Fran Spielman

John Catanzara, police union president, discussed the maneuvering with the Sun-Times. When the mayor’s office began “pushing back” against staying away, Catanzara said, the slain officer’s sister told him if the mayor showed up, she would “make a scene and throw him out myself.”

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, whose brother is a Chicago police officer, spoke with the mother and sister of Officer Luis Huesca at Sunday’s wake and passed their wishes along to the mayor’s office that night.

The Bears put the figure at $4.7 billion. But a state official says the tally to taxpayers goes even higher when you include the cost of refinancing existing debt.

The vision laid out by the Bears on Wednesday included detailed renderings of Museum Campus upgrades, including the conversion of Soldier Field to public parkland. But all that work would be paid for by taxpayers, not the team.

The plans, according to the team, will include additional green and open space with access to the lakefront and the Museum Campus, which Bears President Kevin Warren called “the most attractive footprint in the world.”

The Terminal 3 project, made possible by $90 million in federal grants, includes wider concourses, renovated restrooms, a revamped baggage claim area, more concession space and a host of other passenger amenities.

Having former CTU organizer Brandon Johnson in the mayor’s office won’t keep the union from walking out if needed, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates told the Sun-Times, adding that, “We’re a labor union that understands the power of solidarity and the power of work stoppage.”

Votes on $70 million to help migrants and the bond issue to fund housing and economic development now are set for Friday. The Council was, however, poised to approve a slew of other measures.

If Daniel Boland’s petition drive collects 56,464 valid signatures by Aug. 5, the question could go on the November ballot. But that would just give Chicago voters the power to remove a mayor via recall, which they don’t now have.