The Latest Breaking News from Lori Lightfoot

City departments, including those involved with planning and zoning, will be required to produce an “environmental justice action plan” by Sept. 1.

Dozens gathered for a vigil for Chicago Police Officer Aréanah Preston; former President Barack Obama stopped by Lilydale First Baptist Church in Roseland; and Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared a state of emergency as immigrants arrived in Chicago with no space for housing.

Much of Grant Park will be closed to accommodate NASCAR. Now the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium have announced schedule changes because of road closures and expected crowds.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas, the mayor’s former floor leader, said the job should have been filled last fall, when he pressured the mayor to find $400,000 in the budget and reinstate the Office of Veterans Affairs that was disbanded in 2019.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s Chicago cop brother was denied duty disability benefits despite contracting COVID-19 on the job in 2020. Mendoza, who attended Wednesday’s ceremony, wiped away tears as she thanked the governor and others who helped get the bill passed.

Some political commentators have concluded that had Lightfoot been more personable, she might have been re-elected. Maybe. But if Lightfoot were a man, would she have been given a pass? Likely.

Today’s update is about an eight-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

City funding for the arts shouldn’t “be subject to the vagaries of a hotel tax,” Lightfoot told a crowd Tuesday at the Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater.

If the new zoning chair and Council floor leader is more pragmatic than some of his critics expect, it could be a positive step for progressive politics in Chicago and developers.