Uber and 6 other Chicago stories suburbanites are talking about

Uber, the ride-hailing giant whose investors include Mayor Rahm Emanuel's brother, was cleared for take off Tuesday at Chicago airports.

Lyft, a competitor, also has been authorized to make pickups at O'Hare and Midway airports and McCormick Place.

In a news release, Uber Chicago General Manager Chris Taylor said consumers can expect to pay $28 for a typical UBERx ride from O'Hare to downtown and $23 from Midway to the Central Business District.

That includes the $5 pickup fee tacked on, under Emanuel's tax-laden, 2016 budget.

Cop in shooting case has troubled record

When Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke and his partner stopped Edward Nance's car on the South Side eight years ago because he didn't have a front license plate, things went bad quickly.

Nance asked why the officers pulled him over and Van Dyke's partner told him to "get the f - out" of the car. The partner allegedly slammed Nance's head on the hood of his car.

Then Van Dyke violently handcuffed Nance and tossed him into the back seat of their squad car, according to a lawsuit Nance filed against the city.

A federal jury awarded Nance $350,000 for injuries to his shoulders that kept him from working at Comcast and at his part-time job as a referee for the Illinois High School Association. But Van Dyke and his partner - members of the now-disbanded Tactical Response Unit that patrolled high-crime areas - were never disciplined.

The case is one of several instances of trouble that have marked the career of Van Dyke, who was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the October 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald.

Chicago schools rule out 'shooting video'

Chicago Public Schools sent a letter home to parents saying the "violent" Laquan McDonald video won't be shown in schools.

Schools' chief education officer Janice Jackson said in letters that CPS created a "special tool kit that will help teachers talk to students about this incident in a sensitive and constructive way."

Bears QB Jay Cutler has a daughter

Monday afternoon Kristin Cavallari gave birth to her third child with husband Jay Cutler, and the couple's first daughter. Saylor James Cutler was born shortly after 1:30 p.m.

Spike Lee defends 'Chi-Raq' message

A day after the Nov. 22 world premiere of "Chi-Raq" at the Chicago Theatre, during one of the most controversial pre-release sagas in recent film history, producer and director Spike Lee couldn't help but raise his voice when he addresses critics who questioned whether the movie would be a respectful treatment of the carnage in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago.

"Why would Jennifer Hudson be part of a film that made a mockery, a travesty of her murdered mother, brother, nephew," Lee told Sun-Times movie critic Richard Roeper. "Why would Jennifer Hudson be part of a Spike Lee film that trivialized her three family members that got murdered?"

Hudson plays a grieving mother of a young girl who was taken by a stray bullet, caught in the gang wars between the Spartan and Trojans, two longtime South Side rivals.

Chicago schools fix CO leak at Prussing

Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool has presented some solutions to a carbon monoxide incident at a Northwest Side elementary school that hospitalized children and teachers, but his apology was met with more questions and demands from the Prussing Elementary community.

Seventy-one students and eight adults from Prussing were taken to hospitals Oct. 30 after fire crews reported high levels of carbon monoxide inside the school at 4650 N. Menard. The entire school was evacuated.

Claypool said CPS' investigation revealed "a number of cascading events," starting with a malfunctioning regulator on one of the school's boilers. The carbon monoxide detector was found unplugged, and a fire door that led into the school that should have been closed was open.

No bail for suspect in Tyshawn murder

Cook County prosecutors on Friday gave a chilling account of the final hours of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee's short life, outlining their case against a man they say targeted the boy for death amid a murderous cycle of retaliation between rival gangs.

As the grade-schooler played on the swings at Dawes Park on Nov. 2, Corey Morgan sat parked in a black SUV with two other men, watching, Assistant State's Attorney George Canellis said at Morgan's bond hearing on a charge of first-degree murder.

At Morgan's bond hearing, Judge Peggy Chiampas seemed to channel the outrage of a city shocked by the brazen killing of a child.

"This was a predator grabbing his prey and luring a child into an alley … executed by a close-range gunshot wound."

Chiampas ordered Morgan held without bail, shouting as she said "no bond!"

• This week's City Briefing was collected in partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times. For complete versions of the items, check chicago.suntimes.com.