The Last Ward
Austin BergThe Last Ward is where power is brokered, deals are cut, and Chicago’s future is decided. Published by the Chicago Policy Center.
| Platform |  | Pricing | Only free issues | Publishes | Weekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues | 65 | Founded | a year ago | Last Issue | 7 days ago |
| Active | |||||
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thelastward.orgLatest Issues
How Chicago stops voters from deciding what matters
Chicago City Council last week finalized six questions that will appear before Chicago voters.
But do those questions actually matter?
Let’s take a look.
All six measures are non-binding, meaning they are essentially poll questions.
Me...
Chicago is home to the emptiest big-city school in the nation
Frederick Douglass learned to read in secret.
He understood from a young age that literacy was, in his words, “the pathway from slavery to freedom.”
But at Frederick Douglass Academy High School in Chicago, the school is so under-enrolled...
The CPS Excellence Agenda: A platform for Chicago school board candidates
Chicago Public Schools has produced some of the world’s brightest stars.
But candidates for the November school board elections—the first fully elected school board in Chicago history—face a raging storm within the nation's fourth-largest...
More bureaucracy is not the answer to Chicago violence
A Juneteenth celebration in Roseland ended in a mass drive-by shooting that left at least 14 people wounded.
It was the most horrifying moment in a stretch of violence that has pushed Chicago’s 2026 homicide count 8% above last year’s pace...
Illinois' new digital asset tax threatens Chicago's legacy, and its future
The canyon of LaSalle Street grew dark.
Thunder clapped. The wind howled. Amber-orange street lamps flicked on. And lightning flashed against the facade of the Chicago Federal Reserve, bouncing off its six-story Corinthian colonnades of In...
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Authors
The writers behind this newsletter.
Executive Director of the Chicago Policy Center | Co-founder and President of Iron Light (2025 Campaigns & Elections Public Affairs Firm of the Year) | Co-author of “The New Chicago Way: Lessons from Other Big Cities"
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