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Jesús “Chuy” García is a U.S. representative whose elected career began with his 1986 election to the Chicago City Council’s 22nd Ward. His subsequent offices have included the Illinois Senate, Cook County Board of Commissioners and Congress, and he made Chicago mayoral runs in 2015 and 2023.
A coordinated overnight burglary spree struck small businesses across Chicago’s Northwest and North Side early Wednesday. Chicago police said a group of four used bricks and other heavy objects to smash storefront glass, with reports identifying a red sedan believed to have been stolen. The incidents caused substantial property damage while yielding little cash, according to affected business owners.
The Illinois Commerce Commission approved a settlement reducing Nicor Gas’ requested delivery-rate increase from about $220.8 million to $81.6 million. Nicor is a Northern Illinois gas utility, and the settlement followed negotiations involving Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office, the company, and consumer parties. The decision also lowers Nicor’s monthly fixed customer charge and sets a 9.48% allowed return on equity, while leaving consumer advocates concerned about future utility spending.
T5 Data Centers is developing a large data-center campus at the Cornerstone business park in Grayslake, near Peterson Road and Route 83. The campus has received local approvals and its first building permit, while foundation work on the first 800,000-square-foot building is underway. The project remains controversial: opponents filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate approvals and halt further work, and T5 suspended a wetlands-remediation application after community concerns.
No Kings: Vote Early is a national, nonpartisan voter-participation initiative following earlier No Kings mobilizations. In Illinois, organizers have scheduled numerous Oct. 17 events intended to help eligible voters make early-voting plans and understand voting options ahead of the Nov. 3, 2026 midterm election. The events are not polling places, though some local programs include voter-information services or a march to a ballot drop box.
Two proposed class actions in Cook County accuse Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics of collecting facial and hand-geometry information through food-delivery robots without the notice and consent required by Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The companies deny that they collect or use biometric data to identify people. The suits arrive while Chicago’s personal delivery device pilot program remains in effect and is scheduled to expire in May 2027 unless city officials act sooner.
Elk Grove Village, a northwest Cook County suburb, is using a portion of one-time real-estate transfer-tax revenue from data-center property sales for a resident relief program. The village says the two sales exceeded $1.4 billion and produced more than $4 million in transfer-tax revenue. Its broader history of direct household assistance over six years includes two water-bill credits and prior gift-card distributions.