Chicago Reader: A theft hidden in plain sight for decades

Question to ask as you read this how does land sale contracts lead to land theft?

The greater Englewood area has been subject to land theft for over 80 years. It’s apparent when you see boarded-up windows and overgrown weeds that cover the community. Empty houses abound, a legacy of the impact that racism has had on the area for years, vacant lots indicating opportunities withheld from aspiring Black homeowners. It’s a crime that Chicago’s Tonika Lewis Johnson, activist, artist, and the National Public Housing Museum’s 2021 resident Artist-as-Instigator, seeks to expose with her project Inequity for Sale.

“In my lifetime, I witnessed disparity get worse and worse in Englewood,” Johnson told me. “I wanted to visualize that by putting land markers in front of homes impacted by land sale contracts . . . over 200 houses sold under land sale contracts are now abandoned or just empty lots.”

Inequity for Sale aims to highlight the negative impact that land sale contracts have had on the greater Englewood area. After learning about the contracts at a community meeting hosted by the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE), a community-driven activist organization, Johnson became interested in the idea of visualizing the impact that land sale contracts had on the area through a public art project.

“The actual idea for Inequity for Sale was inspired by a 2019 Duke University report [The Plunder of Black Wealth in Chicago: New Findings on the Lasting Toll of Predatory Housing Contracts] that people forwarded to me,” says Johnson. “I linked up with Amber Hendley, one of the researchers on that report, and she gave our community members a map of all the homes sold in Englewood through land sale contracts, which prompted the idea.”

Who's running for Bobby Rush's seat

I've made some hay about Jahmal Cole and he doesn't mind saying that he was the first one to place his hat into the ring. Of course that was before Rep. Rush decided he wasn't running again.

I see on wikipedia and of course if you have any names that isn't in the picture feel free to share.

To start some names were through around in the news such as Ward 3 Ald. Pat Dowell who announced that she was pursuing this today. She also dropped out of the contest for yet another open seat for Illinois Secretary of State. 

Then other names that surprises me State Sen. Elgie Sims, Ward 6 Ald. Roderick Sawyer, Ward 8 Ald. Michelle Harris, former city treasurer Kurt Summers, or State Rep. Marcus Evans. Sims, Sawyer and Harris are names familiar to those who live in the 6th ward. It's interesting that they're looking into this open seat.

However this is a wide open contest and time will tell who might ultimately get the nod once the primary is over in June - don't forget the primary is on June 28, 2022 this year. Let's see how many of those names listed as potential challengers will contest for the Congressman's seat.

Here's a story about Rep. Bobby Rush's announcement regarding his retirement [VIDEO]

Oh wait, Ald. Sawyer was quoted in the above story from CBS 2 saying he's happy with where he is, however, admitted that he'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested. Another name is activist Ja'Mal Green and also Rush's son Flynn Rush - who's listed in the wikipedia article linked above.

Congressman Bobby Rush to retire

 This is huge news to start the new year 2022. It started breaking Monday afternoon and now that we have an open seat in the 1st Congressional District who else besides Jahmal Cole will go for this seat.

It'll be official in the morning, but it's confirmed. U.S. @RepBobbyRush, D-Chicago, the only person ever to have beaten @BarackObama in an election, is retiring at this end of this term after nearly 30 years in D.C. Cld be lots of potential successors. https://t.co/J4Yvh4daDH

— Greg Hinz (@GregHinz) January 3, 2022

Also bear in mind primaries will be held in June 2022! 

Block Club Chgo: State Says South Lakefront Dump Site Can Operate For Another Year As Army Corps Pursues Decades-Long Expansion

 Earlier in the fall I waded into the debate over a potential move by the Chicago Bears from Soldier Field. I suggested perhaps the Bears can build a new stadium at the former US Steel site "South Works" near 87th and the lakefront. Well here's some new news about this parcel which is still looking for solid development.

The state says a south lakefront dump site can operate for another year as the Army Corps pursues a decades-long expansion. https://t.co/Wz950uzFwt pic.twitter.com/IVeRBdZ5n1

— Block Club Chicago (@BlockClubCHI) December 15, 2021

State environmental regulators allowed a lakefront dump for polluted sediment to continue operating for another year, as the federal government awaits the state’s decision on long-term plans to expand the facility.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency approved a water pollution permit Friday for a “dredged material disposal facility” neighboring Calumet Park at the mouth of the Calumet River.

The 43-acre site, operated by the Army Corps of Engineers, stores sediment dredged from the Calumet River and five other federally maintained waterways in the city. Its permit was approved Friday and expires Nov. 30.

The Army Corps partially shut down the dump earlier this year, after its prior water pollution permit expired May 31.

