"We may not have the majority of the City Council but we do have the people," Mayor Brandon Johnson said, just before the City Council decisively voted for a budget he repeatedly called "morally bankrupt." @wttw.bsky.social

Chicago >>>

FULL STORY: Mayor Johnson now faces what could be the biggest decision of his time in office: whether to veto the spending plan approved by the City Council over his objections. 34 votes are need to override a veto; his critics appear 3 votes short. @wttw.bsky.social

BREAKING: The Chicago City Council voted 30-19 Saturday to approve the final portion of a nearly $16.6 billion budget for 2026 without hiking a per-employee tax on large firms, despite fierce opposition from Mayor Brandon Johnson. @wttw.bsky.social

As the full City Council fulsomely debates the budget, the Budget Committee meeting has been canceled.

Where the budget debate stands: *The City Council meets at 10 a.m., where it is set to vote on the final part of the budget *The Budget Committee is set to meet at 10:30 a.m. *No scheduled news conference with the mayor **Days until the deadline for a budget to be passed: 10** @wttw.bsky.social

FULL STORY: The Chicago City Council voted 29-19 to approve a plan to bridge the city’s $1.19B budget gap without imposing a per-employee tax on large firms, delivering a major rebuke to Mayor Johnson -- but falling short of a veto-proof margin. @wttw.bsky.social

While saying he continues to have "serious, significant concerns" plan, Johnson stops short, for the second straight day, of vowing to veto it. Negotiations will continue, Johnson says. @wttw.bsky.social

[email protected] Vasquez says that technical difficulties prevented him from voting, but intended to vote no

BREAKING: Mayor Brandon Johnson formally re-introduces his revised plan for a corporate head tax, which would tax firms with more than 500 employees $33 per month per employee. @wttw.bsky.social

Where the budget debate stands: *The City Council is set to meet at 11 a.m. today, with Mayor Johnson set to hold a news conference after *The City Council is set to meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, when it could pass the budget **Days until the deadline for a budget to be passed: 11** @wttw.bsky.social

FULL STORY: Mayor Brandon Johnson stopped short Thursday morning of vowing to veto a plan to bridge Chicago’s $1.2 billion budget gap without hiking taxes on large firms but called the proposal “morally bankrupt.” @wttw.bsky.social

FULL STORY: Gov. JB Pritzker’s office blasted the Chicago Bears announcement that they are considering moving to Northwest Indiana, since state officials have declined to subsidize their plans to build a new stadium and entertainment district in Arlington Heights. @wttw.bsky.social

NEW: It would take an act of Congress to do that

"Likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy"

One of the last changes made to the proposed spending plan removed a requirement that the Chicago Police Department publicly ask the City Council for more money if it exhausts its $200 million budget for overtime. CPD has spent $251M so far this year, records show.

FULL STORY: A plan to bridge Chicago’s $1.2B budget gap without hiking taxes on large firms — now headed to a final vote of the City Council with the endorsement of two key city panels — would leave the city with a deficit of more than $163M, according to Mayor Johnson. @wttw.bsky.social

“This is not about leverage,” Chicago Bears CEO Kevin Warren says.

PSA: I will also block you if you post AI generated images in my mentions. They're not funny. They're not clever. Just sad.

The mayor's office just sent reporters updated data, which says the rival budget plan is *actually* $162.7 million short.

NEW: As the meeting of the Budget Committee gets underway, the mayor's office releases a new analysis of the spending plan proposal that was advanced yesterday by the Finance Committee, finding that it would create a deficit of $157 million @wttw.bsky.social

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss confronted Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino and other federal agents in the northern suburb Wednesday amid a renewed increase in immigration enforcement in and around Chicago this week. https://to.wttw.com/4qj8FgE

NEW: Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who is running for Congress, confronted Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino today:

NEW: Johnson cancels this news conference, with a statement: "Due to ongoing meetings and budget negotiations, today's availability will be rescheduled for either later today or tomorrow." @wttw.bsky.social

A federal jury determined Chicago police officers did not violate the civil rights of the Chicago man they shot during a February 2020 incident in the Grand Red Line CTA station, records show. @wttw.bsky.social

Where the budget debate stands: *Mayor Johnson holds a news conference at 1 p.m. *The Budget Committee meets at 2 p.m. *The City Council is scheduled to meet Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Tuesday & Christmas Eve **Days until the deadline for a budget to be passed: 13** @wttw.bsky.social

Also applies in Illinois, where Trump administration officials sent Texas & California National Guard troops That issue (and whether the president can deploy the Illinois National Guard over the objections of the Illinois governor) has been pending before the U.S. Supreme Court for two (2) months

First tipped by @religiondigital and now corroborated by 3 sources on the ground here in Chicago, Pope Leo to name Joliet’s Bishop Ron Hicks (58) as the 11th Archbishop of New York. The move is seismic as it signals how Leo intends to lead the US church.

