Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.
Quote/Term of the Week
Access point / noun
A designated space or phone line where you can begin the process of getting immediate housing assistance.
Ex: Chicago uses a Coordinated Entry System to help connect people experiencing homelessness to housing opportunities in Chicago. As part of that, there are several access points where you can walk in to get support during their normal hours.
Need help navigating Chicago’s housing landscape? Look no further…
Could you or someone you know benefit from housing resources in Chicago?
Check out our free introductory guide. It includes where to go to find shelter, how to get help if you’re being threatened with eviction, and resources for families, youth, and mental health.
This guide was inspired by conversations between Bronzeville residents and City Bureau reporters about the type of housing information they were hoping to find. Resource providers also told us information is often fragmented across too many sources.
We hope this guide can be a starting point to navigating this imperfect system.
Content in this Newswire is from Resource Guide: Chicago Housing and Shelter by Jerrel Floyd and City Bureau Civic Reporting Fellows. Check out more of our reporting and resources on housing at citybureau.org/news.
What you can do:
Tell us where we should distribute our Chicago Housing Pocket Guide: We printed 1,000 pocket-sized copies, and we need help deciding where to pass them out! Do you frequent a local library, coffee shop or other community space where people would want to grab a copy? Let us know either by responding to this Newswire or emailing grace@citybureau.org.
Print and share the guide: Can’t wait to get your hands on copies of the guide? You can print them yourself by accessing the pdf version here.
They’re baaaack: The Chicago Parking Meters saga continued
According to several alderpeople, the city has reached a deal which will allow the $2.5 billion sale of Chicago’s parking meters to go through. Under this new deal, the private investment firm Stonepeak Partners will sell off Omni Air International before taking on the remainder of the 75-year parking meter contract.
PAUSE: What’s the drama with Stonepeak Partners and Omni Air International?
In July, Stonepeak Partners faced questions from alders about the private equity firm’s involvement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
In 2025, Stonepeak paid $3.1 billion to buy Omni Air, an airline contractor with DHS. Since then, the company has provided transportation for dozens of deportations, many of which were third-country removals. An April investigation from Mother Jones surfaced allegations of human rights abuses and inhumane treatment, including carrying out flights that last longer than 24 hours.
PLAY: In addition to the sale of Omni Air International, the city will make (some) money on this deal.
Once the sale of Omni Air goes through, Stonepeak will pay Chicago $75 million which will go towards the city’s pension fund. Stonepeak also will also pay 5% of its annual net operating income to the city, which is expected to bring $376.2 million over the next 57 years — money that is also planned for the pension fund.
Why does that matter? The city’s pension funds (for police officers, firefighters, municipal employees and laborers) are way underfunded. As of 2025, the city owes $36.4 billion to those four funds.
Also included in the agreement, Stonepeak will commit to having 50% of Chicago Parking Meter employees living in Chicago and will be prohibited from sharing any information about Chicago drivers who use parking meters with the federal government.
What you can do:
We want to hear from you: If you have unpaid parking, red-light or traffic tickets, have ever had your car booted or are unsure whether you owe money to the city, we want to hear about your experiences and how they affect you. Contact us at civicinfo@citybureau.org to share your story with us.
Check out our debt resource guide: City-owned debt can be a lot to navigate. But we got you.
A version of this story was first published in the September 23, 2026 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.
Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Civic Editor Dawn Rhodes at dawn@citybureau.org.