Joe Zekas R.I.P.

 Joe Zekas ran the real estate news website YoChicago. If you have been following that site and their social media channels i.e. YouTube or X/Twitter you might find that he hadn't updated since June 2023 which was the month that he was said to have passed away unexpectedly.

Zekas in the early days would link to us frequently and you might find a few comments here from him in the past. And he caught my eye thanks to his coverage of some of the south side neighborhoods such as Pill Hill, Pullman, Englewood, Chatham, West Chesterfield, etc.

Even did a video I featured here called "treating your skin disease" he railed against the bias toward buying and living in "certain" communities based upon the predominate ethnicities in those communities. For example I do believe he was speaking of Chatham he might say why isn't Chatham a destination for everyone to consider buying and living there? [VIDEO]

As of late I see YoChicago appears to be a one man shop with Zekas running everything. He's the only one listed on staff there. He's had people like Joe Askins, Eric Stonikas, Whet Moser, and others work with him over the years. In addition some of the people who worked with him at YoChicago had also joined Curbed Chicago back when the Curbed publication had more local editions. So I'm sure there's quite a learning tree out there for people who want to follow what's going on in Chicago real estate.

My condolences to Zekas' family.

As we head into 2024, I couldn't allow this to go unnoticed on this blog! 

We are entering Phase 4 in Illinois

From NBC Chicago:

Phase four of the "Restore Illinois" plan allows for the reopening or expansion of several industries, including indoor dining at restaurants, health and fitness, movies and theaters, museums and zoos and more. This next phase also increases the size of gatherings that are allowed from 10 people to a maximum of 50 people.

All four regions of Illinois are on track to enter phase four on Friday, Pritzker's office said, with the state's average 7-day case positivity rate falling to 2.5 percent as of Saturday.

"Over the last four months, Illinoisans have pulled together with the common mission of keeping each other safe. By staying home and practicing social distancing, the rate of new COVID-19 cases continues to drop and each region throughout the state is prepared to move to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan," Pritzker said in a statement. "Science and data are the overarching guardrails for how Illinois will keep moving forward. By continuing to wear face coverings and following the guidance from health experts we can continue to safely reopen our economy and move forward together."

Here's a tweet from Gov. Pritzker.

Over the last four months, Illinoisans have pulled together with the common mission of keeping each other safe.

By staying home and practicing social distancing, every region of the state is on track to move to Phase 4 this week.

Here's how we're going to do that safely: https://t.co/oXFL7up8m2

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) June 22, 2020

If you want to know about the city's move into Phase 4, I will share this Sun-Times link.

Become part of the solution

I'm very dismayed at the unrest that unfolded over the weekend here in Chicago. I witnessed the demonstrations in downtown Chicago and unfortunately the vandalism of Chicago's streets and businesses having seen graffiti on not only streets and buildings and buses also. Even seen streaks where it was apparent someone threw something at a window on some buildings.

I get that people are upset about what happened in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Mr. George Floyd. It's generally agreed regardless of your political affiliation or even ethnicity that the police officers involved in his arrest and death had a very callous disregard for that man's life. It's great that people are demonstrating another instance of police mistreatment of yet another citizen.

What bothers me is the destruction not only of downtown Chicago which I know the city itself will do its best to take care of. It's the destruction in looting in south side neighborhoods. An area of the city which could ill afford it.

I've seen people bring up 1968 - there were riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. - there are parts of this city that never recovered from those riots sadly. And I'm definitely concerned that those areas hard hit by the recent looting and violent may take a long time for recovery.

I've seen reports of the Walmart in Chatham on 83rd & Stewart was not only looted, it was also on fire. I've not been up there to see what's been going on with that, however, I'm sure many of us assume it's still standing and will be repaired.

I remember the debate over bringing a Walmart to that location. The debate was over the rate of pay for Walmart workers. Another debate unfortunately was racial as people were concerned about who'd shop there as people of many backgrounds will shop there. Some of those comments were seen on this blog at that time.

Ald. Howard Brookins was eventually successful in getting a Walmart on 83rd and it's sad to see that in a matter of days his hardwork to bring new stores and jobs into the community has suffered a reversal. As of now it appears that this Walmart will be reopened in the near future, I did start off pessimistic on this and I'm glad the recent unrest wont close any Walmarts in the city.

