Chicago’s City Council violated the state’s open meetings law when it held a series of conference calls with Mayor Lori Lightfoot during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the Illinois attorney general’s office ruled.

Under state law, governmental bodies aren’t generally allowed to meet without giving the public notice and access. Chicago mayors historically have maneuvered around this rule by briefing small groups of aldermen rather than bringing all 50 members of the City Council together.

The former police chief in west suburban McCook pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges alleging he conspired with then-Mayor Jeffrey Tobolski to shake down a businessman who needed approval to serve liquor at events held at his restaurant.

Mario DePasquale, who had been police chief in the town since 2013, entered his plea through his attorney during a brief hearing before U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo.

Many Black Americans’ distrust for police, both in Chicago and around the country, has been highlighted repeatedly in 2020, most recently this week with outrage over the controversial result of an investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville.

Chicago had its own watershed moment on policing and racism with the 2014 shooting of Black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white officer later convicted of second-degree murder, touching off efforts for sweeping reform. But a recent community survey on policing here that is part of that effort points to a continuing, wide racial divide between how Black and white residents view cops, including a persistent issue: the street stop.