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Closure after double murder comes for community, not son

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:19:00 PDT

A brutal murder in a Cook County forest preserve gained widespread attention a few years ago.

The victims, an elderly couple from Hammond, Ind., were known for their strong community spirit.

Their son, came to the StoryCorps booth in Chicago to remember them.

Theodore: We grew up in the era of civil rights. There was a consciousness among people that America was in turmoil, but it’s growing into something. And my parents wanted us to grow into what America could become.

He described his parents, Milton Wayman McClendon, and Ruby Dean McClendon, as “upstanding” people.

Theodore: My dad would fix kids bikes. He would coach Little League, he counseled troubled kids. My mother was a den mother for Cub Scouts, and they cared about the community.

Then one night, two teenagers came knocking at the door, saying they were in trouble.

To find out what happened, listen to the audio above.

Katie Mingle is a producer for WBEZ and the Third Coast Festival.

Phil Jackson chats about his book and the Bulls

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:00:00 PDT

It has been 15 years since Phil Jackson rode out on his motorcycle and ended his coaching career in Chicago. He continued his success after his six Bulls NBA Championships with the Lakers and earned five more rings. Now at the age of 67, he has authored a new book aptly titled, "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success."

Jackson held court about his new book at the Trib Nation's Printers Row session conducted by the Chicago Tribune's beat reporter K.C. Johnson. An audience of dignitaries, including new Bears head coach Marc Trestman, and a large group of fans filled the Palmer House Hilton Ballroom. Before the event, I was privileged to be granted a one-on-one with the “Zen master” himself-Phil Jackson.

The essence of the book is found in the subtitle, The Soul of Success.

“[It's about] trusting, nurturing your spiritual side and allowing that side to be part of your business life,” Jackson said.

What the former NBA coach found interesting was the focus of some reviewers is centered on the fact that he “finally” sided with one of his superstars, Michael Jordan, over another, Kobe Bryant. Jackson said he was not saying one was better or best, but different and great. He attributes it to the way our society measures success “winners take all and losers lick their wounds” and Jackson says some his most successful seasons came from losing.

Of course, the bulk of our conversation was about the Bulls, both past and present. Jackson appreciated the terrific play from his big time stars: Michael Jordan’s heroics, Scottie Pippen’s flashes of brilliances and Dennis Rodman’s rebounding. He found a true appreciation for the “little things” such as Jud Buechler and Steve Kerr having the opportunity to hit a big three-pointer. Jackson pointed out the fact those two bench players and others had a high level of professionalism to play the roles they were given.

As the conversation steered towards this current Bulls team, he mentioned the team’s injuries have been an impediment. Additionally, he believes presently the Bulls don’t have “all the pieces” yet. Jackson was complimentary to the high level of play by Jimmy Butler and Marco Belinelli. He looks at how well his former player, now team President, John Paxson has assembled the team, especially with all the salary cap implications.

Looking at this Bulls roster, I had to ask Jackson if there are one or two players he would like to coach. The first player he mentioned was center Joakim Noah.

“He is a player that is really good on a ball club he leads the team through his energy and his vocal capabilities,” Jackson said.

There were two other Bulls he brought up: Nate Robinson and the way he could win or lose a game but inspire a team and Kirk Hinrich's overall play.

Needless to say, there was one other player to discuss: Derrick Rose. Jackson believes you have to trust a player’s instincts about their physical and mental status, otherwise he could have a “misstep” that could be more detrimental to the player’s career.

As to Jackson's career and a possible return as a NBA coach, he maintains that is not in his future.

“My intention is not to coach,” Jackson said with one caveat. “My finance Jeanie Buss says whenever you have to answer that, say, Jeanie Buss thinks I can still coach.”

There is no doubt he could, however, the travel and physical ailments are a huge roadblock in his mind.

