincidence, political backlash or yahooligans having fun, the conclusions are undetermined at this time. But yesterday State Rep. and Cook County Commissioner-elect John Fritchey’s office was vandalized making him the sixth political victim this month. more ›

The legal fight over Uptown’s Wilson Yard took an unexpected turn this week as two bloggers were subpoenaed by an attorney representing the lot’s developer. The Chicago Journal’s News-Star reported that an attorney for Peter Holsten sent subpoenas to search-engine giant Google, asking for ownership information for two anonymous blogs that have been outspoken critics of the Wilson Yard development. Those two blogs are Uptown Update, which tracks news related to the Uptown area, and What The Helen, which was up and running during the 2007 aldermanic election that pitted incumbent Ald. Helen Shiller against community activist James Cappleman. more ›

The long and heated battle over the Wilson Yard development in Uptown continues as a group of residents sues the city, which they accuse of improperly dolling out $51 million in subsidies to the site’s developer. The group, Fix Wilson Yard Inc., takes to task the city’s claim that the site would never have been developed without some funding from tax-increment financing. “It’s a developer’s dream to have that large of an undeveloped parcel in the city,” said Molly Phelan, president Fix Wilson Yard Inc., to Crain’s Chicago Business. “There’s no reason to use TIF funds to have a developer come in and develop this site.” more ›