CPD to hire, but how to pay?
Chicago’s police department will add 970 new positions over the next two years, its superintendent announced Wednesday, saying the move will help combat the dramatic increase in shootings and homicides that has left thousands injured and hundreds dead this year. But Mayor Rahm Emanuel didn’t explain how the city, which is grappling with financial woes, will pay for the hiring spree. Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a news conference he asked for additional officers and Emanuel “delivered.” The plan, effective in January, will increase the number of sworn officers from about 12,500 to about 13,500; Johnson said vacancies will be filled on top of the new hires.
Teachers begin strike vote:
Teachers in the nation's third-largest school district are casting ballots on whether they support a strike. Members of the Chicago Teachers Union began voting for a strike authorization on Wednesday. Voting lasts through Friday. Union officials say the results won't be available right away. The union needs 75 percent support, which is expected. A similar vote in December garnered support from roughly 88 percent of the voting members. Union members say the second vote offers legal cover. If the union goes on strike, they have to give the district 10 days of notice. The earliest a walkout could take place is mid-October. The contract expired in June 2015.
Post office may honor cop:
The U.S. House has approved a measure to name a post office on Chicago's Northwest Side after a police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty more than 40 years ago. U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley of Chicago sponsored the legislation. It would rename the post office the Officer Joseph P. Cali Post Office Building. The bill now goes to the U.S. Senate. Quigley says Cali was 31 when he was shot and killed by a sniper while writing a traffic ticket on West Lake Street. Cali was a Vietnam War veteran who had been a member of the Chicago Police Department for two years. He was survived by his wife and two young daughters.
