Latest news with #CookCountyBoard
Chicago Tribune
30-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Afternoon Briefing: Johnson pitches ‘modest' Springfield wish list
Good afternoon, Chicago. Mayor Brandon Johnson touted his Springfield agenda as both 'modest' and beneficial to the whole state of Illinois during a short stop to the statehouse today, where he will surely face steep headwinds to accomplish what he wants for Chicago during a tough state budget season. This is Johnson's first visit to the General Assembly since May 2024, when he came home with lackluster results for the city. Faced with ongoing reluctance from lawmakers and Gov. JB Pritzker, the mayor has fine-tuned his message this time to make the case that helping Chicago will help the rest of the state. Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices. Gov. JB Pritzker urges Democrats to protest at GOP congressional offices in response to President Donald Trump Pritzker was joined by Govs. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the unsuccessful 2024 vice presidential nominee, Maura Healey of Massachusetts and Kathy Hochul of New York in an hourlong, live-streamed question-and-answer event hosted by the MeidasTouch Network. Read more here. Downtown alderman considering Cook County Board run against Preckwinkle Despite Trump's order, Chicago consent decree mandating police reform 'will remain in effect' President Donald Trump's tariffs loom over the economy as shipments from China fall American businesses are canceling orders from China, postponing expansion plans and hunkering down to see what trade policy surprises President Donald Trump plans to spring on them next. Read more here. Chicago Stars fire coach Lorne Donaldson amid one of the franchise's worst starts in history In his debut NWSL season, Lorne Donaldson led Chicago to the playoffs with a 10-14-2 record. But that success quickly dried up for the Stars, who started the 2025 season with a 1-5-0 record. Read more here. More top sports stories: Chicago White Sox are sending Colson Montgomery back to Arizona for 1-on-1 work: 'Let's go and attack this now' Shota Imanaga exits his start with cramps in both legs in Chicago Cubs' 9-0 win Column: As State Street's closes for repairs, an appreciation of our bridges over the Chicago River The river is why we are here; it has for hundreds of years played a crucial role first for transportation, fishing, and farming and later as a shortcut between the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan, creating Chicago. Read more here. More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: A Palestinian student at Columbia is released after arrest at his citizenship interview A judge released a Palestinian student at Columbia University who led protests against Israel's war in Gaza and was arrested by immigration officials during an interview about finalizing his U.S. citizenship. Read more here.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Downtown alderman considering Cook County Board run against Preckwinkle
Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly said Wednesday he is exploring a challenge to Toni Preckwinkle in the 2026 Democratic primary for Cook County Board president. Reilly, 42nd, told the Tribune he would make a final decision in the coming weeks, but claimed he'd been approached to take on Preckwinkle — who is so far uncontested for her fifth term — in recent weeks. He made similar overtures for a Congressional run against Democratic Rep. Danny Davis in 2015 and has also explored mayoral runs in past cycles but has stayed put in City Hall. Reilly, 42nd, one of the City Council's moderates, has represented downtown for nearly two decades. An ally to the business community, he has been one of the best fundraisers on the council and has run uncontested for the seat since defeating longtime alderman Burt Natarus in 2007. He closed the last fundraising quarter with more than $700,000 in the bank. Preckwinkle ended the same quarter with a little over half of that, $365,000, in her main campaign committee. But Preckwinkle also chairs the Cook County Democratic Party, which gives her additional political power and fundraising heft. Even so, Democrats have increasingly broken from the county organization's slated picks in ways once unthinkable, including Preckwinkle's own endorsed candidate for State's Attorney last year. Her selection, Clayton Harris III, lost in the State's Attorney primary to Eileen O'Neill Burke, with several Democrats defecting to support Burke. Reilly himself bucked the party in 2020, backing Republican State's Attorney candidate Pat O'Brien over Preckwinkle mentee Kim Foxx. Foxx won. Preckwinkle, 78, announced her plans for re-election last month, suggesting she wanted to lend a steady hand at the county during a second Trump administration. She also pointed to the ways she had stabilized the county's finances and launched meaningful criminal justice reform since 2010 that helped usher in the Pretrial Fairness Act. She told her fellow Democrats at a party meeting on April 16 that 'if I wasn't doing this job, I would just find another one, which I probably wouldn't find as interesting, challenging, or as impactful. So I decided that I would ask you and the good people of Cook County for another shot at this.' A spokesman for Preckwinkle's political organization did not immediately comment Wednesday about Reilly saying he's thinking about running against her. Reilly's father, Dr. Brendan Reilly, previously led the Department of Medicine at Cook County Hospital.