Follow Cheryl on Twitter @CRayeStout and Facebook Cheryl Raye Stout #AtTheGame

Water, water everywhere, but not enough to drink

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:43:00 PDT

The story of Chicago’s founding as a modern American city sometimes reads like the creation myth of some bygone animist religion. We were meant to settle here, the story goes, because this is the spot where the winding Chicago River empties cleanly into the great blue expanse of Lake Michigan. This is the place where the prairie meets the water, where the water meets the prairie.

Great news – especially the water part – for a booming metropolis, right?

“It would seem that Chicago would have no problem,” said Northwestern University historian Carl Smith. “Twenty percent of the world’s surface water is right there. . . What more could you want?”

Actually, Smith says, Chicago’s natural landscape proved a huge disadvantage to early settlers.

The ground was soggy and drained poorly. The river deposited silt in the lake and made navigation around the mouth of the river nearly impossible. And crucially, the city made the grave mistake of dumping its waste and pulling its drinking water from the same source.

Can you say cholera? It took an outbreak of the waterborne disease (and the surfacing of dead bodies in the shore-side cemetery) for city fathers to figure out what a bad idea this was.

Smith has studied of what came next, and the resulting book, City Water, City Life (University of Chicago Press, 2013), outlines the Chicago’s early attempts to build the kind of water infrastructure needed to support the Windy City’s rapid growth.

The bigger Chicago got, the more desperate its water problems became. The city had 330,000 inhabitants by 1870, and over a million just 20 years later, making it the second largest in the country and ushering in a kind of urban density the country had never known.

You can’t just let people fend for themselves at that point, Smith argues – especially if you need them.

“As a matter of principle you cannot deprive people of water, and [in] practice you need these people, particularly to work the jobs in the city,” he said.

In the audio above, Smith explores Chicago’s first few attempts to lick this problem. It’s a shockingly juicy tale for a bit of urban planning history.

My favorite part? The one where fish came right out of the taps!

Dynamic Range showcases hidden gems unearthed from Chicago Amplified’s vast archive of public events and appears on weekends. Carl Smith spoke at an event presented by the Newberry in May of 2013. Click here to hear the event in its entirety.

Robin Amer is a producer on WBEZ’s digital team. Follow her on Twitter @rsamer.

Congress Theater liquor license revoked

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:57:00 PDT

UPDATED 4:45 P.M.: NEW COMMENTS ON THE APPEAL AND THE PORTAGE THEATER

Controversial Congress Theater owner Erineo “Eddie” Carranza has lost his liquor license at the embattled Logan Square concert venue.

“We will appeal,” Carranza said.

Despite the city’s revocation of the liquor license, state law allows a venue to continue to sell alcohol during the appeals process.

The city issued an order to police to close the venue. But Carranza’s attorney Harlan Powell said the appeal was filed this afternoon and copies were forwarded to police, who should allow the next public event, a Latin music show on Sunday afternoon, to continue as scheduled.

Today’s decision from the Liquor Control Commission comes after three sessions of sometimes harrowing testimony before Hearings Commissioner Robert Nolan. His verdict made clear that he believed the charges made by the police officers who testified at those hearings.

According to Nolan’s ruling, the Congress “failed to report promptly to the police department illegal activity” and that “within 12 consecutive months five separate incidents occurred… involving acts that violated a state law regulating narcotics or controlled substances.”

“I’m certainly not happy with the ruling,” Powell said. He noted that it upheld only two of the five counts the city brought against the Congress. “I’m very optimistic,” he said of the appeal.

The first stop in that process: The city’s License Appeal Commission. Then comes circuit court, appeals court, and finally state supreme court if necessary.

Carranza has been fighting the city on several fronts for more than a year regarding the future of the 87-year-old, 5,000-capacity theater, which has become a hotspot for electronic dance music and hip-hop concerts under his ownership.

Deleterious Impact/Public Nuisance hearings based on complaints from neighbors and area residents began in March 2012, following the rape of a concert patron who’d been turned away from the venue that New Year’s Eve.

