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Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget plan for the Chicago Police Department cuts several offices critical to the ongoing federal consent decree, raising alarm among police experts who say now is not the time to take the foot off the gas on reforms to get.
Johnson’s $17.3 billion spending plan for the city provides $2.1 billion for the Chicago Police Department, an increase of $58.7 million over this year’s allocation. However, it also means eliminating 456 vacant positions – 98 sworn and 358 civilian – saving more than $50 million in salary and other costs.
Robert Boik, former executive director of the Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform, told the Tribune that eliminating these positions would hinder the massive reforms needed in the department.
“We have to make a decision about what our priority is,” Boik said. “If we want police reform in Chicago, we need to invest in it.”
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Alice Yin and AD Quig.
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Mayor Brandon Johnson’s school board chairman, who has been under fire for controversial social media posts, is stepping down
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s handpicked school board chairman resigned Thursday after coming under fire from critics, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the mayor, for social media posts deemed anti-Semitic, misogynistic and conspiratorial.
“Today I asked the President of the Chicago School Board of Education (BOE), Reverend Mitchell Johnson, for his resignation, and he resigned effective immediately,” the mayor said in a statement.
Activists are calling for more funding for migrant and homeless services in Chicago’s 2025 budget
Immigrant rights activists warned of a looming homelessness crisis next year, urging Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City Council at a news conference to maintain funding for immigrant and homeless services in next year’s budget by raising taxes on businesses.
Hate crime and terrorism charges added against alleged West Rogers Park shooter
The 22-year-old accused of shooting a Jewish man walking to the synagogue in West Rogers Park last weekend now faces additional terrorism and hate crime charges, officials announced.
Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi was arrested Saturday morning after a shootout with Chicago police officers. He allegedly opened fire on responding officers and paramedics and was later shot by police. He remained hospitalized as of Thursday, officials said.
48 councilors accept raises while Mayor Brandon Johnson rejects one due to a difficult budget
Nearly every alderman on the Chicago City Council plans to take a pay raise next year, even as the city faces a massive budget crisis.
However, Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to distance himself from the 48 of the 50 councilors who will accept the automatic inflation increase. The 2025 municipal budget that Johnson presented on Wednesday shows that he has opted out.
Volunteers from Illinois are trying to influence the presidential race in the swing states of Wisconsin and Michigan
The Cape Cods and other modest homes in the Nash Park neighborhood of Wisconsin’s largest Democratic city were decorated with skeletons and pumpkins awaiting trick-or-treaters, but there was a knock on the door from 70-year-old Loretta Jackson of Evanston . .
The retired state employee and Navy veteran arrived recently on Saturday afternoon after traveling with nearly 500 other Illinois Democrats across the state line — past the Mars Cheese Castle — to urge voters in this key swing state to cast their ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Thornton Township bills paid after months of standoff between Supervisor Tiffany Henyard and trustees
After a month of unpaid bills piling up, Thornton Township managed to successfully handle some business at a special meeting before Trustee Chris Gonzalez walked out over what he called baseless grandstanding from Supervisor Tiffany Henyard.
Cubs reach settlement agreement with Department of Justice to make Wrigley Field more accessible to disabled fans
The consent decree, filed Thursday in Chicago federal court, settles a two-year-old lawsuit filed by the U.S. attorney’s office alleging that Wrigley Field’s renovation violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by relegating fans who use wheelchairs to some of the worst seats in the world. the house.
‘Can’t wait to get to work’: Will Venable officially becomes 44th manager in Chicago White Sox history
Will Venable didn’t think much about becoming a manager while playing. But a chance to go through the interview process for the Chicago Cubs’ opener after the 2019 season provided a spark.
“(Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein) were very transparent and said, ‘We see you as a potential manager in the future, and this will help you get there,’” Venable said. “That was the first time I thought, ‘Wow, someone thinks I can do this,’ and opened my eyes to the possibility.”
That possibility became a reality Thursday when the Chicago White Sox introduced Venable as their new manager.
Three things we heard from Chicago Bears coordinators, including Shane Waldron’s confidence in the third-and-goal handoff to Doug Kramer
Chicago Bears coordinators spoke to reporters before practice Thursday at Halas Hall as the team prepares for Sunday’s road game against the Arizona Cardinals.
Here are three things we learned from those sessions.
A chapter has ended, but the story is not over for the presumed deceased bookstore owner: ‘People can think you’re dead all they want’
Word quickly spread that the owner of a nearly century-old bookstore had died. Posts have been posted on social media. Wrote a news article. Emails sent.
Meanwhile, Bill Fiedler, 73, was with his wife at his home in Elk Grove Village, enjoying his retirement, without worrying that news of his death had begun to circulate.
What to do in Chicago: Stevie Wonder, Sarah Silverman and the Hot Chocolate Run
The name of the tour says it all: “Sing Your Song! As we mend the broken heart of our nation.” We could use a little more Stevie Wonder in our lives right now. Chicago is the final stop on the tour.
