Mayor Declines to Say Whether He’ll Reappoint Police Board President

Lori Lightfoot appears on “Chicago Tonight” on April 5, 2017.Lori Lightfoot appears on “Chicago Tonight” on April 5, 2017.

The Chicago Police Board could be without a president Tuesday. The term of current President Lori Lightfoot expires Monday.

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Lightfoot has been critical of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s attempts to reform the Police Department, specifically decrying the lack of movement on a consent decree with the Federal Justice Department.

Monday, the mayor was non-committal when asked if he would reappoint Lightfoot to the role.

“As you know, I just made a series of board appointments. I’m going to look through it, and I look forward to talking to … Lori, like other board members, about where we’ve got to go,” Emanuel said.

In other news in Chicago tonight

The party is over for 17 party bus companies in the city.

Chicago Police and the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection are announcing they’ve issued cease and desist letters to the companies after finding they weren’t following new rules implemented in April.

Those rules required the companies to hire security guards and install surveillance cameras to address complaints of public drunkenness, shooting incidents and even gang activity.

But officials say they found many companies weren’t complying with those new rules.

“They’re not all downtown. We’ve seen these party buses in Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, throughout the whole city,” said Anthony Riccio. “We had a shooting up on the north end of the city in the 24th District, outside the Dunkin’ Donuts, that stemmed from problems on a charter bus, maybe six months ago or so. So we do see a lot of problems and violence that stems from the fact that they were just completely unregulated.”

Bartman embraced

Steve Bartman, the fan who was blamed by some for costing the Cubs a chance at the 2003 World Series, is getting a 2016 World Series Championship ring—from the Cubs organization.

In a statement, the Cubs said: 

“While no gesture can fully lift the public burden he has endured for more than a decade, we felt it was important Steve knows he has been and continues to be fully embraced by this organization.”

Bartman has largely avoided the public eye since the incident, but in a statement Monday, he said:

“My hope is that we all can learn from my experience to view sports as entertainment and prevent harsh scapegoating, and to challenge the media and opportunistic profiteers to conduct business ethically by respecting personal privacy rights …”

Bartman adds he’s happy to be reunited with the Cubs family and recognizes the historical significance and symbolism of the ring.

Follow Brandis Friedman on Twitter @BrandisFriedman


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