Chicago Tribune
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Downtown alderman considering Cook County Board run against Preckwinkle
Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly said Wednesday he is exploring a challenge to Toni Preckwinkle in the 2026 Democratic primary for Cook County Board president. Reilly, 42nd, told the Tribune he would make a final decision in the coming weeks, but claimed he'd been approached to take on Preckwinkle — who is so far uncontested for her fifth term — in recent weeks. He made similar overtures for a Congressional run against Democratic Rep. Danny Davis in 2015 and has also explored mayoral runs in past cycles but has stayed put in City Hall. Reilly, 42nd, one of the City Council's moderates, has represented downtown for nearly two decades. An ally to the business community, he has been one of the best fundraisers on the council and has run uncontested for the seat since defeating longtime alderman Burt Natarus in 2007. He closed the last fundraising quarter with more than $700,000 in the bank. Preckwinkle ended the same quarter with a little over half of that, $365,000, in her main campaign committee. But Preckwinkle also chairs the Cook County Democratic Party, which gives her additional political power and fundraising heft. Even so, Democrats have increasingly broken from the county organization's slated picks in ways once unthinkable, including Preckwinkle's own endorsed candidate for State's Attorney last year. Her selection, Clayton Harris III, lost in the State's Attorney primary to Eileen O'Neill Burke, with several Democrats defecting to support Burke. Reilly himself bucked the party in 2020, backing Republican State's Attorney candidate Pat O'Brien over Preckwinkle mentee Kim Foxx. Foxx won. Preckwinkle, 78, announced her plans for re-election last month, suggesting she wanted to lend a steady hand at the county during a second Trump administration. She also pointed to the ways she had stabilized the county's finances and launched meaningful criminal justice reform since 2010 that helped usher in the Pretrial Fairness Act. She told her fellow Democrats at a party meeting on April 16 that 'if I wasn't doing this job, I would just find another one, which I probably wouldn't find as interesting, challenging, or as impactful. So I decided that I would ask you and the good people of Cook County for another shot at this.' A spokesman for Preckwinkle's political organization did not immediately comment Wednesday about Reilly saying he's thinking about running against her.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. JB Pritzker taps Cook County official to run state emergency management agency
SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday tapped a Cook County official to run the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security. Theodore 'Ted' D. Berger most recently worked under Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle as the county's executive director of emergency management and regional security. If approved by the state Senate, Berger would be the permanent replacement for Alicia Tate-Nadeau, who started as director of IEMA and OHS in 2019, Pritzker's first year in office, after more than three decades with the Illinois National Guard. As the state's emergency management czar, she played a key role in responses to crises including the COVID-19 pandemic and the influx of asylum-seekers bused from the southern U.S. border, as well as responses to large-scale, weather-related damage. Berger has held roles with the Illinois Department of Transportation, State Toll Highway Authority and the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal. He joined the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in 2012 as deputy director of legislative affairs, managing legislative portfolios and advancing tax incentives, transparency reforms, and economic development programs. He later worked as chief of staff for Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications, supporting the delivery of services that included public safety technology infrastructure, communications systems, large-scale event management and disaster planning, among others. As Cook County's top emergency management official, he helped guide the county's COVID-19 response and served as primary liaison to state and federal officials during several declared disasters, according to the governor's office. 'With decades of emergency management experience and a wealth of knowledge about our State's many regions, Ted Berger is an exceptionally qualified candidate to lead Illinois' critical support efforts,' Pritzker said in the news release. Preckwinkle said Berger 'helped guide Cook County and Offices Under the President through pivotal county moments, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the new arrivals humanitarian crisis and three federally-declared natural disasters.' His appointment by Pritzker is effective May 15.
Chicago Tribune
25-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Gov. JB Pritzker taps Cook County official to run state emergency management agency
SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday tapped a Cook County official to run the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security. Theodore 'Ted' D. Berger most recently worked under Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle as the county's executive director of emergency management and regional security. If approved by the state Senate, Berger would be the permanent replacement for Alicia Tate-Nadeau, who started as director of IEMA and OHS in 2019, Pritzker's first year in office, after more than three decades with the Illinois National Guard. As the state's emergency management czar, she played a key role in responses to crises including the COVID-19 pandemic and the influx of asylum-seekers bused from the southern U.S. border, as well as responses to large-scale, weather-related damage. Berger has held roles with the Illinois Department of Transportation, State Toll Highway Authority and the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal. He joined the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in 2012 as deputy director of legislative affairs, managing legislative portfolios, and advancing tax incentives, transparency reforms, and economic development programs. He later worked as chief of staff for Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications, supporting the delivery of services that included public safety technology infrastructure, communications systems, large-scale event management and disaster planning, among others. As Cook County's top emergency management official, he helped guide the county's COVID-19 response and served as primary liaison to state and federal officials during several declared disasters, according to the governor's office. 'With decades of emergency management experience and a wealth of knowledge about our State's many regions, Ted Berger is an exceptionally qualified candidate to lead Illinois' critical support efforts,' Pritzker said in the news release. Preckwinkle said Berger 'helped guide Cook County and Offices Under the President through pivotal county moments, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the new arrivals humanitarian crisis and three federally-declared natural disasters.' His appointment by Pritzker is effective May 15. Originally Published:
