Free Republic

CHICAGO — This week, workers began tearing down the vacant Sears world headquarters in Hoffman Estates before the site is turned into a data center, a trend that has grown popular in the suburbs and now, a Chicago alderman wants to bring more of them into the city. That alderman is the 36th Ward’s Gilbert Villegas, who is advocating for a plan at City Council to convert vacant Chicago land into data centers. At a cost of millions annually, city government stores its data at centers locate outside of Chicago. Villegas, chairman of the Council Technology Committee, has written an...

The Chicago City Council on Friday voted to rename its Lake Shore Drive expressway in honor of Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, the first non-Indigenous settler in the area who has been recognized as one of the city's founders. In a 33-15 vote, the council approved renaming the road, "Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lake Shore Drive," keeping the original label in the new name as part of a compromise among council members. Council member David Moore, one of the leading aldermen pushing for the name change, said this week, "None of us would be here, including Lake Shore Drive, if this...