Early this year, the city Building Department closed the top two floors of the venue to concertgoers. On April 12, the city filed a lawsuit seeking the immediate closure of the whole building, citing a literally A-to-Z list of “hazardous and dangerous” code violations compiled by inspectors from the Health, Building and Fire Departments.

Carranza’s luck seemed to be changing when the city found sufficient progress 10 days later to revoke its request from the court for immediate closure of the building. Yesterday, the Sun-Times ran a story headlined “Congress Theater close to being clear of city violations,” though the top two floors of the venue remain closed.

If the revocation of the liquor license is upheld through the appeal process, it seems unlikely that the Congress can remain a viable music venue. And the future of Carranza’s second venue, the Portage Theater on the Northwest Side, also is thrown into question.

City sources say the revocation of the liquor license at the Congress means Carranza also could not hold a liquor license at the Portage.

“It certainly doesn’t help [Carranza to get a liquor license at the Portage] given what happened at this location [the Congress],” Powell granted.

Portage Park Ald. John Arena recently updated his constituents on the status of the Portage in an email blast to residents:

Since the Portage Theater reopened many years ago, Dennis Wolkowicz and Dave Dziedzic, under Portage Theater Management, LLC, have managed the theater. The corporation is the holder of the liquor and public place of amusement licenses.
For the city to issue such licenses, the city must vet and approve anyone who owns more than 5 percent of the interest in the corporation. The city also must approve any ownership interest transfer of more than 5 percent.
As you may recall, Erineo Carranza purchased the Portage Theater building last year. However, and despite some threats to evict the theater operators, Wolkowicz and Dziedzic continued to run the theater and hold the liquor and public place of amusement licenses.
I’ve recently been informed that Wolkowicz and Dziedzic have sold their company to Carranza. Even though the corporation that manages the Portage remains the same, Carranza would still need to apply to transfer the liquor license and public place of amusement license.
As you also probably know, Carranza has a history with the city’s Buildings Department, Liquor Commissioner, and neighbors at the Congress Theater.
Because of Carranza’s history, I have opposed him receiving a liquor license at the Portage until he can prove that he can be a responsible venue owner and liquor license holder. That opposition continues.
Carranza’s attorney has notified my office and the Liquor Commissioner that he does not intend to keep controlling interest of the corporation for long. He is looking for a buyer who will manage the theater.
In the mean time, Dennis Wolkowicz continues to manage the theater. Film and live performance programming continues.
Know that I will work hard to ensure that whomever manages the theater on a permanent basis treats our community with respect and is a responsible operator. I will let you know as soon as I know more.

Powell contradicted Arena’s email, however, saying that the upcoming film events booked by Wolkowicz will not be taking place and that the Portage soon will be closed to the public.

“[The email is] not correct. There will be no entertainment of any kind pending a complete renovation of the building,” Powell said. This is necessary because, “Nobody wants what happened at the Congress to happen at the Portage,” he added.

It is unclear how long the Portage will be closed.

“Eddie’s plan for the Portage is to work with the Alderman’s office and all relevant city agencies, bring the building up to code, and to create a first-class concert venue.”

Earlier reports about Carranza, the Congress and the Portage theaters:

May 1: Is the Congress Theater safe or not?

April 30: Congress Theater defends itself before the Liquor Commission (By Leah Pickett and Jim DeRogatis)

April 23: Congress Theater allowed to remain open, next inspection scheduled (Alison Cuddy reporting)

April 17: City wants the Congress shut down immediately

March 27: Chicago police official: Congress Theater ‘untruthful’ on night of underage drinking (Leah Pickett reporting)

March 8: The fate of the Portage remains a messy mystery

March 6: Congress Theater hearing rescheduled (Robin Amer reporting)

Feb. 22: Congress Theater restoration underway, but it’s got a long way to go

Jan. 16: Congress Theater liquor hearings begin with undercover cop’s testimony

Dec. 3, 2012: A rally to save the Portage Theater ‘as we know it’

Nov. 29, 2012: Congress Theater defaults on $4 million loan

Nov. 28, 2012: The Portage Theater uses Graham Elliot’s name in vain

Nov. 2, 2012: Congress Theater’s new security chief: An ex-cop with a troubled past

Oct. 31, 2012: Congress Theater police calls rank with Soldier Field, United Center

Sept. 23, 2012: How did things turn so bad so fast at the Portage Theater?

