Tag: Mayor Lightfoot

Illinois’s Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic

FLOURISH STORY: Confirmed COVID-19 Cases State and Local Breakdown

By Chris Katsaros and Enrique Luna

For much of April, Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th ward) has been self-quarantining and working from home because somebody in her office was diagnosed with COVID-19. 

She is one of many political leaders urging the public to stay home and practice social distancing  amid the global pandemic.

“I cannot stress enough, you cannot hold church service,” Garza said. “You cannot  have your dogs groomed. You cannot get a haircut. People need to take this seriously.”

Garza’s warning–echoed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov J.B. Pritzker–has been taken to heart by the city and has been slowing the increase in coronavirus cases, even while death rates in the state skyrocketed in mid-April. 

Continue reading “Illinois’s Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic”

Will Mayor Lightfoot Go Light on TIF?

By Chris Katsaros and Darius Vinesar

Grassroots activist Tom Tresser pointed at a map of Chicago and said, “No other major city in America has this kind of…infection.”

“It’s what it is, an infection.”

What Tresser was referring to was tax increment financing.

The practice of tax increment financing, or TIF, originated in California in the early 1950’s. Since then, TIF legislation has found some kind of use in every state except Arizona. TIF is used extensively in the Midwest, especially in Chicago for projects such as the 78 and the developments at Lincoln Yards.

Continue reading “Will Mayor Lightfoot Go Light on TIF?”

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