Despite a dip in home sales in December, both sales and median prices finished in positive territory in 2016, closing out a year marked by tight housing inventories and continued strong consumer demand, according to Illinois REALTORS

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) CEO Eugene Jones, Jr. today announced the CHA is partnering with several Chicago-area developers to bring a proposed mixed-income and mixed-use development to the Rogers Park neighborhood that includes affordable and market rate housing, a “flexible-format” Target store, and an upgraded community room and open space for residents of CHA’s Caroline Hedger Apartments for seniors on Sheridan Road near Devon Avenue

Governor Bruce Rauner joined by Reverend Jesse Jackson, State Sen. Steans and state agency directors today signed Senate Bill 550, legislation to protect Illinois children from possible exposure to lead in drinking water. "Today is about our future, about making sure our students are not exposed to lead poisoning," said Governor Rauner. "This shows what is possible when we work together. It is a step in protecting our children from the devastating effects of lead exposure.”

Cristina Matos, the first-ever Hispanic resident to serve on the Chicago Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, made her first appearance as an official Board member Tuesday at CHA’s monthly board meeting. Matos, a resident of CHA’s Southeast Scattered Sites, was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Nov. 16, 2016 and will complete the term of retired former Commissioner Harriet Johnson. She will serve until July 7, 2019

Starting today, CHA residents are encouraged to apply for one of more than 200 college scholarship awards ranging from $1,000 to $2,500. The 2017 CHA Scholarship application period is now open through May 17, 2017. In the last three years, CHA has provided support to 534 recipients totaling almost $850,000. Further, more than 80 percent of recent scholarship classes remain enrolled or have graduated, including

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) announced today that more than $3.6 million in federal grant funding has been approved for local governments to purchase land to be used for public access and recreation.  Funding for the program is made available through the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)

U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) was unanimously reelected by his colleagues to continue his service as the Ranking Democratic Member on the Subcommittee on Energy of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) released the following statement after being named Vice-Chair of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC)

U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and John Delaney (D-Md.) today introduced the Partnership to Build America Act, which creates a fund to provide financing to state and local governments for new infrastructure projects. This legislation encourages public-private partnerships and uses bond sales to finance the fund.

An area adjacent to the North Branch of the Chicago River has been selected as the study site in the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) 15th annual ULI Hines Student Competition. The ideas competition – based in reality with certain details changed for the purposes of the challenge – ­provides both full- and part-time graduate-level student teams the opportunity to devise a comprehensive design and development program for parts of a real, large-scale site.

U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) commended the Department of Energy for releasing its second Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) entitled “Transforming the Nation’s Electricity System”. This report focuses on increasing economic value and ensuring consumer equity, enabling a clean electricity future and ensuring electricity system reliability, security and resilience

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that five communities in Illinois will receive a total of $1,354,321 in grant funding through the Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency (ROSS) Service Coordinators (SC) Grant Program. This federal grant program is administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide funding to hire and maintain Service Coordinators who will assess the needs of residents of public housing and coordinate available resources in the community to meet those needs.

Despite the cold, 100 collegians gathered at the Chicago Housing Authority today to “check in” after their Fall semester to explore internship and employment opportunities for the summer