The number of migrants sent to Chicago in the last 30 days has grown 30%, with the number of migrants at police stations and O’Hare growing by more than 50%, even as the mayor’s office opened several new shelters in recent weeks.
Politics
A delegation of local leaders and community groups from Chicago who recently visited the southern border and Texas cities discuss their trip and the lessons they brought home.
“It is hard to imagine a more serious issue in police oversight right now,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said. “Chicago has to get this right.”
The probe by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability concluded that two Chicago Police lieutenants “may have directed an improper campaign of harassment” against Pete Czosnyka “in retaliation for the exercise of his First Amendment rights.”
More than 19,000 people have been sent to Chicago from the southern border in the past 15 months. The city is awaiting test results before finalizing a decision to build a massive “winterized base camp” in Brighton Park.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Police Department say they’re moving into a “new age of policing” while rebuilding the department. They are also asking for more money, patience and time.
A group of individuals working for the office of Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch has been exploring forming a union. Welch is now the sponsor of a bill creating the Legislative Employee Labor Relations Act.
The working group formed by Mayor Brandon Johnson in June to tackle Chicago’s acutely underfunded pensions has yet to craft a comprehensive plan to address one of the major fiscal challenges facing the city.
Mayor Brandon Johnson praised Ciere Boatright in a statement as a “tremendously talented and respected executive” who has proven she can get deals done.
Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a lower-ranked member of the House GOP leadership team, becomes the fourth Republican nominee in what has become an almost absurd cycle of political infighting since Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.
State Sen. Robert Martwick, a Democrat who represents parts of the city’s Northwest Side, said if Chicago wants a diverse school board, it needs to remove barriers that would prevent some residents from running for board seats.
Many furious residents urged Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration to scrap the proposal, while others vowed to protect and care for Chicago’s newest residents.
The Oath Keepers organization is considered by the FBI to be a “large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some who are associated with militias” who have vowed to “not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders.”
More than 1,000 people – mostly migrants – lined up hours before the city clerk’s event on Oct. 12 at Gill Park in Wrigleyville was scheduled to start, overwhelming the 15-person staff, City Clerk Anna Valencia told WTTW News.
New entity would coordinate child care, preschool, early interventions
Vowing to make Illinois the top state in the nation for child care accessibility, Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled a plan to consolidate all the state’s early childhood programs and funding into one new state agency. Currently, early childhood services are spread across three agencies.
It’s been three weeks since Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. Rep. Tom Emmer won a simple majority of his colleagues behind closed doors, but he will need the support of most all Republicans during a House floor vote ahead.