Sept. 22, 2012: New Owner of the Portage Theater moves to evict current operators

Sept. 16, 2012: Congress Theater splits with development partner

Sept. 11, 2012: The Portage Theater: What’s Eddie up to?

July 26, 2012: Congress Theater partners up… and looks to expand

April 18, 2012: Chicago officials scrutinize public safety, other neighborhood concerns at Congress Theater (Robin Amer reporting)

April 14, 2012: More trouble at the Congress Theater

March 28, 2012: Critical of Congress security, headliner brings his own

March 25, 2012: Congress Theater responds to complaints

March 22, 2012: City to Congress Theater: Clean up your act!

Congress Liquor License Revocation by Chicago Public Media

Waiting is hardest part for those watching Illinois’ same-sex marriage vote

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:46:00 PDT

For months, members of the Illinois State House have been waiting to call same-sex marriage for a vote. Sponsors say they don’t quite have the votes needed to pass the bill yet. But all that waiting has consequences.

Imagine what Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood would be like if same-sex marriage is approved in Illinois.

Imagining is Chuck Hyde’s job. “We’ve been kind of on-the-ready,” Hyde said.

Hyde manages the bar Sidetrack in the heart of Boystown on Halsted Street.

“We decorate big. Our events are big. It’s a fun bar. And it can hold a lot of people,” he said. "More than 1,200 people, actually."

I caught up with Hyde just as construction crews were wrapping up a renovation of the interior of the bar. It has several rooms, a few bars and an outdoor patio; the kind of place Hyde is hoping people will come to to celebrate bachelor or bachelorette parties. Or wedding receptions.

Hyde was hoping construction would be done in time so he could host a celebration in case the state legislature voted in favor of same-sex marriage.

Instead – he’s been waiting.

“There were a number of weeks back that we thought it might be very close and we were kind of waiting by the phone. Literally, the vote’s going up, the vote’s not going up,” Hyde said. “And if it was going to happen, we were ready. We had ordered champagne, we had glassware ready. We were ready for the balloons. We had posters. We had all kinds of things. We had some signs and we were going to let the world know that we were thrilled and throwing a party. And ready to celebrate.”

Hyde said the champagne is still in a cooler, waiting.

He said he was underprepared when same-sex civil unions passed in Illinois two years ago. The demand for a party when that passed was bigger than he anticipated.

So he’s trying not to leave anything to chance this time around.

That means, though, he’s been on edge for more than three months. The Illinois State Senate approved same-sex marriage in February. Since then, it’s lingered in the House of Representatives. Supporters say they’ve been waiting to call it for a vote because they don’t have the necessary 60 yes votes.

As wedding season arrives, those in the wedding business have had a lot of uncertainty about what their summer will look like.

“All of the wedding industry is following it very, very closely,” said Beth Bernstein, a Chicago wedding planner who operates SQN Events.

Bernstein said she helped plan a midnight civil union ceremony for six couples who wanted to file as soon as possible two years ago.

But since civil unions passed, things have plateaued.

“I don’t think it provided the lasting effect of the business that we thought we may see,” Bernstein said.

She’s seeing many couples waiting for word from Springfield before planning their wedding.

But for Amanda Marquez and Maggie Moran, waiting is not appealing.

Their Logan Square apartment has neatly organized shelves lined with books and tv show dvds.