Just about 13 years ago J.P. Paulus and I started this blog. My goal was to create something of a community blog akin to blogs such as the now defunct Broken Heart of Roger's Park, Uptown Update, Sloopin' and even Edgeville Buzz. I don't know if this blog had fully fulfilled that mission over the years though by some accounts whether second hand or personally it seems that we have.

I don't consider myself a community activist or even a journalist though some have argued as such over the years. I do know that as of now, my goal is to be part of the solution.

My goal is to continue updating you all especially with our fb page. You all stay safe out there

Today's #COVID19 update

Here are today's count of coronavirus cases 461 with 8 deaths. The current totals so far is 5057 cases with 73 deaths. Via Chicago Tribune

According to a press release from the Illinois Dept of Public Health four of those 8 deaths announced earlier today is from Cook county

Also noted in the Tribune:

At his daily press briefing, Pritzker also announced that a COVID-19 field hospital at McCormick Place will have 500 beds available by the end of the week. The alternate care facility will hold 3,000 beds for patients, mostly with mild symptoms who do not require intensive care, the governor said. Construction began on the sprawling convention center over the weekend.

Additionally, Chicago Public Schools’ hundreds of thousands of students will receive daily learning activities as part of a new remote learning plan that is due to start on April 13, the Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office announced Monday. Officials have laid out a goal of delivering 100,000 electronic devices to its neediest students.

While I know it could be a while before we can be clear of this pandemic, I was rather hoping the executive order enacted earlier this month could be lifted. Unfortunately as with many things during these difficult times an extension is possible according to NBC Chicago:

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday it's something he's considering.

"It is something that we need to consider, whether to extend and if we did, how long," he said during his daily briefing, though he did not indicate when a decision would be made.

Pritzker's press secretary said Sunday the governor "can only do disaster proclamations 30 days at a time."

"I think he's mentioned that he'll follow the experts on extending them," Jordan Abudayyeh said.

Bear in mind it was announced by President Donald Trump over the weekend that federal social distancing guidelines will be continued through the end of April. It's expected that we will hit the peak nationally next month. 

And as always be safe out there.

 

Rush hospital preparing for influx of #COVID19 patients

[VIDEO] This is the type of news I hope many of you would appreciate hearing about the coronavirus and the trends so far as you might hear in the video above and will also share the text with you:

The virus’s trend line has improved.

“It looked like we were on a similar trajectory as New York City. Over the last couple days, we’ve seen cautiously optimistic that maybe we will avoid that scenario. In Illinois the social distancing kicked in in just enough time. In the last few days we’ve seen the flattening of that curve, but we’re not taking our foot off the gas pedal. That’s why we’re opening up spaces like this,” Rumuro said.

This includes adding computer terminal stations and adding space in unconventional ways, a feature from when the building was designed 15 years ago.

But today while some trend lines are promising, there are others less comforting.

“What’s been interesting over the last 48 hours is the number of very sick people that are coming in,” said Rumuro. “We hope we don’t peak. The idea here with the social distancing is to flatten that curve out and not seeing a peak. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Gov. JB Pritzker has been out front about the seriousness of this disease and I would put him up there with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and since NY was brought up.

At the time of Cuomo’s press briefing, he said that 37,000 in New York state had tested positive for coronavirus, an increase of 6,400 from the previous day. Around 18,000 tests had been administered in the last 24 hours.

Cuomo said that while the number of cases continued to go up each day, the slower rate in growth was encouraging. “'We're looking for a reduction in the rate of increase as opposed to the number of absolute cases, that's what we're looking for.”

Here's hoping that both in Illinois and NY the curve is beginning to flatten. The stay at home order is scheduled to expire on April 7, 2020. Let's hope it did the trick.

I've done a lot of focus on the state's coronavirus numbers, but not much emphasis on Cook County and Chicago''s numbers.

• As of March 26, 2020 there have been 1,149 cases of coronavirus in the city according to the Chicago Dept. of Public Health with 9 reported deaths in the city.
• As of March 26, 2020 there have been 743 cases of coronavirus in suburban Cook County according to the county's Dept of Public Health.
• As of March 26, 2020 there have been 2,538 cases of coronavirus in the state according to the IL Department of Public Health with 26 reported deaths throughout the state.

