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Chicago City Council
Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
8:40pm
Thu Mar 21
1 comment

Chicago Teachers Union, Advocates Speak Out Against School Closures (VIDEO)

Standing outside one of the schools slated for closure, Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis had heated words for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Board of Education today.

Today, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) released a list of 61 school buildings that will be closed. Six of those schools will be turned around while the other 54 will be shuttered outright. Eleven schools will be consolidated.

Calling the school actions a “travesty” and an “abomination,” Lewis called Mayor Rahm Emanuel “cowardly” and said he “should be ashamed of himself.”

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
2:48pm
Mon Mar 18
1 comment

Town Hall Meeting Illustrates Lack Of Communication With Taxpayers On TIF Projects

Taxpayers are largely kept out of the loop when it comes to how their property taxes are used by tax increment finance (TIF) districts, according to Tom Tresser, co-founder of the Civic Lab.

Aiming to promote transparency in government and give residents background information on neighborhood TIF projects, the Civic Lab and the TIF Ad Hoc Committee of the Washington Park Community hosted a town hall meeting at the Washington Park Field House Saturday.<--break->

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PI Original
by Aricka Flowers
10:24pm
Wed Mar 13
1 comment

Second So-Called Progressive Caucus Emerges In Chicago City Council, Begging The Question Of Why?

City Hall

A second group of aldermen, calling themselves the Paul Douglas Alliance (after the liberal Illinois U.S. Senator and former member of the Chicago City Council), announced they are forming a new so-called progressive caucus. The move comes one day after the council's original progressive caucus, the Progressive Reform Coalition, announced their legislative priorities. Progress Illinois breaks down what the formation of the second progressive caucus could really mean.

PI Original
by Ellyn Fortino
11:26am
Wed Feb 20

Galewood Community Takes Ald. Graham To Task Over Proposal For Area's Fifth Pawn Shop

Chicago City Council

It may have been bitter cold outside, but the tension was boiling last night at a Galewood community meeting over plans for a fifth pawn shop along a half-mile stretch of North Avenue near the Oak Park border. Progress Illinois was there and has more on the community debate over the controversial shop.