The Fran Spielman Show

The Chicago Teachers Union is demanding an annual pay raise of 9% or the consumer price index-whichever is less—and won't rule out a strike, even with one of their own in the mayor's office, union president Stacy Davis Gates said Thursday. "We're a labor union. We're not a political party Leven though] people...want to redefine the Chicago Teachers Union in all types of ways," Davis Gates told the...

Gin Kilgore, acting executive director of Friends of the Parks, is not about to go along with, what she called Bears President Kevin Warren’s “Buy now. This deal won’t last” sales pitch. “We need to slow down...Involve a lot of stakeholders…We need a lot of scrutiny because this isn’t just about the lakefront…It’s about public financing. It’s about community development... When I think about how l...

Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman is joined by Education Committee chair Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) to discuss her concerns and outlook on the transition of Chicago Public Schools to a hybrid elected school board, emphasizing the potential for chaos and political misuse.

Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman is joined by Ravinia Festival president and CEO Jeffrey Haydon to discuss the guests and musical performers expected in Highland Park this summer.

Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman welcomes colleagues Sun-Times political reporter Tina Sfondeles and WBEZ state and government reporter Dave McKinney to discuss the races to watch ahead of Tuesday's election.

A City Council subcommittee overseeing the search for new revenue will report back in 30 days with ideas that include video gaming, helicopter service to and from O’Hare and Midway Airports and turning vacant downtown retail space into a haven for digital advertising. Freshman Ald. William Hall (6th), Mayor Brandon Johnson’s handpicked chair, also warmed to the possibility of leveling the tax play...

This week we spotlight the Oscars, with Jimmy Kimmel at the helm to host for a fourth time. Sun-Times film critic Richard Roeper shares exciting yet candid reflections on the ceremonies, the movie industry's pandemic recovery, and the waning suspense of Oscars night as he joins cinephile and City Hall reporter Fran Spielman.

Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman is joined by the president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Rob Karr, to discuss the challenges faced by retailers in Chicago, including the decrease in foot traffic downtown and the impact of tax increases on businesses.

Eddie Johnson served as the city’s police superintendent when the ShotSpotter technology was integrated into the 12 district technology centers. He doesn’t blame ShotSpotter for declining the extension. Still, the former top cop told the Sun-Times he’s afraid about what will happen without the technology.

Pretty pictures and rosy financial forecasts have piqued interest in building a new White Sox stadium in the South Loop, but it’s time to put some meat on the bone and talk about how to pay for it. That was the bottom line Thursday from Il. House Speaker Chris Welch, a key player in determining whether the dazzling renderings released by developer Related Midwest turn into reality or remain a pipe...

Anti-Defamation League Midwest Regional Director David Goldenberg joins Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman to discuss Chicago City Council's passing of a Gaza cease-fire resolution this week.

Neighborhood Building Owners Association president Mike Glasser and executive director of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago Farzin Parang join Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman to discuss their arguments against Mayor Brandon Johnson's Bring Chicago Home referendum.

Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman is joined by former United Working Families Executive Director Emma Tai to discuss her role in campaigning for Mayor Brandon Johnson's Bring Chicago Home referendum.

Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman is joined by Chicago City Comptroller Chasse Rehwinkel.

Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman is joined by Chicago Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood to discuss the ongoing safety challenges facing the city and the steps he and the rest of Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration are taking.

Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman is joined by her colleagues to discuss the Burke trial as it approaches its end, the Northwestern scandal, and Mayor Brand Johnson's handling of the migrant crisis.

Days after announcing his departure from the job growth agency known as World Business Chicago, Michael Fassnacht urged City Hall and the two major carriers to work out their differences on a massive project that started at $8.7 billion but has ballooned to $12.1 billion.

City Hall reporter Fran Spielman is joined by Sun-Times colleague David Roeder to discuss his storied career after over a total of 20 years at the newspaper.

The stumbling start for Chicago’s temporary casino prompted an influential alderperson to warn Thursday that the city may be stuck with the gambling den at Medinah Temple indefinitely. Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), chairman of the City Counci’s Public Safety Committee, said Bally’s was undercapitalized to begin with and he fears the company will run out of money to build the $1.7 billion permanent cas...

One day after Mayor Johnson’s tie-breaking vote spared Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) from a City Council censure, senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee said it was not a mistake for Johnson to empower the chair of the Democratic Socialist Caucus with the jobs of floor leader and Zoning Committee chair.

Budget Director Annette Guzman brought up the reserve funds when asked where Mayor Brandon Johnson would turn first if the $150 million Johnson has earmarked for the care and feeding of asylum-seekers in 2024 runs out. “The city has put forth a budget that includes the money that we are willing to contribute to this. But the city does have reserves and things like that, which we do not want to use...

The intelligence failure that “blind-sided” Israel and allowed Hamas to launch its surprise attack is “shocking” for a 70-year-old country with a “well-earned reputation for a security apparatus,” former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Monday. Now U.S. ambassador to Japan, Emanuel hinted strongly that public anger over an intelligence failure that allowed an “unnecessary” and “horrific loss of lif...

Mayor Brandon Johnson's City Council floor leader, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), joins Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman to discuss the proposed city budget and the current state of the migrant crisis.

“The driving force has always been inequity and injustice that Black and brown students and their families experience in this city. And that injustice did not roll away on April 4. We just got another gladiator in a place of power,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates told the Sun-Times.

The White Sox Aug. 25 game against the Oakland A’s should have been stopped completely— or at the very least delayed — after two women were struck by bullets near section 161 of Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago’s interim police superintendent said Thursday. Interim Supt. Fred Waller told the Sun-Times the reason the game was allowed to continue without interruption was a “mis-communication” on the p...