The Sixth Ward

Capitol Fax: Senators call for Hamos ouster

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:30:00 PDT

Our state Senator Donne Trotter has attached his name to a letter posted to the Capitol Fax blog that express the lack of confident in the leadership of the state Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) Director Julie Hamos. His name is attached along with his colleague Sen. Martin Sandoval in speaking for the "unified sentiment of our respective caucuses". The respective caucuses being the Black and Latino Caucuses of the IL state Senate. The letter mainly cites the budget cutting that has claimed many healthcare and mental health services and their affect on the Black and Latino communities of this state.

How was your experience with the Red Line Reconstruction?

noreply@blogger.com (JP Paulus) — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:34:00 PDT

So how was your ride on the Red Line this morning (and/or this afternoon)?

Reader Melanie Payne shared with us (on our Facebook page) her experience this morning. (Included are our questions):

Melanie Payne It worked, i got to work 40 minutes early. As long as they keep the shuttles coming and the trains are running no more than 3 minutes apart then people should be good.

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 8 hours ago

The Sixth Ward That's great to know. Can we post your comments on a blog post? Also -- my wife is concerned about safety at Garfield (as well as the potential chaos there). How was it this morning? And how does it work for the ride home? (Also, feel free to e-mail us or give us a link to any photo you would like us to use, if any. THANKS (jp)

Like · 7 hours ago
Melanie Payne I have to get back to you for the ride home part. As far as chaos going..im not going to say she is right or wrong but there was ALOT of security over there. Now maybe long term thinking she maybe correct. Im not one for being on that side town either. They have the red line running on the same track as the green line. So its the same type of redline people as before. The redline goes in the tunnel if you she/you need to get off downtown (like me) or even go up north. Sure you can use my quote. Now I might come back to you all a month later and say whether not its the same.

Unlike · 1 · 7 hours ago
The Sixth Ward So you're saying you don't have to change at Roosevelt (where the Green Line and Red Line link up)? You can hop on at Garfield, and stay in your seat, until, say, Washington or even up to Howard? (jp)

And if you come back with a very different opinion about the reconstruction, we will have no problem with that (well, we WILL have a problem, but no problem to post about it ). We wonder if the effort will be maintained, or like Wal-Mart, once the hype has died down, the quality sinks.

Thanks so much -- and feel free to send anything (or even your very own guest post) to blog@thesixthward.us

Like · 7 hours ago
Melanie Payne Yes at Garfield they have the Red/Howard and the green line running on the same track. So if you need to head underground and get off at LAKE or JACKSON you can stay seated.

Like · 7 hours ago
Melanie Payne On the Red/Howard train

Like · 7 hours ago
The Sixth Ward So far no big bens on King drive or Cottage Grove. As far as security, now that UC owns a building over there (Washington Park Arts Incubator), you have the transit detail and UC patrolling. wg

Like · 6 hours ago

We will update this entry when Melanie reports back this evening!

Progress IL: Englewood Renters Left Without Electricity, Gas Due To Foreclosure: 'We Were Left In The Dark'

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:30:00 PDT

This is a very unfortunate story. Unless you follow real estate you may not realize that foreclosures is still affecting people almost five or so years after they really became headline news. We can talk about people who own homes that they couldn't afford, but let's bear in mind there are foreclosed properties involving renters. We take a look at the couple above Shantisha & Ezekiel Shaw whose family are exactly in that situation.

The Shaw’s landlord was foreclosed upon last year and Freedom Mortgage Corp. took over the deed for the building on December 14, as indicated by the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court.

But neither Shantisha, nor her husband, Ezekiel Shaw, said they were notified the building was being foreclosed upon. They said they were not given a 90-day notice to vacate, nor were they provided any instructions indicating where they should send their monthly $550 rent — which includes utilities — following the foreclosure.

The Shaws say they were not provided with any landlord or contact information pertaining to who would be responsible for maintaining the property after the foreclosure.

“We’ve been left in the dark, literally,” said Ezekiel, 45. “What are we supposed to do?”
...
In February the Shaws received an eviction notice from Pierce & Associates, a leading Chicago-based foreclosure law firm.

“Demand is hereby made upon you for immediate surrender of possession of the above premises,” the February 4 letter, identifying Pierce & Associates as attorneys for Freedom Mortgage, states.

