John Arena

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's no-bid deal for new expressway billboards guarantees the city far less than half the $700 million the private vendor expects to make and essentially requires Chicago to repay all the upfront cash the mayor touted as a key selling...

The Chicago City Council today approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s controversial plan to change the terms of the city’s parking meter lease despite questions about the deal’s financial impact and fear of giving Chicago Parking Meters LLC...

Even before the City Council on Wednesday approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan for free Sunday neighborhood parking, more than a dozen aldermen were making plans to quickly restore paid parking throughout the weekend in business districts stretching...

Chicago taxpayers still could end up pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the coffers of the company leasing the city's parking meters under Mayor Rahm Emanuel's revamp of the much-reviled deal, a Tribune analysis has found. Most of the extra...

Many folks who park in a Chicago garage or lot will pay more come July under a new tax structure the City Council approved today despite objections from the hotel industry. Six aldermen, including Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, who represents downtown,...

The City Council today approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to allow a conglomerate to build nearly three dozen digital billboards along city expressways in exchange for a lease of at least 20 years. The deal with Interstate-JCDecaux passed 43-6. It had...

The Chicago City Council today easily approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel's $6.5 billion budget for next year.As aldermen met, the only debate was over the mayor’s expected margin of victory. Last year, the City Council voted 50-0 to approve Emanuel's...

A City Council committee today signed off on 21 locations where food trucks will be able to park on a regular basis, but two others didn’t make the cut. The ordinance making food trucks legal requires that at least 30 “food truck stands&...

After months of uncertainty, the Portage Theater is under new ownership. The current tenants who run and manage the cinema received a letter Wednesday night from an attorney representing the new owner informing them of the change, effective Sept. 1....

For the last several months, the City of Chicago has been mysteriously stripped of metal tree grates and sewer covers. Officials believe that on Thursday they uncovered a cache of the items worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in a West Side...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to tighten up ethics rules for city employees advanced through a City Council committee Wednesday despite concerns by aldermen that the new rules could handcuff them as they try to deal with issues in their communities....

A Northwest Side church has dropped its bid to purchase the Portage Theater in the Six Corners shopping district, a move the local alderman had warned would threaten efforts at a revival in the area. Chicago Tabernacle Church released a statement...