BTW, the numbers listed by the County are said to be provisional numbers and Cook is listing the numbers in Chicago at 1,161 cases of coronavirus. If you click the map from the state's Dept. of Public Health they list the same number from Cook County while the city itself lists the lower number. What gives?

As far as Cook County and Chicago they both list 9 deaths. So are there 9 deaths in suburban Cook County and 9 deaths in Chicago from coronavirus? Or does this mean there are 9 total deaths in Cook County which includes whatever stats there are in the city?

IL Channel: Can Mayor Lightfoot Find a Way to Save Chicago?

[VIDEO] From our state public affairs network Illinois Channel. Executive Director Terry Martin & the host of cable TV's Public Affairs Jeff Berkowitz talk about Mayor Lori Lightfoot's recent state of the city speech. One of the more talked about aspects of her speech is regarding the city's budget deficit. Vid duration is about 30 minutes.

You can read a couple of posts about that at CapFax

This one from yesterday

Lightfoot: “We can’t keep taxing the hell out of all of our people who make substantial income. That’s not right. That’s not fair. It’s not gonna work.” https://t.co/7ARuL2swlC

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 30, 2019

And this one from Thursday

Lightfoot says city faces $838 million spending gap, says committed to a graduated real estate transfer tax https://t.co/9Ie8blyVVM

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 29, 2019

Capitol Fax: Chicago’s black flight problem

Rich Miller writes about the decline of the Black population in Chicago based upon an article you might have read in the Chicago Reader. BTW, it's in line with the population decline in Illinois.

Chicago’s black flight problem https://t.co/CsJw87pxY2

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) January 29, 2019

The article about "Black flight" from the Reader was written by PeteSaunders. You can follow him on Twitter @petesaunders3 or visit his The Corner Side Yard blog.

CBS Chicago: 3 Students Shot Outside Chatham Academy School On Chicago's South Side

[VIDEO] This story actually broke via CBS 2 about an hour ago. Worth sharing with you all. Location of Chatham Academy is 9034 South Langley. The incident itself took place at 91st & Langley.

Three students were shot outside Chatham Academy High School on Chicago’s South Side Monday afternoon around 4 p.m..

Chicago Police confirmed a 16-year-old male was shot in the left shoulder and was transported to Comer Children’s Hospital in stable condition. An 18-year-old was shot in the right arm and left armpit and was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in stable condition. A 17-year-old male was shot int he upper left leg and was transported to University of Chicago Medical Center in unknown condition.

As the young people return to school this fall may they stay safe and stay out of trouble.

CBS Chicago: Governor critical of Dan Ryan shutdown

[VIDEO] If there are two unpopular politicians in Illinois it's Mayor Emanuel and Gov. Rauner who are still going at it with each other over the recent Dan Ryan shut down on Saturday. St. Sabina Catholic Church pastor Father Michael Pfleger is willing to take his activism up a notch if there is no further action in the violent crime in Chicago.

I could just say violent crime in Black communities, but this should be treated as a city problem regardless!

Anyway allow me to share a couple of pertinent tweets from this past Saturday. Here's the retort from the Mayor to the Governor.

It was a peaceful protest. Delete your account. https://t.co/QoKyIHmuQj

— Mayor Rahm Emanuel (@ChicagosMayor) July 7, 2018

I'm going to give the Governor credit for this!

Great piece of community police work today by ISP and CPD. Despite the disruption and traffic chaos, they made sure marchers and drivers were safe. Thanks to officers from both forces.

— Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) July 7, 2018 

Sometimes I forget that these can be deleted perhaps I should just screencap them for posterity. Although the tweets have been reported in the media so they won't like go away soon. Forgotten probably but we know they were shared by the parties involved.

Political Forum discusses Black county court judges

[VIDEO] Dartesia Pitts - she introduces herself as the outgoing President of the Cook County Bar Association - hosted this recent special edition of CAN-TV's Political Forum with guest attorney Erica Kirkwood introduced as a past president of the Black Woman's Lawyer Association of Greater Chicago. They discuss the fact that no Black lawyers were elected associate judges by county circuit court judges.