“But we don’t have any money, I don’t know what they expect us to do,” said Shantisha.

I don't want to excerpt more from this article, but you should read the whole thing. We should bear in mind one thing when it comes to foreclosures. Banks do not want to be landlords, they have to maintain the properties they have to take.

I'm not sure of the entire situation involving the Shaws, but there's a problem if they're making this family leave their building because they don't want to be landlords and therefore responsible for maintaining this property. The Shaws had also reported that their utilities were shut off who knows if it's because the company that took over their property did it to make them move. Also recognize that if true shutting off utilities or other actions to make people leave a property is called "constructive eviction" and it's an illegal practice.

Anyway, I'm curious what everyone thinks of this story.

Black-owned banks faces challenges...

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:30:02 PDT

When you read this article you note this paragraph:

In the past few years, several Black-owned banks, including the $2 billion-asset ShoreBank, one of the most active lenders on Chicago’s South Side, Covenant Bank and Highland Community Bank have closed or been absorbed into another institution.

Covenant Bank has been absored into the New Orleans, LA based black-owned Liberty Bank earlier this year. However ShoreBank and it's successor Urban Partnership Bank weren't/aren't considered Black-owned. Highland Community Bank well they're not yet closed although I understand that they've been on the brink of closure for a while. In fact, Highland is being courted for purchase by an investment group and I meant to share this article from DNA Info earlier.

Now that we got those qualifiers out of the way, this article is more than appropriate since Chatham at least is home to two Black-owned financial institutions namely Seaway Bank which is headquartered in Chathan and Illinois Service Federal which is headquartered in Bronzeville. In mentioning Seaway here's another thing to note:

“It’s going to be nonbanking-related services that’s going to help them to survive,” he said, citing Chicago’s Seaway Bank & Trust Co., which provides currency exchange services at the airport.

Seaway Bank provides FOREIGN currency exchange services at both O'Hare & Midway airports. Makes sense right? If you're traveling to a foreign nation more than likely you would need to exchange American money for the money of the nations you're traveling to. Whereas a currency exchange, well many of us have different ideas of services offered.

Anyway, we see the history of Black banks their general mission and how they've had to adapt to many changes. Also what can Black banks do to continue to survive and whether or not the idea of a Black-owned bank is considered obsolete. I'm curious to know what you all think.

Sun-Times: Red Line rehab will affect 98,000 CPS students’ commute to school

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:02 PDT

Visit Red Line South for more info

This article sort of puts these proposed school closings into perspective although it doesn't mention that. The Red Line will be closed down from May to October and right now parents are concerned about how their children will be able to at the very least travel from school to home. I wonder if this article gives parents even little ease.

The CTA said 98,000 students at 370 CPS schools will be affected by the Red Line construction, including elementary and secondary schools, spokeswoman Tammy Chase said. Students from 12 Catholic schools also take the Red Line to and from school.

Outreach to students began in April, when an alernative service flier was sent out along with report cards, Chase said. And robocalls to homes of CPS students began May 1. Another round of robocalls will begin Friday.

Reader: Mayor Rahm's Chicago—in black and white

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Thu, 16 May 2013 06:30:02 PDT

Ben Joravsky is looking at how Chicagoans view the job performance of Mayor Emanuel. This look is broken down according to race, ethnicity, or even class. How do you think the Mayor is doing as he's halfway through his term as Mayor of Chicago?

Did Liberation Christian Center Disrespect The Park Manor Community

noreply@blogger.com (Worlee Glover) — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:00:05 PDT

