Civic Federation president urges new mayor to think big in cutting costs

Republican Ray LaHood, the former Peoria congressman who served as transportation secretary during Barack Obama’s first term, said Chicago-based Boeing should have grounded its own fleet of 737 Max jets the moment Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed into a farm field about 40 miles from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 passengers and crew.

Runoff opponents in the race for city treasurer aired their very different views on where to take the office charged with managing the city’s $8 billion portfolio. Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) and State Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin.

Toni Preckwinkle came out swinging against her opponent in the April 2 runoff three days after Lightfoot seemingly came out of nowhere to finish first in the field of 14 mayoral candidates.

Lori Lightfoot came out swinging hours after Preckwinkle fired campaign manager Scott Cisek for using a photograph of Nazis on trial at Nuremberg to attack Lightfoot.

The question is not whether Ald. Ed Burke (14th) can get re-elected after being charged with attempted extortion. The question is whether the election even matters to the future of Ald. Ed Burke. That’s the bottom line from David Axelrod, the former presidential adviser now serving as director and founder of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.

Mayoral candidate Gery Chico on Friday rolled out an innovative idea to honor his promise not to put “another brick on the back” of Chicago taxpayers: a special taxing and entertainment district on the west side of O’Hare Airport.

One day after forging their politically potent, inter-generational partnership, Dorothy Brown and Amara Enyia put it to work in an attempt to blow a hole in Preckwinkle’s central argument: that she is a “boss” with the guts to use that strength to deliver for the average Joe.

Retiring Ald. Danny Solis (25th) became publicly embroiled in the federal corruption case against Ald. Edward Burke (14th) last week when the Sun-Times reported that Solis cooperated with investigators and secretly recorded more than a dozen conversations over the last two years with the powerful former chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee.

Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) accused the billionaire Ricketts family that owns the Chicago Cubs of targeting him — and trying to elect a puppet alderman in his place — to pave the way for a “Disneyland” agenda that will make life miserable for Wrigleyville residents.