Cook County’s Medical Examiner Has Flagged 14 Heat-Related Deaths in 2026, the Most of Any Year in Its Archive — Eight of Them Dated July 1 to 4

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The Cook County Medical Examiner’s case archive, counted with aggregate queries only: 14 heat-related deaths in 2026, the most in any year since the archive began in 2014 and more than the previous high of 8 in 2019 - 11 in Chicago, eight dated July 1 to 4. It is a floor, with 547 summer deaths still pending a cause. Cold remains the larger toll: 653 cold-related deaths from 2015 through 2025 against 49 heat-related.

Cook County’s Medical Examiner Recorded 788 Opioid Deaths in 2025, the Fewest Since 2015 — but Hundreds of This Summer’s Deaths Are Still Pending a Cause

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The Cook County Medical Examiner’s case archive, counted with aggregate queries only: 788 opioid deaths in 2025, the fewest since 2015 and 60.6 percent below 2022’s 2,002, with 577 after incidents in Chicago. This year cannot be read yet: January through May sits 14 below 2025 with 71 cases pending, and 547 deaths from June through September - when the city published four overdose-increase alerts - are still pending.

Chicago Police Crash Reports Recorded 1,710 Incapacitating Injuries in 2025, the Fewest of Any Full Year of Citywide Records — but Cyclists’ 180 Were the Second-Most in Eight Years

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Chicago police crash reports, counted with aggregate queries: 1,710 people with an incapacitating injury in 2025, the fewest of any full year of citywide records and 25.1 percent below 2023 - a drop among drivers, passengers and pedestrians, while cyclists’ 180 were the second-most in eight years. Through August 15, 2026 injuries are lower again and deaths are ten ahead of 2025. Plus: three city files, three death counts.

Chicago’s Procurement Department Took 40.9 Days on Average to Approve Task Orders So Far in 2026, More Than Six Times 2023’s 6.2 — Its Own Weekly File Lists a 14-Day Target

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Chicago’s Department of Procurement Services took an average of 40.9 days to approve a task order request in 2026 through September 13, by this desk’s weighting of its weekly scoreboard - more than six times 2023’s 6.2 days. The file lists a 14-day target, and no week in 2025 averaged at or under it. Its City Auctions scoreboard passed its $2 million goal in May and reached $4.13 million. They are the last two of the data portal’s 52 Performance Metrics datasets still updated every week.

Chicago’s Health Department Has Published Five Alerts on an ‘Increase in Opioid Overdoses in Chicago’ in 2026 — Its Public Alert File Holds Three From All Earlier Years

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The Chicago Department of Public Health’s Health Alert Network file, all 1,835 alerts analyzed by date, title and label: five alerts in 2026 whose titles begin ‘Increase in Opioid Overdoses in Chicago,’ four of them since June 3, against three in all earlier years. COVID-19 and flu labels lead the file, this year’s count by September 14 is the lowest since its stated coverage began, measles titles bunch in 2019, 2024 and 2025, and the priority label’s use changed over time.

Chicago’s Vision Zero List Counts 101 Traffic Deaths in 2025, the Fewest of Any Year From 2019 Through 2025 — and 62 in 2026 Through July 29, Five More Than at That Date Last Year

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The city’s Vision Zero traffic fatality list, read whole: 101 deaths in 2025, the fewest of any year from 2019 through 2025 and 45.7 percent below the 186 of 2021. By July 29, 2026 the list held 62, five more than at that date in 2025. Pedestrians are 354 of the 1,048 deaths on it, Austin has the most of any community area, and through mid-July 2026 it counts 52 more deaths than the city’s main crash file.

Lincoln Park Holds 1,590 of the 9,282 Properties Chicago’s Historic Survey Rated Red or Orange — About One in Six, While Four Community Areas Have None

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The Chicago Historic Resources Survey file behind the city’s Demolition-Delay Ordinance, read whole and placed by community area: 9,282 properties rated red or orange, 1,590 of them in Lincoln Park and none in Burnside, Calumet Heights, Mount Greenwood or Riverdale. The Loop and Near North Side hold 80 of the 151 placed red-rated properties, 63.7 percent of dated rows were built before 1900, and the file’s demolished flag marks just four.

Chicago Had $205.3 Million Still Available at the End of May on 215 Grants That End This Year — $73.4 Million of It ARP Recovery Money Dated to December 31

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The Office of Budget and Management’s Grants 925 file, read one snapshot at a time: on May 31, 2026 the city carried 509 active grants with $4.08 billion of budget, 75.2 percent spent. 215 grants ending before December 31 still showed $205.3 million available, $73.4 million of it on ARP Local Fiscal Recovery Fund rows - rows the file’s own description says would not be in it. The file stacks two snapshots, so its rows are never added together.

A Point of Illinois’ Income-Tax Share Was Worth $75.4 Million to Chicago in Fiscal 2025 — Out of $488.1 Million the City Received at 6.47 Percent

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Chicago received $488,086,064 from Illinois’ Local Government Distributive Fund in fiscal 2025 at a 6.47 percent share, by the city’s own file - 21.4 percent of what every local government got. A point of share was worth $75.4 million to the city and $352.0 million statewide. The file’s model, checked on all 19,559 rows, scales each year’s receipts to hypothetical shares of 7 to 11 percent and holds the state’s pool fixed.

Chicago Makes the Banks That Hold Its Money Report Their Lending. Four Files, 337,429 Rows — and Five Different Spellings of BMO.

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The four Lending Equity files the City Comptroller publishes under the Municipal Code, read together: 337,429 rows for 2021 through 2025, $113.59 billion of commercial and consumer lending, $35.44 billion of amounts on residential records, and reported account balances up to $84.04 billion a year. The files also carry 47 bank names for 20 institutions, one loan outcome in five forms, 1,491 blank outcomes, and a year in which one bank filed 88.6 percent of the account rows.

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