Talking about religion or more specifically a church is consider taboo but in this case it's necessary. This past Monday evening I attended the Park Manor Neighbors Community Council (PMNCC) monthly meeting. There was a full agenda, but most of the 100+ attendees came out for one issue. Only through communication through PMNCC were they notified that an organization Unity Parenting and Counseling had approach the Alderman about signing off on a special use permit. The need for the permit was to establish a shelter for homeless teens. In most cases the PMNCC meeting attendees are even tempered but this subject angered the attendees. The shelter wanted to open inside what was once a small elementary school operated by St. Peter Lutheran Church. The building is being leased by a Liberation Christian Center. The church is new to the community and little was known or communicated about the church to the community. As the representatives of Unity attempted to make their case, the temperature in the room was going to start to boil over and both representatives from Unity and attendees became upset. No answer that Unity gave was or would have persuaded the members of the 74th,73rd Wabash and Michigan block club members who were in attendance. The bottom line was and is that 7400 S Michigan is the wrong location and YES, this is definitely the wrong time. On May 19th, the Red Line train line will shut down for 6-9 months and limit transportation options including several bus lines to the community and require possible walking through the community to get to alternative routes. So to state that the shelter would have no impact on the community is a very shortsighted and somewhat delusional. Per Unity, if someone is expelled for not following the rules they are not allowed to loiter around the building . This would lead the individuals to walk up to 75th street where there are stores and several nightclubs. 75th Street is the dividing line for the Chicago Police Department 3rd and 6th districts. Both districts already have their hands full and having homeless teens loitering is just a problem the y do not need. While it became very apparent that the community was not going to support the special use permit, what did become apparent the church and pastor attempted to pimp both groups. During the presentation, Unity stated the pastor Bishop James E. Dukes offered the space to them, and never mentioned he had any conversations with the community. The church and pastor certainly didn't make any friends by blowing off this meeting or ever coming out to introduce themselves to the community. Sources characterize the pastor as "Shady". Per Unity representatives, the pastor was out of town. I and many others question the timing of this proposal. In a time when our city and state government are suppose to be broke, where is the money coming from to pay for this shelter? In a time when city services such as Mental health facilities that serve this community are being eliminated or consolidated to other areas why is there such an urgency to open this facility? Lastly, why did this group not notify any of the other social service agencies that service the community of their intentions to open this facility? So the bottom line is the Liberation Church feels that they can do what they want and not answer to anyone, such as engage in construction work without obtaining permits. So is this what churches are suppose to do? Is this what men of god suppose to do? So it will be interesting to see if the pastor steps up and apologizes to the community and work with community.

Ward Room: Are Casinos "City Ruiners"?

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:30:01 PDT

This issue has come up in the city from time to time. It's often viewed as a way to gain more revenue for the city especially for the public schools. This opinion from Ward Room argues that a casino could be a "city ruiner" and cites an urbanist who's fighting a casino in the other second city: Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

To be sure, the only reason I would support a casino is if it went to a struggling city neighborhood so they could reap any potential benefits although current proposals I've seen seeks a casino in downtown Chicago. Certainly it's understandable to keep tax dollars in the city as residents who do visit the casinos are likely to go to Indiana or nearby cities such as Aurora or Joliet.

All the same I'm curious how people would view a Chicago casino. Do you think a casino in this city could be a "ruiner"?

DNAinfo: Izola's Replaced by New Soul Food Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:46:44 PDT

Izola's as seen in April 2011

It appears the space formerly occupied by Izola's has a new tenant that recognizes the legacy of the previous establishment:

Brothers Anthony and Michael Cherry opened a soul food restaurant Saturday in the former home of the legendary Izola's.

Occupying 20,000 square feet at 522 E. 79th St. is Luversia's, a family restaurant that Anthony Cherry said was named after his late mother, Luversia Faye-Cherry, who died in 2008.

"She was a good person who taught us a lot about life," recalled Anthony Cherry, who grew up in Englewood but now lives in South Shore. "Five years from now I want to expand the restaurant to have a location on the West Side, North Side and downtown. I know those are ambitious goals, but I am an ambitious person."

Izola's, named after Izola White, opened in 1940 and closed in 2011. Luversia's has continued in part to use the former restaurant's identity by offering an "Izola's Ole-Skool Burger" for $6.99.

BTW, let's not forget not long after announcing for Mayor in 2010 Rahm Emanuel paid a visit to Izola's.

Who plans to pay a visit in the near future? And who has paid a visit and what are your thoughts on your experience there?

Are you planning your alternatives to the Red Line starting May 19th?

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Tue, 14 May 2013 09:45:00 PDT

If you check out the Red Line South project website, you will see that there will be "ambassadors" who will be at the affected locations through May 16th. You may want to talk to them about all the details regarding the alternatives as the Dan Ryan line is shut down for five months. As a matter of fact on May 1, you may have had the chance to talk to an ambassador at 95th Street who just so happens to be Forrest Claypool President of the CTA which is what you see in the photo below.


