Matthew Blake

Mayor Rahm Emanuel at Wednesday’s City Council meeting said he had fought against "Big Tobacco" throughout his lifetime as the chamber passed a law banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products within 500 feet of schools.

Emanuel warned that tobacco corporations would fight off further city regulations, such as a proposed ban on the use of e-cigarettes in public places that is currently in committee. “Next month, tobacco companies will come in and they will work you over,” Emanuel told aldermen.

Members of the City Council’s Health and Finance committees decided during a joint meeting Monday to defer the vote on an ordinance banning “e-cigarettes” in public places where tobacco products are already banned, such as restaurants. The ordinance would also build on a state ban this year of e-cigarette sales to minors by imposing a $1,000 fine to retailers caught selling electronic cigarettes to minors.

The Cook County Health and Hospitals System Finance Committee on Friday approved extending three separate contracts with staffing agencies that refer nurses to the county system. The contract extensions, each until May 31, 2014, prompted the question of how much progress CCHHS has made on the perennial issue of nurse staffing shortages.

“We’ve been grappling with this since our first meeting years ago,” said board member Jorge Ramirez, alluding to the CCHHS Board’s formation in 2008.

CCCHHS is short about 300 nurses, according to spokeswoman Caryn Stancik.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners approved on Wednesday a one-year contract extension for security services at the county’s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center despite vocal opposition from a handful of commissioners and broader questions about the facility, which is under federal control.

The City Council on Tuesday approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed $6.98 billion budget for 2014 by a vote of 45-5. The vote followed a low-key discussion on the council floor, with aldermen mostly praising the mayor and his budget team.

In remarks to the council, Emanuel on Tuesday said, “The budget does reflect the consensus about a strategy three years running.” Emanuel’s previous two budgets passed by margins of 50-0 and 46-3.