The Latest Breaking News from Lori Lightfoot

The 36-11 vote came after a debate over the project’s merits in an area beset by poverty and whether the land could be better used for public housing.

Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd) was confirmed, sworn in and started voting Wednesday, becoming Chicago’s youngest alderperson. His predecessor, Michele Smith, offered an impassioned defense of the role of council members.

Ja’Mal Green’s version of a public bank would start with $500 million in assets — half from the city’s “cash on hand,” the rest possibly from federal stimulus funds.

The appointment is expected to give Knudsen a running start in next year’s aldermanic elections in the affluent North Side ward, which typically sees heavily contested races. The nomination goes before the City Council Rules Committee Tuesday and the full Council Wednesday.

Ald. Andre Vasquez is not one of 17 council members who have declined the latest pay raise. But he’s not oblivious to the pre-election dilemma. In fact, he’s proposing a cap of 5% or the inflation rate, whichever is yes.

“By and large, the celebration [had] thousands of cars — if not tens of thousands of cars — with very little violence, if any,” Chicao Police Supt. David Brown said Monday. “This was traffic congestion.”

The poll was commissioned by the Nuestro PAC, a national political action committee that’s urging U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia to run against Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other contenders.

CHICAGO — Less than two months before the midterm elections, Vice President Kamala Harris rallied a welcoming crowd of abortion-rights supporters in Chicago on Friday where she heralded Illinois Democrats for playing key roles in pushing for reproductive rights and pushed voters to make their voices heard on Nov. 8.

In her fourth trip to Illinois since taking office, the vice president warned that reproductive rights are under assault across the nation. “And so we need you to get the vote out this November because truly, truly, this election, I do believe will determine the future of not only your…