Close by is a small pile of purple, green and blue origami paper stars.

“So this is going to make us look really bad, really tacky,” joked Moran. “We’re actually using the rainbow (as the colors of the wedding). But we’re not going for the whole rainbow effect. So we’re doing like half of the tables are warm colors and then the other half of the tables are cool colors.”

Moran and Marquez are having a civil union ceremony on June 22nd. If the proposed bill passes, they could apply to have that civil union turned into a marriage.

Marquez said she doesn’t want to wait on the government for other things, like buying a house or having kids, so why wait for the legislature.

“Not knowing exactly when, you know, how things will go in Springfield, when it will happen, we just moved forward,” Marquez said.

Moran said it will be heart-wrenching if same-sex marriage fails in Springfield. But she said it would be more heart-wrenching not committing to Marquez. She said that’s too much to put on one vote.

Tony Arnold covers Illinois politics for WBEZ. Follow him @tonyjarnold.

Windy: Photo of the Day - May 24, 2013

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:30:00 PDT

Afternoon Shift: Tech news, artist Theaster Gates and Chicago gas prices

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:15:00 PDT

Techies Samuel Axon and Scott Smith look at why coolness matters in tech. Niala speaks with Chicago artist Theaster Gates. WBEZ reporter Michael Puente answers your questions about gas prices.

View the story "Afternoon Shift: Tech news, artist Theaster Gates and Chicago gas prices" on Storify

Why does Chicago still have such high gas prices?

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:04:00 PDT

It’s Memorial Day weekend, which means more people are hitting the road...and slapping their foreheads when they see the price at the pump. Especially in Chicago.

According to a recent Lundberg Survey the price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States rose sharply in the last two weeks because of outages at Midwest and West Coast refineries

But gas prices in Chicago are often higher than the rest of the country. Higher than New York, Los Angeles — even Hawaii.

But why? Chicago isn’t far from oil-rich Canada and there’s a huge refinery right next door.

Even longtime Chicagoans don’t seem to know why gas is so expensive in the city.

"I don’t know? I think people in high office do what they want and we just have to go with the flow,” said Kuri Roundtree, who pulled into a BP gas station at Roosevelt and Wabash in the South Loop earlier this week. “I think it’s ridiculous. It costs me $70 dollars to fill up my SUV. I’m sure I’m not the only person complaining about this gas. All of my family members hate going to the gas station."

Finding the answer to Chicago’s expensive gas mystery is actually not that obvious.

“Chicago is unique for a few different reasons. Even prices outside our region could be going down while our prices are going up,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com.

DeHaan says many factors that help set gas prices for the entire country are simply out of our control. For starters, the sky high price of crude oil on the global market. Thanks to demand in Asia, turmoil in the Middle East and good ol’ Mother Nature — like the flooding we experienced earlier this month.

“There’s nothing really to fix,” DeHaan said. “That’s just the way the free market works with gasoline. Prices go up and down.”

Still, if you live in Chicago, it’s usually up.

Another reason for this is the process of refining the crude oil before it gets to the pump.

There are four refineries that generally serve the Chicago market, including BP’s massive refinery in nearby Whiting, Indiana, right across the state border.

The Whiting refinery has been around longer than there have been automobiles. It was part of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil empire in the late 1800s. Of course, it’s more expensive now to refine crude oil than it was back then primarily because of environmental regulations.

You’ve probably heard about the cleaner burning “summer blend” that the Environmental Protection Agency requires for cities like Chicago.

“Summer gasoline, or gasoline with a different RVP, is a different formulation. You can’t use some of your lighter ends, such as your butanes to add to the volume of the gasoline, because it would evaporate out in the higher temperatures so it is more expensive in the summer,” said BP Whiting senior spokesman Scott Dean.

Unfortunately for Chicago’s gas customers, the city’s close proximity to the BP Refinery doesn’t help much in keeping costs down. Dean says that’s not how wholesale pricing works.