A public input process led to special conditions on the new permit. They include a requirement that the Army Corps study whether the site could introduce more mercury and other toxic chemical compounds into the local food web.

But even with special conditions, “it’s still a permit to allow some level of pollution in a community that’s already overburdened,” said Kiana Courtney, staff attorney for the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

Read more at Block Club Chicago. 

#Tucker on the crime problem and the grinches who rob volunteers and burn down Christmas trees

 

[VIDEO] I'm sharing this segment from Tucker Carlson Tonight on FOX News with you today because the commentary you see by host Tucker Carlson discusses some local events that perhaps you missed. Most certainly I missed these events.

To bring home some of the points Carlson is discussing here is there needs to be a reckoning on the crime issue nationally. Certainly it's an issue not just in the city where last weekend a group of youths converged near Millennium Park to cause enough issues for the police to start making plans to address any future disturbances. Basically as a reaction problem as this issue has been going on for a while as this isn't the first time I wrote about youths coming to downtown to cause problems as theft, vandalism, or even just causing major disturbances.

So he starts off with attacks on Christmas trees because well tis the season. And the first thing he mentions was that a group of My Block My Hood My City volunteers were robbed putting up holiday decorations in the history south side Bronzeville neighborhood. 

BTW, if you don't want to listen to Carlson here's a story from CBS Chicago. According to the article this crime occurred at 48th & King Drive and part of a team of volunteers putting up Christmas decorations from  35th Street to 115th Street.

The red line extensions funding from recent federal infrastructure bill

I'm sorry I missed this story about how the recent infrastructure bill which was signed by President Joe Biden into law would affect us in Illinois. Especially how it would affect the south side of Chicago, particularly this Red Line extension through Roseland into Altgeld Gardens.

From the Sun-Times:

President Joe Biden signed the historic $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law Monday, passing to Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot — at the White House for the ceremony — the massive job of spending the billions in new money flowing to the city and state in the next five years.

For the first time, there will be a dedicated funding stream in the form of grant programs to make all transit and commuter rail stations in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, a legislative victory for the champion of the measure, Iraq War vet and double amputee Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.

Based on interviews with Lightfoot and Pritzker, expansion of the CTA Red Line from 95th to 130th Street, speeding up lead water pipe removal and rebuilding portions of the Eisenhower Expressway through Chicago and nearby suburbs, the I-190 turnoff near O’Hare Airport and I-80 in Will County have emerged as among the priority projects to be bolstered by the federal spending.

The federal funding will speed up some projects already in the works — removing lead water pipes in Chicago — jumpstart transit and highway projects stalled for years — while helping to bankroll large scale electric vehicle charging networks throughout the state.

Public transit expansion, lead pipe removal, expanding broadband internet access and creating a new support system for electronic vehicles are at the top of Lightfoot’s list.

Lightfoot said there “definitely” will be federal money to expand the CTA Red Line from 95th Street to 130th, though she had no timetable yet for the project.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said at the White House he handed a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urging him to support the Red Line South Side expansion to near the edge of the city.

“This transit desert disproportionately impacts Black residents, meaning that the early termination of the Red Line has considerable equity implications. This results in many of Chicago’s African American citizens literally being disconnected from the ‘mainland’ of the rest of the city. It reminds one of the ‘colony’ and the ‘motherland’ divides of a past time,” the Rush letter said.

Glad to see it's a priority for the mayor, however, no timeline yet to begin construction only that  the federal infrastructure money would be used to expand the red line. By expand hopefully she means starting construction, however, I want to see what else is out there by the mayor and governor regarding this extension,

More ward remap news the Latino caucus proposes their own map

 Want to see what the City Council Latino caucus proposes I will share with you this link from WTTW. It almost looks like the current map though some major differences. For example ward 34 would go further north and the ward 17 is expected to have more of a Latino population under this new proposal.

Allow me to share more from the Chicago Tribune:

The Latino Caucus chairman, 36th Ward Ald. Gilbert Villegas, insisted his group simply “followed the data” in drawing the lines. And he acknowledged this map is a jumping-off point to start negotiations with colleagues, particularly those in the 20-strong Black Caucus who don’t want to give up any seats in spite of Black population loss.

“The bottom line is, it has to start somewhere,” Villegas said. “This is our start. We’ve been communicating with our colleagues. And we’ve been talking to them, mapping with them, working with them to try to get to a point, those that want to work with us.”

The South Side 17th Ward, currently a majority-Black ward represented by Black Ald. David Moore that includes parts of the Auburn Gresham, Englewood and Marquette Park neighborhoods, would be pushed west into the heavily Latino Marquette Park and Chicago Lawn neighborhoods. That would make Moore, a two-term alderman who’s running for secretary of state, the odd man out.