I shared this article last month about this fact which will allow you to read up on this subject. Give it a quick read.

No African-American candidates chosen as Cook County judges add 16 to bench https://t.co/KKxYLijB3R

— The Sixth Ward (@TheSixthWard) May 27, 2018

You might have seen a regram of this on our ig feed. Ms. Pitts certainly helped to put word out about her CAN-TV program on her ig. I'm sorry I didn't share this with you before it aired so that you could turn in and ask your own questions. Political Forum is normall a live call-in program.

Capitol Fax: Quinn says “mighty” effort needed to get mayoral term limits question on ballot

I know Rahm Emanuel is unpopular as mayor, however, is mayoral term limits an idea whose time has come? Why stop at mayor why not direct term limits to other city elected officials especially aldermen? Why is our former governor just targeting term limits for mayors?

Of course this isn't new as well in addition to advocated for mayoral term limits in Chicago, he's also calling for an elected consumer advocate position. I hope he'll reveal more about that and what the duties for this proposed office entails.

Read on over at CapitolFax.com

Quinn say “mighty” effort needed to get mayoral term limits question on ballot https://t.co/Rkm4kkYStQ

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) June 7, 2018

Greg Hinz: Chicago population drops for third year in a row

Read on! I appears though that the decline has slowed, but there is still a decline not only in the city but for the suburbs as well:

The new figures are for the year ended last June 30. They indicate that city proper had a net loss of 3,805 residents, slipping to a total of 2,716,450 hardy souls. Last year was the third year in a row in which fewer people lived in the city, but the drop in the prior 2015-16 period was almost 5,000.

None of the declines is particularly large, with last year's drop amounting to barely 0.1 percent and likely within the range of margin of error. Also, the latest estimate still shows Chicago with more people than it had in the last full census in 2010, when the city's population totaled 2,695,598.

But at a time of rising national prosperity and growth, a decline here surely will be used in the upcoming mayoral election to argue that Chicagoans are voting with their feet about Mayor Rahm Emanuel's performance and have decided to locate elsewhere. They may also reach the same conclusion about the state of Illinois under Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Chicago's suburbs, which for decades easily outpaced the city in population gains, increasingly are showing the same growth patterns.
...
Chicago demographer Rob Paral said the new figures are roughly what's been occurring in recent years and not a big surprise. What's not clear from this data is what is happening among racial and ethnic groups, in which, for instance, Chicago has been losing African-Americans but gaining whites, Latinos and Asians, Paral said. 

Crain's: Here's how to reverse the damage of segregation

Published in Crain's Chicago Business on Tuesday morning:

The [Metropolitan Planning Council] used the help of 110 advisers and experts to draw up the recommendations, all of which view the city through "the lens of racial equity," Barrett says. Among the recommendations:

• Enact a city earned income tax credit for working households, to augment state and federal earned income tax credits. This would generate $218 million in spending from working families, according to the study. 

• Reduce local control over affordable housing decisions. If a ward has less than 10 percent affordable housing, a city council member shouldn't have the ability to reject or delay proposed residential developments that have affordable housing components. 

• Increase Chicago Housing Authority vouchers to expand options for affordable housing. Expanding the vouchers to 200 percent of fair market rent in certain areas could add 3,377 more housing units to the market. 

• End criminal justice system policies that adversely affect poor people. Among these is requiring a money bond for minor offenses, as people who can't afford bond can spend months or even years in jail while awaiting trial. Eliminating unnecessary pretrial detention could save $198 million a year. The report also suggests implicit-bias training for all involved in the criminal justice system. 

...

• Use equity as a key factor, along with safety, delay reduction and ridership, when making transportation decisions in the Chicago metro area. "The South Side doesn't have the same level of rapid transit service," says Kate Lowe, assistant professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, one of the 110 advisers who worked on the recommendations. "Extending the Red Line would help." Transportation, she adds, intersects with all the systems that shape residents' lives: jobs, education, health care and employment. 