“It’s called the rack price,” Dean said. “The rack price is what the tanker truck driver who may be representing any number of companies, will go, will get the fuel, will pay whatever the rack price of what they’ve agreed to. And, the retailer will then determine the final price that they sell on the street.”

Customers may also have a desire to blame gas station owners for the high price of gasoline. But Beth Mosher, spokeswoman for AAA Chicago Motor Club, says it’s not their fault.

“Everybody wants to take it out on their local gas station owner why these prices are so high,” Mosher said. “But the reality is when the prices are this high the profit margins for these gas stations are so thin, they are going to make more from a bag of doritos that they are selling you than they are the gas.”

Mosher says the final factor for high gasoline prices can be pinned on the tax man.

“First and foremost, we have to talk about the high taxes in Chicago,” she said. “About 70 cents on the gallon is what people pay in Chicago for gas taxes, really, really a high number, especially given the statewide average is 49 cents on the gallon.”

Those figures can fluctuate, but that means generally 70 to 90 cents for every gallon of gas pumped in Chicago goes to taxes.

For example, if gas costs $4.67 a gallon that means 18 cents goes to the federal government; 43 cents for the state. And if you live in Chicago, tack on another 33 cents for Cook County and the city.

That includes sales and motor fuel taxes, the latter of which goes to pay for roads and bridges and some of the capital projects.

Although increasingly that money is being diverted to pay for things like pensions.

Another factor that hits wallets particularly hard is the way all levels of government in Illinois levy sales tax on gasoline purchases. The state of Illinois alone charges 6.25 percent sales tax. Twenty years ago when gas was much cheaper that meant just pennies on the dollar. But now that can be an extra 20 cents or more per gallon since the higher the gas price, the more taxes you pay.

“Most states don’t do that. Most states tax only based per unit, per gallon if you will. So, even if the cost goes up, the amount of tax you pay does not go up in terms of your overall cost,” said John Tillman, Chief Executive Officer for the Illinois Policy Institute, based in downtown Chicago.

Last summer, the Institute called for the state sales tax to be changed so it’s based on the number of gallons purchased, and not the price. The proposal fell on deaf ears in Springfield.

Still, if prices aren’t coming down anytime soon, what are drivers supposed to do?

Well, for one thing, we can buy less gas.

“We urge people not to wait for the government to do things but start consolidating your trips and take the L or the Metra train if that’s a possibility to you,” Mosher said. “Do things on your own to start getting better gas mileage out of your car.”

But even if you buy that fuel efficient hybrid or an electric car, drivers still might not be out of the woods when it comes to paying higher gas taxes.

Lawmakers in Springfield are talking about boosting motor fuel taxes to make up the lost revenue from fuel-efficient cars that use less gas. They may even impose fees on the fuel-efficient vehicles themselves to help fund road repairs.

One supporter of this proposal is Doug Whitley, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

Whitely is also co-chair of the Transportation for Illinois Coalition which has been in Springfield pushing an increase to Illinois’ motor fuel tax. Although with only one week remaining in the state’s spring schedule, he says most lawmakers are focused on issues like pensions, conceal-carry and same-sex marriage.

“The state’s capital program to fund construction for roads, bridges and transit falls off the cliff next year. That fiscal cliff we heard about in Washington also exists in Springfield,” Whitely told WBEZ this week.

Whitely explained that the state’s fiscal program that started in 2009 will expire in the next fiscal year.

“There’s discussion of how to keep capital dollars flowing to the state and local government and the transit districts so they can continue to build, maintain and modernize and handle their construction needs,” Whitely said.

Whitely said one proposal garnering a lot of attention is the idea of abolishing Illinois’ 19 cent motor fuel tax and establishing a new sales tax on fuels. A similar plan was just implemented in Virginia.

