Daily Whale Originals

Amidst the controversy over Spike Lee’s upcoming Chicago-based film, the city’s aldermen on Monday debated whether it was in the city’s best interest for the director to receive a state tax break for the film’s production.

Businesses using perchloroethylene, a potentially harmful chemical found in most dry cleaning products, in violation of state or federal regulations would be subject to fines from the city under a recently proposed ordinance.

Members of the city’s Committee on Health and Environmental Protection on Thursday voted in favor of an ordinance that would see the city adopt state and federal regulations of the use of perchloroethylene in Chicago.

Members of the Chicago City Council Committee on Public Safety unanimously approved the appointment of Lori Lightfoot to serve on the Chicago Police Board on Tuesday. Mayor Rahm Emanuel selected Lightfoot to replace outgoing board President Demetrius Carney. 

With this year’s elections behind them, Chicago’s aldermen can now turn their attention back to ward services and City Council hearings. But for some, the push to protect their incumbency and prepare for the next election has already begun.

Wednesday marked the deadline for aldermen to file their second quarter campaign finance reports, which detail contributions their campaign committees received and money those committees spent during the period between April 1 and June 30.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners approved a sales tax increase aimed at quelling the county’s pension woes.

Commissioners on Wednesday voted 9-7 in favor of Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s proposed county’s sales tax increase. Under the measure, the county’s sales tax rate will increase from .75 percent to 1.75 percent. Paired with state, city, county and public transit levies, the hike effectively raises Chicago’s total sales tax to 10.25 percent, making it one of the highest rates of its kind in the nation.