Commonwealth Edison

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his corruption conviction. He was found guilty last year on 10 counts, including bribery, racketeering and wire fraud, tied to a scheme in which ComEd executives provided jobs for Madigan associates in exchange for help with legislation.

Federal prosecutors are urging the court to deny the appeal, citing overwhelming evidence and Madigan's own testimony acknowledging such trades were illegal. Madigan is serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence and was disbarred after his conviction. He previously sought a pardon from President Trump. The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to hear the case.

A coalition of Chicago community organizations, including Housing Opportunities and Maintenance for the Elderly and Access Living, has pressed Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration for more than a month for answers on why roughly $6.3 million allocated to the city's Home Repair Program remains unspent while low-income seniors struggle to get critical repairs and accessibility modifications.

The funding gap traces back to late 2024, when the city shuttered its Small Accessible Repairs for Seniors program and merged its services into the broader Home Repair Program, which previously aided about 300 senior households annually. Since the consolidation, seniors say they've had trouble accessing help and are increasingly turning to 311 or their alderpersons for urgent repairs needed to remain safely in their homes. Some have even been redirected to the same community organizations whose funding was cut when the senior-specific program ended. The advocates are demanding the city clarify any restrictions on the carryover funds and ensure they reach residents with urgent needs as 2027 budget planning gets underway.

The former Charles Warrington Earle School, closed in 2013 under Mayor Rahm Emanuel along with 49 other Chicago schools, has reopened in West Englewood as the Earle School Apartments, a 50-unit affordable housing development. City leaders and developer Gorman & Company cut the ribbon this week on the roughly $35 million project at 6121 S. Hermitage Ave., which includes one- and two-bedroom units for households earning up to 60% of area median income, with nine units set aside at 15% AMI through a nonprofit trust fund program. The Phoenix Foundation will provide on-site supportive services for residents experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

The historic 1897 building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, retains classroom doors and chalkboards as design features. Funding included city tax-increment financing, Chicago Recovery Plan dollars, and ComEd energy incentives. Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former organizer against the 2013 closures, called the project a model for repurposing shuttered schools. Gorman is pursuing similar conversions at other former Chicago schools, including Woods and Bontemps elementary buildings.