Doesn’t the chief justice alone make the decision on which cases will be heard?
No. Four justices have to agree to hear the case. In legal circles, it's known as "the rule of four".
While the CJ does enjoy some administrative privileges as being recognized as the most senior Justice, his only substantive power comes from deciding who will write the majority opinion, and that only happens when the CJ is holding with the majority.
IIRC, 3 of 5 judges in a review committee must agree to take the case. (I could be wrong, though)
a “conference” is all 9...and ya need 4 votes to proceed to hearing. So far, have only been able to get 3 votes. This is big because there is a request for the two dufus broads appt by dunham to recuse themselves. If that happens you would then need 3 votes to proceed to a hearing!!!!