Courtesy of @RedLineSouth

Anyway, in spite of that brief intro, we're here to discuss this recent article from the Sun-Times about how Red Line riders are planning to cope with this project. Some apparently are still unaware of the alternatives, discounts, and service levels that will be provided by CTA during the next 5 months. Also add to that the shuttles that will be used in lieu of the trains are free!

Four shuttles will provide free, nonstop service to the Garfield station — from the Red Line’s closed 95th, 87th, 79th and 69th street stations. They’ll start at 4 a.m. and end at 1 a.m.

One shuttle will provide a free bus service making five stops only — at the 95th, 87th, 79th, 69th and 63rd street stations. It also will run 4 a.m. - 1 a.m.

An Owl Shuttle between the hours of 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. will provide a free bus service with six stops — at the Red Line’s 95th, 87th, 79th, 69th and 63rd street stations, with the sixth stop at the Garfield Green Line station.

A final shuttle will provide free, nonstop bus service between the Red Line’s Roosevelt Road and Cermak-Chinatown stations. It will run 24 hours.

Riders boarding south of 63rd will get a 50-cent discount on 17 bus routes. Those include the #3 King Drive; #4 Cottage Grove; #6 Jackson Park Express; #8 Halsted; #9 Ashland; #14 Jeffery Jump; #15 Jeffery Local; #24 Wentworth; #26 South Shore Express; #28 Stony Island; #29 State; #44 Wallace/Racine; #48 South Damen; #49 Western; #94 South California; #52A South Kedzie; and the #53A South Pulaski.

And on 19 South Side bus routes, riders will get the 50-cent discount no matter where they board. These include the #5 South Shore Night Bus; #30 South Chicago; #34 South Michigan; #67 67th/69th/71st; #71 71st/South Shore; #75 74th/75th; #79 79th; #87 87th Street; #100 Jeffery Manor Express; #103 West 103rd; #106 East 103rd; #108 Halsted/95th; #111 111th/King Drive; #112 Vincennes/111th; #115 Pullman/115th; #119 Michigan/119th; #8A South Halsted; #95E 93rd/95th; and the #95W West 95th.

There’s a caveat, however. The 50-cent discount only applies to full-fare customers using cash, Transit Cards or Chicago Cards. It won’t work with any discounted fare or multiple-day passes.

Also if you're electing to use Metra trains for your commute:

CTA and Metra are offering a special combination package during the upcoming Red Line reconstruction, but riders will have to weigh dollars and cents — as well as pros and cons — before deciding which commute is best.

For displaced riders at the southernmost end of the Red Line, the package features a 10-ride ticket on the Metra Electric or Rock Island line combined with a five-day CTA pass. The bundle was created just for the five-month Red Line shutdown that starts May 19.

Is it a deal?

It’s complicated.

Metra officials concede that the price of the special 10-ride ticket in Zones B, C and D is unchanged, ranging from $30 to $74, depending on a station’s distance from downtown. What’s new is that CTA riders can buy that Metra ticket at certain CTA retail outlets, such as Walgreens and Jewel, where they usually buy their CTA fares.

The Metra portion of the package is “simply a convenience’’ to make it easier for Red Line riders to purchase if they have to take Metra trains, Metra officials say.

Once they board, former CTA riders might like Metra’s more heavily upholstered seats and the one or two “quiet cars’’ per train for “people who want peace and quiet,’’ Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said.

Hopefully this will help out finanically and timewise when we consider how we're going to get back and forth between home and work.

Crain's: Why Sears sees salvation in servers

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Tue, 14 May 2013 09:51:54 PDT

Photo by ZOL87

It seems Sears has an idea for the store that they plan to close on 79th Street:

Parent Sears Holdings Corp. has formed a subsidiary, Ubiquity Critical Environments LLC, tasked with converting some of the more than 2,500 Sears and Kmart properties to data storage facilities with servers, chillers and backup generators. It also plans to top all of its buildings with telecommunications towers that would serve a wide range of needs, including, ironically, those of the e-commerce rivals that Sears is struggling to match.

First up: a Sears store along the Chicago Skyway that will close in July.

If you'd like to read the whole article, there may be registration required. Hopefully there will still be some room for another business or businesses to move in. We recently got an email about another business who could utilize this building if they were interesting in expansion: Mariano's.