“That won’t fly,” Moore said. “You come over there and try to pull out a Black ward, they won’t be able to get majority support for that.”

...

The Latino Caucus also proposes moving the Far South Side 34th Ward — now represented by veteran Black Ald. Carrie Austin, who’s under federal indictment — into the North Side.

Another ward is needed near downtown because of the exploding population of young professionals now living in that part of the city. And the population loss in heavily Black South Side neighborhoods makes it the place to remove a ward, Villegas said. The 34th Ward currently includes parts of the West Pullman, Morgan Park and Roseland neighborhoods.

...

The remap process is contentious under the best circumstances, as various Chicago constituencies try to increase or maintain their power in the council and incumbent aldermen scratch and claw to protect their seats in favorably drawn wards.

This year the atmosphere is particularly charged, as the census revealed a change in the city’s racial dynamic.

Data showed Chicago’s Latino population went up by more than 40,000 over the past decade. That group now represents nearly 30% of the city’s residents, making them Chicago’s second-largest racial and ethnic group.

The city’s Black population fell by almost 10% in the same time, with a loss of nearly 85,000 residents. Black residents now make up nearly 29% of the city’s residents.

Here's is the Latino Caucus proposal.

I hope to see what the City Council's Black Caucus will come up with. Will they be able to preserve some of their representation on Chicago's City Council?

Sun-Times: The city could still make a play to keep the Bears

Former South Works site

Did someone read my thoughts on the Bears' stadium issue? The one where I propose the Bears come down to the former U.S. Steel South Works site that is waiting for further development? Well I'm not naieve enough to think that I'm the first to come up with, however, I didn't even see this being discussed.

Anyway from a recent Sun-Times editorial:

We could imagine, for instance, a Bears stadium on land owned by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority at 35th Street and Shields Avenue, just north of the White Sox’s ballpark. Part of that deal could include the proper redevelopment of the 70 acres of surface parking — also owned by the ISFA — that surround the ballpark.

Or, if the Bears would prefer another lakefront stadium, the city could offer a piece of the 500-acre former U.S. Steel South Works site. To do that, City Hall would have to bring the land’s owner, U.S. Steel, to the table. But the steelmaker might be wise to listen, given that two decades of redevelopment plans for the land have fluttered and died like Jack Concannon’s forward passes.

At the U.S. Steel site, the Bears would enjoy a nearly blank slate to build on and the result, if done right, could greatly benefit the working-class South Chicago neighborhood.

“So I just ask you, with all the priorities you have of lifting up communities, which is where the priority has to be, let’s not give up on trying to find a place to keep these guys in Chicago,” [Ward 48 Ald. Harry] Osterman said to Cox.

The planning department did not respond to Osterman’s suggestions, other than reissuing a statement from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office. “The mayor,” the statement said, “has said numerous times, our door in City Hall remains open to engage the Bears.”

Ald. Osterman wasn't suggesting any sites for the Bears to consider within the city, but he does want the city to work further on keeping the Bears from going to Arlington Heights, Illinois. I'm glad to see that someone at the Sun-Times sees the former South Works site as a potentially viable option for whatever the Bears want to do around a new NFL stadium.

Time will tell as far as whether or not the Bears will pull a trigger on moving from Soldier Field. Who knows what effort the Mayor of Chicago would make or even if she would be successful in keeping one of the historic NFL franchises from leaving Chicago. 

BTW, I hardly pay attention to the NFL anymore but I wish I had seen their routing of the Las Vegas Raiders.

WTTW: Pullman Nat'l Monument

 

[VIDEO] This video was shared to the Pullman Videos YouTube channel sharing a story about the Pullman Nat'l Monument and features architecture writer Lee Bey discussing the history of the Pullman neighborhood. 

This video aired on Chicago Tonight last month and the grand opening for the new visitor center in the former administration building that contains the clock tower will be today and tomorrow Sept 4 & 5. Hopefully this new development which has been years in the making will prove to turn around the fortunes of the far south side of Chicago.

CBS Chicago: Urban Prep Charter Academy teachers enters 2nd day of strike

 

[VIDEO] I don't know how many families who read this blog are affected by this, however, there is a strike at an charter school in Englewood. Urban Prep is known as an all-male charter school with locations in Englewood, Bronzeville and the West Side. There were three years of negotiation and one sticking point is pay, teachers at Urban Prep are paid less than those hired by Chicago Public Schools.

Another sticking point is special education that teachers don't stay at Urban Prep long enough to meet the needs of special education students and lack those resources.

The Chatham 14 Theaters to eventually reopen under new management

Per comments on Worlee Glover's Concerned Citizens of Chatham and also info he's received from the regional manager at Studio Movie Grill the former Chatham 14 Theaters will soon be under new management. It won't be permanently closed, however, it will be available for a new buyer. 

