Erin Allen: Good Morning, welcome to Wednesday. I'm Erin Allen and this is The Rundown. A new study examining Chicago's lending landscape reveals areas where the city distributes resources well and where doesn't. My colleague Adora Namigadde tells us more.

Adora Namigadde: The think tank Urban Institute out of Washington D.C. says Chicago stands out positively for its commercial and industrial lending investments. Senior Fellow Brett Theodos says public and mission oriented spending is evenly spread across the area. But private sector multi and single family lending is mostly happening in white affluent areas. He says banks are simply absent in some less affluent areas with people of color.

Brett Theodos: We're going to need the public admission sector to help catalyze the private sector's activity and we're going to need the private sector to come alongside. 

Erin Allen: Theodos some nonprofits are trying to address the gap. 

Some sobering news from the Regional Transit Authority this week The Chicago Transit Authority and other transit agencies could face financial catastrophe once federal COVID-19 aid runs out. My colleague Claudia Morell reports that the RTA released its five year strategic plan for the public transportation agencies it oversees, including the CTA, Metra and Pace bus network. The report warns that federal COVID dollars could run out by 2025, leaving these agencies hundreds of millions of dollars in the red without a new funding stream or support from the federal government, this could lead to fare hikes and service cuts for the CTA. The RTA will hold a virtual public hearing on the plan today, but the public will have until January 9th to submit comments. 

And get ready for some Uber Technologies tea this morning. Uber Eats and Postmates will pay out $10 million in a settlement with the city of Chicago over claims the company violated a 15% cap on delivery fees and listed restaurants without consent. $8.5 million will refund restaurants that were overcharged for deliveries or improperly listed. $1.5 million will be paid to cover the cost of the city's investigation into the scheme. The 15% cap on third party delivery was imposed to help ease the financial burden on restaurants during the pandemic. A similar lawsuit with DoorDash and Grubhub delivery apps is still pending. 

Eight economic and environmental groups asked Governor JB Pritzker this week to delay the sale of the land known as Damon Silos along the Chicago River. The groups are pushing for the delay to allow for public meetings to decide the fate of the 23 acres of industrial land. Pritzker's administration announced plans to sell the silos last month. The potential buyer currently owns and operates an asphalt plant in McKinley Park that has been the target of numerous odor and nuisance complaints from its neighbors. The president of McKinley Park Development Council says residents in the area quote deserve to have a voice. Pritzker says the property cost taxpayers money and he wants to close the deal this month. With seven industrial corridors, the Southwest Side has been the center of several fights between residents and businesses over polluting industry. 

If you'd like to put up a festive tree this time of year and you're still in the market for one, consider this: deciding between an artificial and a real tree is an environmental matter whether you think of it that way or not. Julie Janoski is with The Morton Arboretum in West Suburban Lisle. She says there are pros and cons to each tree type, but she generally suggests real over fake trees, which are often made of plastics. Real trees do use up water but they provide benefits while they're in the ground and are replaced with seeds after cutting. 

And a few quick hits before we get to weather. It's National Influenza Vaccination Week, but nearly 11,000 fewer flu doses have been administered to children under 18 in Chicago this season compared to last season. Chicago's top Public Health Dr. Allison Arwady is sending a warning to get young people vaccinated. And a little follow up on the SAFE-T Act, Governor JB Pritzker signed changes to the Act into law yesterday. The Department of Homeland Security is again extending the deadline to get a Real ID. With the extension standard Illinois driver's licenses or ID cards will continue to be accepted at airports for domestic air travel through May 2025. 

As for weather today, foggy this morning been cloudy for the rest of the day, but the sun might peak out here and there. High in the mid 40s. Tonight, still cloudy low in the mid 30s. And that's it for now. But a couple of times in the last few weeks I've mentioned Cook County's Guaranteed Income program. While both the county and the city of Chicago are piloting programs like this, which send money to low income households on a monthly basis, this afternoon we'll talk about how these programs work, what sets them apart from other pilots across the country, and why the city of Chicago would have its own programs separate from the county it's inside of. That's coming up at 2:00pm on The Rundown. I'm Erin Allen, talk to you then.

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