City Set To Pay $20.5 Million To Settle Lawsuit For Two Men Who Say They Were Framed By Former CPD Detective Reynaldo Guevara
Jose Montanez and Armando Serrano spent 23 years in prison for a murder they did not commit.
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Jose Montanez and Armando Serrano spent 23 years in prison for a murder they did not commit.
Eight aldermen who sit on the Committee on Health want the city to begin requiring proof of vaccination to enter indoor public settings like restaurants, theaters, and gyms.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot had said it would be "virtually impossible" for Austin or any other indicted alderman to do their job "when they have the sword of Damocles hanging over their head."
The ShotSpotter system is supposed to help police track gunshots around the city, and our investigators spent months asking if the multimillion-dollar contract for the system would be renewed. Last week, we learned the contract with ShotSpotter already had been renewed – and almost no one knew it.
Citing "the lasting and continuing impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic," Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday announced the city is facing a $733 million budget shortfall in 2022.
"What we all saw happen to Ms. Anjanette Young, we're trying to prevent this from happening again," Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) said.
The eight-year deal would provide officers with a 20% pay raise over the life of the contract, while also requiring a number of police accountability reforms.
Aldermen voted 36-13 to create a new seven-member Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, the result of months of on-and-off negotiations between Mayor Lori Lightfoot, aldermen, and a coalition of grassroots police reform groups.
The $3.8 billion "Bronzeville Lakefront" plan for the site would include nearly 6,800 units of new housing, and nearly 8 million square feet of mixed-use space.
Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) said "our city lost a major voice in the fight against bigotry and hatred" with Fritzshall's passing.
"What produces a better police Department is better policies, and now we're getting our civilians, our communities, our residents an opportunity to have a voice in those policies," Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and police reform advocates on Monday announced they have reached an agreement to establish a new civilian oversight agency for the Chicago Police Department, setting up a City Council vote this week after years of often heated debate.
"We are working tirelessly at getting this done, and I believe that we are extremely close," Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) said.
The city's Law Department is seeking a $300,000 settlement with a woman who sued the city and former Officer William Whitley, who is now serving a 25-year prison sentence for paying underage girls for sex.
The $8 million youth development center will be the first new Boys & Girls Club in Chicago in more than a generation.
Austin, the second-longest serving member of the City Council, is now the third sitting alderperson to face federal charges.
"We have the most police per capita per person in this city. So if that were the case, we would be the safest city if policing actually worked," said Alycia Kamil, an activist with GoodKids MadCity.
Each aldermen had 10 minutes to ask questions. They ranged from police allocation to officer mental health to city crime stats.
"We do want to increase our contacts with the public both offenders and the general public who need our presence to feel safe and be safe."
After months of back and forth and one wild meeting Wednesday, aldermen finally voted on renaming Lake Shore Drive to Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Lake Shore Drive. It was approved 33-15.
The City Council is set to reconvene Friday.
Aldermen were supposed to vote on the renaming last month, but it was delayed by a procedural move.
A key City Council committee refused to consider the latest proposal offered by a coalition of grassroots organizations, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot pulled her own competing bid from consideration.