More about the appointment of Cyril Nichols to the 32nd District seat

 Found this of all places at Politico:

— New state rep appointed: Democratic leaders in the 32nd House District appointed Cyril Nichols, the associate athletics director for City Colleges, to replace Rep. Andre Thapedi, who has stepped down after 12 years. Nichols’ district encompasses part of the South Side and south suburbs and could be redrawn with the upcoming redistricting map. Others who applied: Allyson Scrutchens, who worked for Ald. Roderick Sawyer; Kimberley Egonmwan, a General Assembly staffer; and Cook County Young Democrats Chair Chakena Perry.

A headline from The Daily Line suggests that State Rep. Nichols is a placeholder at least until the state finally re-draws the state's legislative districts. Perhaps in 2022 as Illinois considers whether or not J.B. Pritzker should remain Governor, we'll have an open seat for 32nd District state representative?

Former State Rep. Andre Thapedi has a successor

 I saw this tweet by Speaker Chris Welch announcing the appointment of Cyril Nichols as state representative of the 32nd District. With a photo of Rep. Nichols taking his oath.

Congratulations to Cyril Nichols, who has been selected to represent the 32nd House District - Welcome to the General Assembly! pic.twitter.com/cAwbmWDsoE

— Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (@RepChrisWelch) April 8, 2021

The Vice President visits 75th Street on Tuesday

 Kamala Harris is a former U.S. Senator from California and recently made history as the first woman of color to become Vice President of the United States under the 46th President Joe Biden. It was in the news recently that she spent a little bit of time on 75th Street on Tuesday to visit Brown Sugar Bakery.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton met up with the new vice president at Brown Sugar Bakery on East 75th Street after Harris visited a nearby vaccination site. https://t.co/qvjvpYshis

— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) April 7, 2021

R.I.P. Bill Campbell

 I'll put this on here since I've mentioned Bill Campbell on this blog. Campbell was well known for his appearances on WLS-TV or ABC 7 Chicago up until 2010 when he retired from the station. It was noted on this blog in 2017 that he was recovering from a stroke and any help that could be contributed to his convalescence was then noted on his former employer WLS [VIDEO].

Jahmal Cole for Congress

When the 34th state representative seat was vacated a few years ago Jahmal Cole was one of many who stepped up to represent this part of the state (of course that distinction went to current state rep Nick Smith). Now he's throwing his hat in the ring to unseat longtime Congressman Bobby Rush. 

Ald. Michelle Harris is Mayor Lightfoot's floor leader

 You might have seen this on last night's news Ald. Gilbert Villegas (Ward 36) resigned his role for the mayor's office on the city council and will be replaced by Ald. Michelle Harris (Ward 8).

The Sun-Times writes about it:

State Rep. Andre Thapedi resigning from the state house

Found this on twitter just now and best wishes to Rep. Thapedi

CBS Chicago: Brothers Who Claim Rev. Michael Pfleger Abused Them Say They Want To Get Truth Out

 

[VIDEO] Brothers who are victims of alleged abuse by longtime St. Sabina parish pastor Father Michael Pfleger were interviewed anonymously by our local CBS affiliated recently telling their story. Earlier this month Father Pfleger was removed from his position from nearby St. Sabina due to these allegations

Father Michael Pfleger removed St. Sabina parish

I'm sure the nation is watching the shocking developments in Washington, DC as Congress met to certify the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential race. Meanwhile here in Chicago another shocking development which was reported last night.

Rev. Michael Pfleger removed from St. Sabina for decades-old sexual abuse allegation https://t.co/KuT7Tja5Zr

— Sun-Times Breaking (@CSTbreaking) January 5, 2021

Allow me to embed from the Sun-Times:

Father Michael Pfleger, the longtime pastor at St. Sabina Church and one of the most prominent priests in Chicago, has been removed from the Auburn Gresham parish following revelations of a decades-old sexual abuse allegation against a minor.

Cardinal Blase Cupich announced “the difficult news” in a letter to the St. Sabina community Tuesday, saying he has “asked Father Pfleger to step aside from ministry following receipt by the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Child Abuse Investigations and Review of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor more than 40 years ago.”

Cupich said Pfleger agreed to his request and will live away from the parish during the archdiocese’s investigation. The allegation has also been reported to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, Cupich said.

Pfleger, 71, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday evening.

Pfleger is a longtime public figure on the south side in the nearby Auburn Gresham neighborhood and this isn't the first time he had been pulled aside from St. Sabina. It seems controversy follows him as his sermons also became known during the 2008 Presidential Race. I do hope that the allegations are proven unfounded as they are very incendiary involving child abuse.