Mayor Lori Lightfoot is the first Chicago mayor to embrace racial equity in decades. Yet her new proposal to hike taxes on ride-hailing companies could hurt those she aims to help.

In the second quarter of 2019, nearly half of all rides originated or ended on the South and West sides. And in the past two years, the fastest growing community areas for Uber pickups have been in those areas.

When last I looked at the position of veteran Illinois Senate President John Cullerton—right after the indictment of his distant cousin Sen. Tom Cullerton on federal corruption charges—I urged the Senate president to take the lead on ethical reforms lest future developments tarnish his chamber and his reputation.

I renew that call today, because a cascade of developments since my August column has only strengthened the point. When you look like less of a reformer than House Speaker Mike Madigan—and right now, that’s how Cullerton does look—you’ve got a problem. By all indications, that problem is getting worse.

Veteran lobbyist and City Club of Chicago President Jay Doherty has stopped working for embattled, longtime client Commonwealth Edison, according to a disclosure document he filed Monday with Illinois officials.

Doherty’s move came just weeks after WBEZ first reported that federal investigators had raided the City Club office at the Wrigley Building in May.

Having a pot-related arrest or conviction used to be a liability for job seekers. Now, a criminal record might lead to a job in the legal marijuana industry.

HempStaff, a recruitment and training agency in Miami, launched a new division last month to help cannabis firms in Illinois and five other states hire employees that meet certain social equity requirements, including those with pot offenses on their records.

If you rely on ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft to get around Chicago, your fare could soon be higher.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has proposed several new fees on ride-hailing trips as part of her 2020 budget, which she says will raise $40 million for the city while decreasing congestion and funding public transit improvements.

It has taken more than three months, on average, to investigate and resolve each of the 40,000-plus civilian complaints that have been filed against Chicago police officers over the past 12 years.

That’s according to new data the Chicago Police Department released Monday on its Accountability Dashboard – an online portal that lets the public review information on each of the 40,497 total officer misconduct complaints filed between January 2007 and February 2019.

A newly released video shows a CPS principal offering an allegedly fabricated story in order to explain why one of her students spent more than 30 minutes outside the school in frigid weather, according to the boy’s family.

The boy “bust through us and went out the door,” Fiske Elementary Principal Cynthia Miller told the boy’s grandfather in the video, describing a scene in which the boy ran through five adults to reach an exit.

Public housing tenants excited about new state marijuana laws are in for a letdown.

The Chicago Housing Authority is reminding all 63,000 households under its watch that marijuana use is still illegal under federal law — making Illinois’ medical and recreational cannabis laws useless within its confines.

Arlington Heights village board members on Monday confirmed their earlier straw poll vote to ban sales of recreational marijuana within the village.

The 5-3 vote is a bit of an about-face for the elected panel, a majority of whom indicated in August they might allow pot dispensaries in town.

The City Council on Monday night approved a flat property tax levy and a balanced 2020 budget that doesn’t include revenue from a proposed casino or from potential sales of recreational marijuana.

Hard Rock International is seeking state approval for a license to open a casino in Rockford and approval could take up to a year. Although the city stands to earn 3% on top of other sales taxes on the sale of recreational adult-use marijuana next year, it is unknown how much money the city can expect from the new industry.

Springfield Education Association teachers voted down the latest contract offer from District 186 in a general membership meeting at Southeast High School Monday.

The vote was 448-300 against the proposal.

The vote sends the two sides back to a federal mediator on Thursday.