Federal lawsuit aims to overturn Chicago ward map

CHICAGO | The League of Women Voters and more than a dozen Chicago residents are suing to overturn the city's new ward map.

'Participatory budgeting' spreading to other Chicago wards

CHICAGO | Residents of four Chicago wards are getting to decide how government money is spent in their communities, in what's being called an experiment in direct democracy.

EDITORIAL: School boards should be elected

If there's one thing Valparaiso people don't want to be accused of, it's Chicago-style politics. But guess what? The two cities do have something in common after all — a school board filled with political appointees.

Chicago City Council approves food truck ordinance

Customers purchase cupcakes from the Flirty Cupcakes food truck on July 12 in Chicago. An ordinance approved Wednesday allows trucks to cook and prepare food on board. While the trucks were already allowed on Chicago’s streets, rules prohibited operators from so much as putting hot sauce on …

Chicago City Council approves food truck ordinance

A customer signs a petition July 12 on the Duck N Roll food truck, right, arguing for the elimination of a proposed ban on food trucks parking within 200 feet of restaurants in Chicago. The ordinance, which was approved Wednesday, finally allows food trucks to cook and prepare food but conti…

Aldermen approve food truck ordinance

CHICAGO | Food truck operators in Chicago can finally cook on board their vehicles, as they do across much of the U.S., under an ordinance approved Wednesday that also keeps in place a parking restriction that many owners say could drive them out of business.

Chicago to settle 2 more police torture lawsuits

Former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge departs the federal building in Chicago on May 24, 2010. On Monday, a Chicago City Council committee signed off on settlements in two lawsuits filed by men who allege they were victims of police torture during Burge's tenure as a police commander. The se…

Chicago to consider allowing food prep on trucks

CHICAGO | Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he will join two aldermen in introducing an ordinance that will allow food truck operators to prepare meals aboard their vehicles.

Chicago targets synthetic drugs disguised as 'bath salts'

CHICAGO | Chicago will become the first large U.S. city to punish retail outlets that sell synthetic stimulants masquerading as bath salts, plant food and other seemingly innocuous products.

Chicago's 10th Ward maintains Latino majority under new map

CHICAGO | For an area that has one of Chicago's oldest Spanish-speaking enclaves, the Southeast Side doesn't reflect that fact in its political representation in City Hall.

Emanuel's $2 congestion fee faces revisions by council committee

CHICAGO | The Chicago City Council referred Mayor Rahm Emanuel's 2012 budget to the Finance Committee last week for final adjustments before it goes to a vote of the full council Wednesday.

Cash-strapped Chicago mulls easing marijuana law

Chicago Alderman Richard Mell, left, speaks during a news conference Wednesday in Chicago, accompanied by several aldermen who support an ordinance that would turn possession of a small amount of marijuana from a misdemeanor into an infraction that is no more serious than a traffic citation.

Cash-strapped Chicago mulls easing marijuana law

Chicago Alderman Danny Solis speaks during a news conference Wednesday in Chicago, before introducing an ordinance to the City Council that would turn possession of a small amount of marijuana from a misdemeanor into an infraction that is no more serious than a traffic citation. Solis says h…