On today’s agenda in Chicago: Repeal the soda tax
The Cook County Board, overseeing the 41 percent of Illinoisans who live in Chicago and nearby suburbs, is expected to repeal its 1-cent-per-ounce soda tax during a meeting today, only weeks after it took effect. The change of mind in Cook County, the largest jurisdiction in the nation to tax sugary beverages, is a dramatic defeat for public-health advocates.
Soda tax will apply to 41 percent of Illinoisans on Wednesday
Cook County, the most populous county in Illinois, will begin collecting a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages beginning on Wednesday, making it the largest jurisdiction with a soda tax, following a state court decision that the tax is constitutional, said the Chicago Tribune. Som
Will Chicagoans go hazelnutty over the Nutella Cafe?
The world’s first Nutella Cafe is set to open on Chicago’s famed Michigan Avenue in a location abutting Grant Park, whose grassy and wooded expanse leads to the Lake Michigan shoreline, says Eater.
Civic Federation supports 1-cent soda tax for Chicago area
A good-government group, the Civic Federation of Chicago, backed the proposed 1-cent-an-ounce on sugary beverages for Cook County, the second-most populous county in the country and home to Chicago. The County Board will vote on the tax, part of a $44 billion budget for fiscal 2017, in mid-November, roughly a week after four cities vote on soda taxes.
Whole Foods and Starbucks open in one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods
Whole Foods and Starbucks are opening locations in Chicago’s crime-ridden Englewood neighborhood as part of a $20-million project to bring better services and products to the area. “The typically upscale Whole Foods will occupy an 18,000-square-foot store in the newly constructed Englewood Square shopping complex during a notably violent year in the neighborhood, one of the city’s poorest — it served as the setting for Spike Lee’s controversial “Chiraq” movie, and median household income is under $20,000, according to Census data,” says MarketWatch.
Soda tax is on the agenda in Illinois’ most populous county
The president of the Cook County Board proposed a 1-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages — soft drinks, sports and energy drinks, and juices that aren't 100 percent fruit — to close a $174-million budget gap in the county that includes Chicago and 40 percent of Illinoisans. Like Philadelphia Mayor James Kenney, board president Toni Preckwinkle says the levy is fiscal tool.
Chicago considers requirement to sell E15
It's now up to the Chicago City Council to decide if service stations in the city will be required to sell E15, a 15 percent blend of ethanol and gasoline. The traditional blend is 10 percent. The idea was approved by the finance subcommittee on Monday.