Almost two months back, we mentioned how the company that is leasing the parking meters from the city of Chicago was getting ready to dive back in to the ticket writing game after a hiatus due to all kinds of issues. But now they're back and in the first three weeks of their new round of ticket writing, they showed they mean serious business. According to the Sun-Times, Chicago Parking Meters LLC wrote 1,345 tickets between June 21 and July 14. Even scarier? All those tickets were written by five workers, about a third of the total workforce the company will have trotted out by year's end. Besides boosting the city's revenue in tickets, though, there's another motivation for CPM to write as many tickets as they possibly can. more ›

With the city's budget deficit growing and crime a hot topic, we were wondering if we'd get any answers from Mayor Daley yesterday in his annual State of the City speech. We got one, alright, even if it was indirect and we need look no further than this morning's headlines to find it: more ›

We'll hand it to MeTV; they've taken the parking meter debacle and turned it into an amusing way to advertise their programming. [h/t The Expired Meter]. more ›

Mayor Daley introduced a measure today to the City Council that could give Chicago drivers one "get out of jail free" card on parking meter tickets per year. If it passes, each driver would get one challenge of a parking meter ticket as long as it was issued within five minutes of the meter time expiring. Said Mayor Daley when announcing the measure, "I understand that many people were angry over the way the parking meter plan was implemented last year. This grace period is another step by Chicago Parking Meters to improve the parking meter system and add convenience for motorists." Which is nice, but the meters were leased for a reason - the city is strapped for cash - and giving up potential revenue from tickets can't help matters. more ›

Not only are the city's parking meter payboxes finding themselves in a deep freeze, but they're taking a beating, too. Literally. The Chicago News Coop mentioned in yesterday's New York Times that from April to August 2009, there were 579 cases of vandalism against the payboxes. more ›

• The latest parking meter issue has Mayor Daley annoyed, calling the issue "unacceptable."
• The Sun-Times' union workers will shortly assemble to vote on concessions requested in Jim Tyree's bid for the paper's parent company. A smaller paper in the STMG family - the Post-Tribune - voted against the concessions last night.
• The IHSA has reinstated all levels of football at North Chicago High School after the program was suspended following a brawl with Simeon High earlier this month.

How much is a minute worth to you? It could be worth $50 as the Parking Ticket Geek explains. Those new pay boxes and their receipts apparently have some weird time issues and, more and more, people are finding themselves on the wrong end of disappearing time. Synchronize watches....now! more ›

We don't enjoy starting our mornings by having a downright hissy fit, but reading the Sun-Times story on Mayor Daley's planned speech in which he'll allegedly admit he made a mistake with the infamous parking meter deal is throwing us into a hulk-out rage. Know why? Well, for starters: more ›

A sit-in protest by Centro Communitario Juan Diego on the South Side this morning - protesting the installation of new parking meter pay boxes - led to a pair of arrests. Two women plopped themselves right on top of the site where LAZ Parking was trying to install the box and earned themselves each a pair of cuffs. The Parking Ticket Geek has the details and pictures. more ›

• The Parking Ticket Geek has coverage from today's City Hall Parking Meter protest.
• The Harold Ickes Homes are coming down and Chi-Town Daily News has a great story on it. [via Gapers Block]
• Brown Line riders rejoice! Another stop is finally reopening; this time, it's the Wellington stop which has been closed for 16 months.
• The Sun-Times brings us the bizarre story of the sorority, the former Chicago Housing Authority comptroller, and the $900,000 wax statue.

LAZ Parking has heard you loud and clear, Chicago, and they're going to help you out. No, they're not giving the money back to the city and no, they're not going to lower their rates. Instead, frustrated motorists that find themselves flummoxed by the new parking meter boxes will bed assisted by "Green Teams," who will be roaming the streets of neighborhoods with these boxes, distributing instructions on how to properly use them. The helpers earned their name thanks to the green t-shirts they'll be wearing when they pass out the instructions. According to the Sun-Times: more ›

The rebellion against the city's parking meters continues even as the Mayor, City Council, and private company running the meters continue to all tussle over the issue. Last night, a group of 50 parking meters stretching across the neighborhoods of Andersonville, Edgewater and Uptown were vandalized. From Chicago Breaking News: more ›

We hope by now you've seen it, but in case you haven't, here's the cover of this week's Chicago Reader, which features another of their fantastic stories exploring the parking meter debacle. Kudos, Reader kids. Kudos. You've easily topped the NY Post and the Sun-Times. more ›

Last week, the Reader followed up on its original investigation into the Parking Meter Privatization mess. Then, lo and behold, yesterday the City Council expressed outrage, dammit, at the deal, claiming that the city was "gypped" and "short-changed." Ohbytheway - the Council passed the original deal by a vote of 40-5. While those like License Committee Chairman Eugene Schulter (47th) lashed out - "I have never, ever seen such a rushed deal go through the City Council and ... hurt the taxpayers. ... Not to have a plan of action that was well thought-out was absolutely disgusting," - it should be kept int mind that the five who originally opposed the deal were: Alds. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), Leslie Hairston (5th), Billy Ocasio (26th), Scott Waguespack (32nd) and Rey Colon (35th). more ›

So with all the controversy over the parking meter privatization, we shouldn't really be that surprised by the fact Ald. Burke canceled the scheduled City Council hearing on the meters. [via Gapers Block] more ›

• Major airlines are set to do the hokey pokey at O'Hare on June 1 and United will be sharing space at Terminal 1 with Continental.
• Michael Norton, owner of Norton Sweet Shop - a West Side convenience store - was shot and killed in an attempted robbery last night.
• More change coming to Chicago's parking meters: by the end of the year, 3,000 cash-free payment boxes - on which you can use credit cards - will be installed.

On May 18, the Chicago City Council will hold hearings on the 75-year lease that the city signed with a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley to privatize the city's parking meters. 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore sponsored the ordinance that called for the hearings. more ›

Just a few weeks ago, the Chicago Reader brought us the terrific and comprehensive look at Mayor Daley's controversial parking meter privatization plan. Now, the Reader's Mike Dumke brings word that several aldermen aren't too pleased with what was uncovered. According to Dumke, Ald. Joe Moore (49th) and four other aldermen are planning to introduce a resolution this week that will call for hearings to examine the process by which the agreement was made. Dumke points out that Moore and two other sponsors of the resolution - Ald. Ric Munoz (22nd) and Ald. Manny Flores (1st) - all voted for the deal initially. Moore told The Reader, “It’s a vote I’ve come to regret. I don’t know if we can overturn the agreement, but certainly we can shed light on the implementation of it, which has been abysmal. I think this was a consequence of the rush to get this through.” more ›

We've gone on and on and on and on about this parking meter clusterfuck in town, but the Chicago Reader's team of Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke has easily topped us and anyone else by offering the most thorough, comprehensive, (and all-around best) look yet at the entire history of this deal gone wrong. more ›

As the city's efforts to change all of the parking meters to accept the new steep rates fall further behind schedule, reader/Flickr Pool contributor lauren*o captured one meter who seemed to have the same feelings about Mayor Daley's meter privatization as we do. more ›

This weekend will see the first parking meter increase since Mayor Daley sold the meters to a private company to help the city raise money in the face of a budget shortfall. When and where will the increases start? It all begins Friday in the Loop. more ›