The mayor immediately slammed the plan to balance the budget by collecting an additional $89M from Chicagoans who owe to the city ambulance payments, utility bills, red-light camera tickets & other debt "Not only is this proposal immoral, it is simply not feasible," Johnson said.

🏃🏻🏃🏻🏃🏻🏃🏻

BREAKING: The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee voted 22-13 Tuesday to advance a plan to bridge Chicago’s $1.19 billion budget gap without hiking taxes on large firms, handing Mayor Brandon Johnson another stinging defeat. @wttw.bsky.social

FULL STORY: CPD officials failed to document more than half of all reprimands of officers and more than a third of all suspensions between 2016 and 2021, according to an audit released Tuesday by the city’s watchdog. @wttw.bsky.social

A man was taken to Roseland Hospital after reporting he was a danger to himself and his wife. Because he was experiencing thoughts of suicide, regulators say he should've been monitored at all times. He wasn't, @ndblumberg.bsky.social reports for @wttw.bsky.social

The City Council's Finance Committee will NOT consider Mayor Johnson's proposed budget, at the request of his office, Ald. Pat Dowell announces. The committee will consider the rival budget proposal, which will be explained by Alds. Lee & Waguespack.

A church "was hosting a holiday food giveaway with crowds bundled up outside waiting for food when Border Patrol agents showed up," and "Students ... were escorted back into the building by teachers who put up barricades as crowds formed around agents’ vehicles, @blockclubchi.bsky.social reports

One update here: The meeting set for tomorrow (Wednesday) is canceled; the Budget Committee is set to meet at 2 p.m. tomorrow The Finance Committee is set to meet ... now 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

After opponents of Mayor Brandon Johnson skipped yesterday’s City Council meeting, they ask their colleagues to add meetings on: Friday, Dec. 19 Saturday, Dec. 20 Tuesday, Dec. 24 (There are already meetings set for Wednesday & Thursday & Monday) That passes with 30 votes @wttw.bsky.social

A new investigation today from @ndblumberg.bsky.social focuses on Roseland Hospital. On Oct. 3, a man was taken to the ER after reporting he was a danger to himself and his wife. Because he was experiencing thoughts of suicide, regulators say he should've been monitored at all times. He wasn't.

The stop was part of what investigators identified as a troubling pattern of 50 undocumented and unprofessional stops of Black people downtown in 2024, records show. This is the first of those complaints to be fully resolved, and is the subject of a federal lawsuit against CPD. @wttw.bsky.social

Three Chicago police officers violated the constitutional rights of a Black man who was improperly searched during a downtown traffic stop and should be suspended, the agency tasked with investigating police misconduct and department leaders agreed, records show. @wttw.bsky.social

FULL STORY: Mayor Brandon Johnson and the leaders of a group of Chicago City Council members backing a rival budget plan emerged from a brief meeting Monday afternoon no closer — and perhaps further away than ever — to breaking the deadlock gripping the city. @wttw.bsky.social

Look how they massacred my boy

Mayor Brandon Johnson met Monday afternoon with the leaders of a group of Chicago City Council members backing a rival proposal to close the city’s $1.19B budget gap, hoping to hammer out an agreement to break the deadlock gripping the city. (via @heathercherone.bsky.social)

Johnson admin officials didn’t respond to detailed questions about why “60 fewer officers would be assigned to constitutional policing and reform efforts in 2026 than in 2025.”

NEW: Johnson's office just announced that he will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. @wttw.bsky.social

New in #Science: Norbert Holtkamp, a veteran of international research organizations, has been named director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Holtkamp will take over leadership of the particle accelerator laboratory in suburban Batavia Jan. 12.

42 minutes late, the Chicago City Council meeting is underway, with Mayor Johnson presiding. The leaders of the effort to thwart Johnson's plan to impose a $33 per month head tax on firms with at least 500 employees are not present. 20 alderpeople are present. No quorum, the meeting is adjourned.

NEW: Nearly 180 positions charged with implementing a court order that requires the Chicago Police Department to stop routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights are vacant, according to records obtained by @wttw.bsky.social news.

This applies to more than one story tonight!!

And that’s why journalists should never publish someone’s name before they’re charged, even if law enforcement is calling them a “person of interest” and even if you really, really want to beat your competitors