Sears on 79th is now closing. What would YOU like to see happen here?

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Sun, 12 May 2013 10:25:00 PDT

Photo by ZOL87

Recently we learned on Lee Bey's blog that the Sears store located @ 1134 E. 79th Street is closing. That's not the only store also the store located at 62nd/Western and the store at River Oaks Mall will also close. For the purposes of this post we will focus on the stores on Western and 79th Street.

For a while I had been thinking about writing a post about vacant lots and buildings that should be developed and what should be placed there. I figure this would be a good place to start let's find a use for these soon to be vacant stores on both 79th & 62nd/Western.

My first idea for both stores is this. Perhaps we could fit a Whole Foods Market in both of those stores. In fact 62nd/Western would be more likely than 79th street because a Whole Foods is already expected to be built in Hyde Park and I'm uncertain how much expansion they're going to do on this part of town. But 62nd/Western would be a good location on the Southwest part of town.

Also by possibly Worlee on our FB page it was suggested that the 79th Street Sears building could be used as a shopping center. He already has written about turning the area along Stony Island into a retail corridor almost like North/Clybourn for example. East 79th would be a great start in that direction.

BTW, if anyone has any areas they would like to add to what they would like to see developed, please feel free to share. Send an e-mail, post to our FB page, or send a tweet @thesixthward. Feel free to send pics as well.

The Red Line South Project will commence on May 19th

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 10 May 2013 21:15:31 PDT

May 19th is the date and the surrounding neighborhoods are still talking about the project. The May 18th meeting of the Greater Chatham Alliance will be discussing the coming project. In their May newsletter they noted some rumors and facts about the project:

Starting May 18th, both State Street and Lafayette will be closed during the length of the project (approx. 5 months): No cars or trucks will be allowed to park on these streets. FACT!
Vehicles on the above streets will be towed by the city and fined. During the first two weeks, you will only be towed! FACT!
No vehicles will be allowed to drive down State Street and Lafayette during the entire Reconstruction Project. RUMORED!
CTA will be running dual lanes of buses down the closed streets of State and Lafayette. RUMORED!
79th, 83rd and 87th arterial streets will be closed down during this project to accommodate construction equipment. RUMORED!
CTA plans to add additional security to protect citizens boarding these express buses and in the areas affected. RUMORED!

Also concerned about crime, traffic, with the additional issue of parking if residents on Lafayette and State Streets aren't able to park in front of their residences.

If you want to learn more about this project and additional information to adjust your communtes for the next 5 months then visit the special page for this project @ http://www.transitchicago.com/redsouth/

In the meanwhile here are some articles that will keep you aprised of this project. Found most of them courtesy of Chicago-L.org.

Red Line going offline during reconstruction - John Hilkevitch
Red Line rehab includes 3 elevators, prep work for new 95th St. station - Sun-Times
Red Line shutdown on South Side may curb business at rib joint, other shops - Sun-Times
All systems go for Red Line shuttle - RedEye
Red Line riders get set for 5-month construction project: 'It’s going to be crazy' - Sun-Times

Sun-Times: CTA replacing outside security by hiring customer-service workers

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Tue, 07 May 2013 06:30:02 PDT

During the past two or so months you may have seen posts advertising about the part-time Customer Service Assistant positions that the CTA had held job fairs for. Well this story will concern those of you who have pursued this opportunity!

Spurred by a deal with a key labor union, the transit agency has begun replacing hundreds of contract security guards it now uses to patrol L and subway stops with full- and part-time CTA customer-service employees. CTA officials say the move will make stations safer by putting security responsibilities in the hands of workers trained especially to do the CTA work.

The customer-service workers “will have roughly the same amount of training as the private security personnel, but that training will be specific to the CTA,” agency spokesman Brian Steele says.

The new workers will perform the same duties as the private security guards, according to Steele, and will be able to do other things, too — like retrieve items dropped on L tracks and help customers who are unfamiliar with ticket machines.

One difference: The CTA isn’t requiring its customer-service workers to get state security licenses — something the agency now requires under its private security guard contract with Securitas Security Services USA, and its minority subcontractor, Star Detective & Security Agency. The more than 450 full-time CTA rail guards employed by those companies all are licensed through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, so they’re trained and screened under rules set by state law.