“The motor fuel tax was last increased 23 years ago and there’s no growth in that tax in large part because of the mile-advantages of today’s more fuel efficient cars can take advantage of,” Whitely said. “We already have cars getting 50 miles to the gallon and electric cars, so the motor fuel tax isn’t putting the money into the road fund to support construction.”

Another idea is to levy new taxes or registration fees on hybrids and electric cars directly.

“If you have an electric car, you're really getting away to use the roads but not having to pay much for them,” Whitely said.

Whitely is sympathetic to Chicago area residents who already pay a lot of taxes on gas. “But if you want to continue to have transportation systems that are modern, efficient, clean and safe, there’s going to be a cost related to that,” he said.

“The bottom line is, there is no free lunch.”

Michael Puente is WBEZ's Northwest Indiana bureau reporter. Follow him on Twitter @MikePuenteNews.

There's no summer like a Chicago summer

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:55:00 PDT

“Chicago in the summer...” I began in a conversation with a friend since junior high school.

“Oh, there’s nothing better,” she finished.

What do people mean when they say Chicago is the greatest city in the summer? Well, they mean a couple of things, I suppose. If we truly consider the weather, Chicago summers are usually unbearable. The stickiness is never pleasant. By mid-July, the weather rules with an iron fist. It becomes difficult to imagine a Chicago outside of these temperatures. Where is the cold? Where is the chill? Where is the bite?

But in the beginning, a Chicago summer is nothing short of heavenly. Chicago truly only has two seasons: hot and cold. To live here is to know this. Chicago exists in a binary and to escape the months of cold feels like a triumph over the adversity of snow and ice. “I made it! I finally made it,” you think. The winter is an obstacle of the spirit. It too is great in the beginning, but slowly breaks down its inhabitants. Pleasure exists for fleeting moments.

What I’ve realized now after 25 years as a Chicagoan is that our summers force something fierce of us. The summer gives Chicagoans a chance to do something they rarely get a chance to throughout the rest of the bitterly cold year: see each other. When the temperatures first rise and you take a long walk home, what you will typically find is people, bodies, movement, and chatter. This all seems standard, but to experience it again in the warmth is to be acquainted with an old friend. “I had forgotten what this could be like,” you think. Heat keeps one present in their surroundings. In the beginning, it can be perfect. There is the sky, the grass, the dirt, the air. But heat can be both pleasurable and unnerving. Not every Chicago is as beautiful and right and perfect. Last year I wrote:

The fire hydrant was open, but few people were around. I ran through the gushing, powerful stream of water for a quick respite from the heat. It reminded me of the long days I spent in the Austin neighborhood as a child. Back then, my grandparents filled a kiddie pool with water in their backyard and the other neighborhood kids joined. One day, we were asked to not play outside anymore. A few weeks later, my grandmother took to the ground as gunshots went off down the block. A cul-de-sac came soon after to deter loitering on the street corner. “I don’t understand,” I remember telling my mother. “It’s complicated,” she responded.

I try to remember this. The summer is not perfect. Violence goes up. The presence of people supports the presence of the issues people hold deep within themselves.

I like to take long walks, those nice, three-hour-long walks that produce a kind of sweatiness only of the summer. It is the kind that comes from the heaviness of the sun, a heaviness born only in the season. The power of the bright rays as you keep going and going is heady. Time slips by; the sun steals your afternoon. The feeling is good and pure.

Space is a luxury of the winter. There is always a place to go to and from and quickly. But the leisurely qualities of summer means more loitering. To loiter then is to see the streets for what they’ve become. To see the people around you throughout the summer time is to know that the city is as diverse, multifaceted, and rich in character as we’ve known deep down.

Britt Julious blogs about culture in and outside of Chicago. Follow Britt's essays for WBEZ's Tumblr or on Twitter @britticisms.

Worldview: How much do you know about plastic?

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:54:00 PDT

In this special encore edition of Worldview, we revisit our conversation with Beth Terry, author of 'Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too.'