The city's new social media tax, implemented in January, is the main funding earmarked to build out a citywide Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement program in 2027 — but a lawsuit could derail ...

A version of this story was first published in the June 24, 2026 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your ...

The future of Chicago’s parking meters is being met with continued controversy. At the start of 2026, the current owners of Chicago Parking Meters — a consortium including Morgan Stanley, Allianz ...

Leave us a note below! About City Bureau With local media in crisis in Chicago and across the country, City Bureau has been at the forefront of a movement to reimagine journalism as a public good. Our ...

Editor’s note: Our Civic Reporting Fellowship reporting series, Decoding the City Budget, relied on extensive Documenters notes covering City Council budget hearings last fall. Find more public ...

Chicago Documenters notes from Layla Brown-Clark, Katie Busch, Madeleine Davison, Katrina Herring and Brandi Scarber were used to help report this story. Find more public meeting coverage at ...

Take a doomscroll through the internet and the question “is that AI” might cross your mind more than once. Clickbait. A deepfake that’s strikingly realistic. A quote that sounds made up. Media ...

Chicago Documenters notes from Fabienne Elie, Ava Grubb, Katrina Herring, Ayanna Israel, Zara Norman and Gillian Waldo were used to help report this story. Find more public meeting coverage at ...

“Our seniors, low-income families with small children, and persons with disabilities simply can't afford this. They are also not able to walk those long distances into those parks.” — Anne Holcomb, an ...

New Jersey was the first state to treat civic information as a public good. This summer's budget process will decide if that experiment will survive.

Civic life is blooming in New Jersey. In Newark, the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice has trained and paid everyday community members as Documenters to inform their neighbors about their ...