Not requiring that poses “a safety concern,” says James Huckabee, vice president of Star Detective, especially in light of so-called wilding incidents in which groups of teenagers get off the L and attack or harass people, and the Boston Marathon bombings, in which bombs were placed in backpacks.
...
The CTA plans to keep hiring outside security companies to provide guards working with dogs at train stops and has no plans to change that staffing. Securitas is in the final year of a five-year contract that paid it $1.7 million last year for that work, also with Star as its subcontractor. The contract is up in July.

Besides keeping the canine cops, the CTA has installed $26 million worth of high-definition video cameras at L and subway stations — a tool it didn’t have when Securitas was first hired in the late 1990s.

In February, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis found that crime at L stops was up 21 percent in 2012, but violent crime was down 30 percent. The most common offense — turnstile-jumping or other forms of fare evasion — soared by 41 percent, the analysis found.

The move to replace the 450-plus private security guards with CTA employees follows a Dec. 7 deal the agency reached with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308. The agreement calls for the CTA to employ a total of 240 full-time “customer-service representatives,” and nearly 700 new, part-time “customer-service assistants,” each who can work up to 32 hours a week.

The CTA plans to have the new hires in place this summer. More than 280 have been hired so far.

Capitol Fax: She'd better be ready for a fight

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 06 May 2013 19:00:04 PDT

Anita Alvarez

Rich Miller takes a look at next year's election line-up. If Lisa Madigan leaves her position at Attorney General who might line-up to take her place? Could it be Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez?

On State's Attorney Alvarez, Miller states: "If she runs, African-American politicians are gonna be up in arms. Guaranteed."

Why is that you may ask? Well, last December I posted a video from CBS 60 Minutes and she was interviewed on that program to discuss Chicago as a "false confession capital". Miller stated back then amounted her performance of her interview on the newsmagazine as "what could amount to political suicide".

[VIDEO] Here's a video of then State's Attorney candidate Alvarez in 2010 for those of you who are concerned about your rights to own a gun via Newsalert!

[VIDEO] Also a video of State's Attorney Alvarez last year for those of you concerned about the many young Black men who has been railroaded by the office of the Cook County State's Attorney.

Progress IL: Englewood Residents Question TIF Program, Call For More Community Mobilization At Town Hall Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:30:01 PDT

You might have seen an image such as the one to the left on our FB page recently. On Saturday, the Resident Association of Greater Englewood hosted a town hall meeting on Englewood area tax increment financing (TIF) districts. Progress Illinois covered this event:

Property taxpayers in Englewood were furious upon learning at a town hall meeting Saturday that their tax dollars had contributed at least $44 million to the Englewood Neighborhood Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District since it rolled out in 2001. According to data from the CivicLab's TIF Illumination Project, some $44 million of taxpayer dollars had funneled to the TIF district between 2001 and 2011.

In 2011 alone, the TIF district siphoned $5 million from property taxpayers in the area, which would have normally gone to local units of government such as schools and parks, according to the CivicLab.

“The original concept is that (TIFs are) designed to have an impact on blighted areas, and just looking out the window, we know that a blighted area is all around us,” CivicLab's Bill Drew said at the TIF discussion, held at the Chicago Public Library's Hiram Kelly Branch.

Members of the volunteer-based TIF Illumination Project are traveling across the city in order to promote TIF transparency at the ward level.

There are 163 TIF districts across Chicago and an additional 280 in suburban Cook County.
...
A little more than $24 million was left sitting in the bank account of the Englewood Neighborhood TIF district at the end of 2011, according to the CivicLab’s analysis.

And that news didn’t sit well with some of the residents.

“We need an attorney,” said Etta Davis, a 50-year Englewood resident. “We know we are being had. We’re being messed over. We are being stolen from.”

Some Englewood homeowners who live in the district did receive some TIF money as part of the Neighborhood Improvement Program to make repairs to their homes, according to the CivicLab’s analysis.

But overall, TIF money was spent on little, if any, commercial developments within the district since its creation, the CivicLab found.

It seems as if the controversy over TIFs aren't going away and this article is well worth your time.

WBEZ: CPS quietly lowers its estimated cost savings from closing 54 schools

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:00:05 PDT

"CPS Our Children...Our Future"

I wonder what's the story here. If it's not about the money what is it about?

