More than 7,000 protesters descended upon downtown Chicago today in protest of school closures and related actions by the Chicago Public Schools system. Progress Illinois was there for the action.
The Illinois House Judiciary Committee
held its second public hearing on gun control today in downtown
Chicago. As the June deadline to draft a concealed carry law looms,
legislators heard testimony from Chicago’s elected officials and
advocates on both sides of the argument.
An agreement on contract and pension issues has been reached between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the union representing Chicago Police sergeants that includes an annual 2 percent pay raise and pension reform.
Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police union wants a 12 percent pay raise over two years and a $3,000 yearly "cost of living in Chicago" stipend to offset the expense of their requirement to live within city limits.
The Chicago Police Department will no longer be dispatching cops for certain crimes, like burglaries and car thefts in which the offender is no longer at the scene and no one is in immediate danger.
A new report by Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson says the city could save up to $16 million and have 292 additional cops on the street my making some changes at the Chicago Police Department.
Both U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel have made calls for an assault weapons ban in the wake of the Newtown elementary school tragedy.
