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Crain's Chicago Business: Here are the five sites Lori Lightfoot wants to study for the city casino
The five all are in outlying South and West Side neighborhoods and each has been previously considered for a prospective casino or other major development. None is in or near downtown, though one is relatively close to the McCormick Place convention complex, and four of the five sites are publicly owned.
Chicago Tribune: Aldermen say they’re surprised by Lightfoot’s casino site picks
Chicago aldermen reacted with surprise Wednesday to the five possible casino sites floated by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, but quickly turned to weighing the viability of locations in their wards and elsewhere.
Four of the possible casino locations unveiled by Lightfoot are on the South Side, and one is on the West Side.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s City Council ethics plan advances
Mayor Lori Lightfoot got a step closer Wednesday to delivering a signature early win on City Council ethics, as aldermen advanced a package to give the city watchdog more oversight of the body and tighten rules on outside jobs and lobbying.
The council Ethics Committee passed the plan after aldermen raised concerns about new lobbyist registration guidelines that some said are confusing or needlessly restrictive. Ethics Committee Chairman Ald. Michele Smith, 43rd, said the vote “demonstrates that there are members of City Council committed to good government and reform.”
Chicago Sun-Times: Feds say city worker lied to help clout contractor get paid before work was done
A City Hall inspector has been charged with wire fraud and lying to the FBI in a case involving a city contractor who has surfaced in the investigation of Ald. Carrie Austin.
Joseph E. Garcia, 37, is accused of submitting bogus documents, falsely claiming to have inspected home-repair projects done for low-income Chicago homeowners, giving City Hall the go-ahead to pay the contractor, Oakk Construction of Summit.
Chicago Tribune: Cook County’s forest preserve police chief has resigned, days after scathing report on a $250 parking ticket spat
The Cook County forest preserve’s police chief has resigned after a scathing inspector general report outlined a dispute involving an unnamed elected official who tried to take care of a $250 parking ticket for an ally, officials said Wednesday.
The Forest Preserve District said an internal review of the parking ticket controversy found that Kelvin Pope, a former bodyguard to County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, improperly intervened in the matter.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: Chicago International Port Considering Massive Investment Deal
Privatization of public assets is a controversial topic in Chicago. Consider: the Chicago parking meter deal, the Chicago Skyway.
A few years ago, a deal to get a private operator to take over the massive but little-used Port of Chicago fell through. But WTTW News has learned another public-private partnership proposal is in the works for the massive Southeast Side shipping docks. And supporters say that a little bit of investment in the sinking port could lift the entire region.