Chicago’s school district will not be saving as much by closing 54 schools as it originally told the public.

When it announced the closings, Chicago Public Schools said it would save $560 million in capital expenses over the next 10 years by closing schools and avoiding repairs and upgrades on those buildings.

Now, the district is revising that cost savings number downward. It says it was off by $122 million, or 20 percent. The real 10-year cost savings figure is $437.8 million, CPS now says.

It made the correction on page 36 of a 457-page document that lays out the district’s facilities plan for the next decade.

Chicago Public Schools says it made an “honest mistake” when adding numbers, and had plugged in some schools that didn’t belong there. But the overall cost savings is also being revised downward because schools that had not been assessed for years are getting thorough capital-needs reviews.

Later this month on May 22, 2013 will the Board of Education vote on proposed school closings.

Sun-Times: Players from Payton, Brooks to meet at breakfast Friday at CPS headquarters

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Thu, 02 May 2013 10:00:05 PDT

I've been hearing about this story for quite a while. A baseball game was cancelled but for what?

The original game was canceled last Saturday night after several parents decided not to let their kids travel to the South Side neighborhood because they feared for their safety, Payton coach William Wittleder told the Chicago Sun-Times shortly after the last-minute cancellation.

Payton Principal Timothy Devine disputed Wittleder’s explanation and said the game actually was canceled because bus transportation had not been arranged and several players had been benched for missing practice.

“The situation has slighted parents at Brooks and made Payton parents feel they are unfairly being labeled as racist,” the source said.

A make-up game is scheduled May 11th at Gwendolyn Brooks Prep on 111th/King Drive.

The excerpt is from an article where players from the north sides Walter Payton Prep and Brooks were expected to meet at CPS HQ downtown for a fellowship breakfast.

Because of what happened and as you see what was excerpted there was some hard feelings. May not necessarily be between both teams. It seems the decision to cancel this game was out of the hands of both teams.

This would be the time to ask a very loaded question, but as excerpted there are two sides to every story. The parent's wouldn't let the Payton players travel to the south side for safety reasons or the school hadn't arranged transportation to the south side. The facts may lie somewhere in the middle. At the same time who knows some parents really did get worried about their children traveling to 111th to play some baseball.

Can the Bedroom Community of Park Manor and a Teen Homeless Shelter Coexist in Harmony

noreply@blogger.com (Worlee Glover) — Wed, 01 May 2013 18:28:09 PDT

The Park Manor community is a quiet community that many times gets overlooked. The community which starts at 69th street on the north and 79th south, State Street to the West and Cottage Grove to the east. Many times it gets rolled up in Greater Grand Crossing or Chatham. The community is bedroom community that exist of single family bungalows, two flats and the last of Chicago three flats. The community has recently been on TV as a television show "American Diggers" attempted to reignite the Al Capone lore by asking to dig up individuals backyards in search of possible hidden treasure that could have been left by Capone. The community and the Chicago Police Department put a quick end to that.

On the corner of 74th Michigan Ave sits a church, the church which was built in the late 1920's served as a Lutheran church and elementary school up until the 1990's. Due to declining enrollment and a dwindling congregation both the school and church were closed and merged with another church outside of Park Manor. The building and adjoining school have been leased to a variety of churches and nonprofits and none have had any long term success at operating.

The building is currently being occupied by Liberation Christian Center which is an acceptable use by the community. Now the church would like to sublease a portion of the building to a group named Unity Parenting and Counseling . The organization which has an incomplete website states that they are a social service agency that offer foster care services for the State of Illinois. Also, it states they run a housing community "Harmony Village" that houses teens from the age of 17-21, who are homeless. The group has a facebook page for Harmony Village but id does not state where they are currently located. Both Harmony Village and Unity Parenting Counseling were both contacted and did not respond to request for additional information.

In the past other organizations have attempted to come to Park Manor both legally and illegally and operate transitional or "halfway" housing. The community has been very vocal in their disapproval even when some of these operators attempted to go to ultra liberal media outlets and disparage the community. Also, based on a visual inspection it appears that the church is already making plans to go forward regardless of the community feelings and not have the proper City of Chicago permits.

Some are going to argue that some of the other churches in the community have social service organizations operating out of their facilities but none have any form of housing going on.

