South and West Side leaders lined up behind Pat Hynes to challenge Fritz Kaegi, centering the race on assessment errors and record tax‑bill spikes that hit homeowners. The endorsements sharpen a high‑stakes primary fight.

CHA canceled a plan to bar the daughter of Commissioner Debra Parker from agency contracts, reviving questions about oversight and family-linked payments.

Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a $46.2M federal package to fund 40 Chicago projects, from parks and transit to lead-pipe replacement and shelters.

As early voting begins, Chicago leaders are sounding the alarm over talk of ICE at polling places and moving to document any federal presence near ballot boxes.

Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson will use a Harvard fellowship to press for the permanent closure of the ICE processing center that has roiled her suburb.

Cook County pushed its first‑installment property tax due date to April 1 after last year’s billing delays. Bills are expected in early March and taxpayers should plan accordingly.

Sen. Laura Fine filed SB2820 to bar ICE hires from state and local law‑enforcement jobs in Illinois; supporters cite accountability and critics warn of staffing impacts.

A federal judge dismissed a whistleblower lawsuit by a former COPA investigator, tossing his federal retaliation claim while leaving state-law options uncertain.

Three seats on Chicago’s Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability are open; applications close Feb. 6 at 11:59 p.m.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a multistate suit challenging the Trump administration's pause on wind permits, saying the freeze risks jobs and state clean-energy plans.

Illinois is preparing to join WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network to get direct outbreak intelligence and expert guidance after the U.S. withdrew.

Hundreds of North Side students marched to River Park in a two-hour, student-led anti-ICE rally that organizers said will be paired with civic action.

An Environment committee will vote Feb. 3 on resolutions recognizing a rat‑contraceptive pilot and supporting a Chicago Area Waterway System reclamation study. The items cross public‑health and environmental lines.