With one of Illinois’ largest political reporting teams, WBEZ’s Government & Politics desk holds elected officials and government bodies accountable. We cover the policy debates and political machinations happening at the state Capitol in Springfield, in Cook County government and at Chicago’s City Hall.
The first House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection featured raw and emotional testimony from four law enforcement officers. Here’s what you need to know.
In Chicago, areas flush with resources are also flush with trees. But a new city agency could be tasked with changing that “tree inequity.“
“For most people, Jan. 6 happened for a few hours,” U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said in the select committee hearing. “But for those of us who were in the thick of it, it has not ended.“
Kinzinger will join fellow Republican Liz Cheney at the committees first hearing Tuesday. Both supported impeaching Trump for Jan. 6, and were the only GOP members to support the committee’s creation.
The U.S. attorney general returned to his hometown of Chicago as the Justice Department launched strike forces to confront the rise in gun violence.
The city’s head of Human Resources also has been suspended following a WBEZ investigation.
Chicago’s mayor quickly shot down a proposal from two aldermen who said the city should help the park district’s internal watchdog.
Aldermen could approve a $4 billion development plan for the Bronzeville lakefront as well as civilian oversight of Chicago Police.
The ordinance, passed 36 to 13, is a compromise between two previously competing proposals from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and community activists who’ve been pushing for several different iterations of police oversight for years.
Chicago aldermen gave final approval to the Bronzeville Lakefront development Wednesday, which is on the site City Hall had hoped to use for its failed 2016 Olympic bid.