On Monday May 6, 2013 the community will weigh in on this matter as the church and Unity Parenting and Counseling will seek to get the members of Park Manor Neighbors to write a letter of approval to Alderman Roderick Sawyer. The details of the meeting are:

Monday
May 6, 2013
6:30pm
St Columbanus(Glass House)
311 E 71st Street

Do you think they should approve the Shelter?

Rosenthal: Rejuvenation of South Side the fair thing to do

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 01 May 2013 11:00:06 PDT

It's great to know there are projects moving along on this part of town, but it would be nice to know of projects that would also benefit Englewood, Chatham, and other areas on the far south side. They closed Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune came was the vacant steel mill site in the South Chicago neighborhood. If the south side is benefitting from the rejuvenation what form would you like to see it take in our communities? Hat-tip Curbed Chicago!

VIDEO: CTA Red Line south reconstruction project by Jahmal Cole

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 01 May 2013 06:30:01 PDT

[VIDEO] Recently Jahmal Cole's Role Model Movement hosted an event at the Whitney Young Library with regards to the coming shut down of the Dan Ryan or south branch of the CTA Red Line. It's coming on May 16th and now is the time to consider alternative arrangements for your commutes! What you see are sights and sounds from last month's event in addition to Mr. Cole going out to promote the event not only on the Red Line but in the Loop as well.

Visit redlinesouth.com for more information

West Chesterfield monthly meeting...

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 01 May 2013 06:02:20 PDT

9351 S. Michigan Avenue

Just got this email from West Chesterfield Community Association President Michael LaFargue. This is an important meeting as a major project is coming up next month. We don't have to think too hard to guess what it is and we'll share the expected agenda for the meeting this coming Saturday:

Hello West Chesterfield,

Our next meetng is at 10:00am, Saturday May 4, 2012.

CTA Representative(s) to share, RedLine, 95th Street Terminal, and Transit Orientated Development land purchase information along State Street and 95th Street. CTA Info at http://www.transitchicago.com/redsouth/

Community Center Roof Tear Off and Repair (Black Contractors Hired For Project!)

WCCA Summer Garden and Home Curb Appeal Contest to be Announce

CSU Community Service Day update

Of course be advised meetings will be held at the West Chesterfield Cultural Center at 9351 S. Michigan Ave.

Chicago Weekly: Chatham State of Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:30:02 PDT

Via The Chicago Neighborhoods

This almost evokes a post I wrote last year "The Sixth Ward...a state of mind". Then again when you think of the 6th you might think Chatham. This is something Chicago Weekly is exploring recently thanks to a link from Joe Lake's Chatham Connection FB group.

Some of the issues contained there in likely aren't brand new to most of us. We're concerned about the businesses that are either moving in or closing because of the economy. We may also be concerned about the social cohesion of the neighborhood and while it may not have been discussed here often enough it's being talked about amongst neighbors.

Another issue that hasn't been brought up on this blog enough is brought up here. Not enough public spaces. The various restaurants that have closed such as Izola's and Army & Lou's as well as not enough space at Whitney Young Library. Of course where can anyone engage in a public game of chess? It's not so easy to do at a local fast food establishment or it may cost to much at a neighborhood park.

I'm sure some of you out there have a lot to add to the commentary shown in the article about Chatham. What say you about Chatham's state of mind?

Curbed Chicago: Family housing for 73 veterans breaks ground in Englewood

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:00:03 PDT

This development chronicled by Curbed Chicago is called Hope Manor II located at 61st & Halsted. Not too far from the corner of 63rd & Halsted. Governor Pat Quinn dropped by to ground break this project and it seems appropriate since the Governor does care for our veterans. Primary purpose of this project:

That project has a focus on the needs of single veterans. Hope Manor II will offer on-site job training, family counseling, and health care. As depicted in the above rendering, the town homes and apartments will address the street while cradling a small park and children's play area.

According to the Hope Manor II page linked above this project is a partnership between "the City of Chicago and Alderman JoAnn Thompson of the 16th ward".

Free Homebuying Seminar

noreply@blogger.com (Worlee Glover) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:30:48 PDT

Saturday
April 27, 2013
10:00am-12:30pm
New Convenat MBC
John Thurston Chapel
740 E 77th Street