Put into place over two years, the recommendations could add $4.4 billion in income for African-American communities, which would in turn generate $8 billion for the local economy. The measures would add 83,000 bachelor's degrees and reduce homicides by 30 percent. If nothing is done, and the city continues on its current trajectory of segregation, income disparity will widen: The area will see a 17 percent drop in its African-American population, a 12 percent rise in the number of households earning below $30,000 a year, and a 42 percent increase in households earning more than $125,000 a year.

 Interesting?

Crain's: Our lawless downtown is threatening our city's economy

I suppose one way to look at this is some of the crime in the more violent neighborhoods of the city's south and west sides are beginning to bleed into the Loop or areas of downtown Chicago. As seen in this article gunfire at Water Tower Place, carjackings in the Gold Coast, a police commander shot to death near the Thompson Center.

That sense of security is under threat: The Loop saw a 14 percent rise in overall crime in the first quarter of this year compared to the last, with a 30 percent rise in violent crime driven largely by muggings, according to police data analyzed by CWBChicago.com. And a series of recent incidents has revived old worries about crime in the city. A police commander shot to death amid weekday crowds in the Loop. Cars commandeered at gunpoint in the Gold Coast and other neighborhoods across Chicago and the suburbs. A 15-year-old boy hit by stray gunfire as he rode a city bus. Just last week, a federal law enforcement agent was shot in the face as he worked to combat gun violence in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Shots fired inside Water Tower Place on the Mag Mile.

All those events got national media attention, adding to a steady drumbeat of stories that raise questions about safety in Chicago. These questions trouble not only those of us who live here, but also those who might be considering a move to Chicago.

Most prominent among them is Amazon, which is vetting cities for a second headquarters that it says would bring tens of thousands of well-paid jobs to the winner. Chicago badly wants the prize, and by all rights should have a strong chance. The city has many of the attributes Amazon wants in a second headquarters—a deep talent pool, a world-class airport and an extensive public transit system, to name a few key selling points. But none of those advantages will matter if the e-tailing giant concludes its employees wouldn't be safe here.

If crime is going up in the Loop area then this is certainly a problem the city will solve. Hopefully these same resources could be used in many of Chicago's long suffering neighborhoods. What do you think?

h/t Newsalert!

Artistmac on the politics of snow

[VIDEO] While I didn't want to post another artistmac video so soon after I already posted one on Monday, perhaps it's appropriate this time. Especially since more snow is in the forecast for Thursday - well actually today.

I'm trying not to forget that Spring is next month and we're almost there. Just keep our eye on warmer weather and more sun. Of course less snow at least through March and into April. Of course let's not forget about baseball season one tell tale sign that spring is here and summer is around the corner.

Meanwhile, the last video by artistmac was really about complaining about a ridge or snow in his backyard this time he tells us about the politics of snow. I had no idea the city never plowed the side streets until after we' 1979. And the city isn't supposed to plow private property or the alleys.

Artistmac seems kind of saavy and he tells you what to do upon seeing the city doing something they're not supposed to be doing. Need not report this - especially with photography or videography from your cell phone for example - to city government. Find a way to send it to the media, especially since we're in sweeps period!

For your weather needs check the WGN Weather page.

Coming soon BlockClubChi

Thanks to Robert Feder and his tweet we learn about a new operation being created by former editors of DNAInfo Chicago. Last fall the news outlet which also owned Chicagoist was abruptly shut down after the DNAInfo affiliate in New York decided to unionize. DNA Info is owned by Joe Ricketts whose son Tom Ricketts owns the Chicago Cubs.

BREAKING: Former @DNAinfoCHI editors @stoomey @jensabella @slulay2 reunite to launch @BlockClubCHI neighborhood news site: https://t.co/OhfPd0mhy2 pic.twitter.com/SXIk1lXKGK

— Robert Feder (@RobertFeder) February 6, 2018

All the same through the @BlockClubChi on Twitter we learn of a kickstarter campaign. So while the venture is about to start they're looking for funds to get operations going. According to Feder this is expected to be subscription based service.

Five full-time reporters/producers — Kelly Bauer, Mauricio Pena, Alisa Hauser, Mina Bloom and Lee Edwards — will comprise the initial news staff along with a team of freelance contributors. Bauer, Pena, Hauser and Bloom previously worked at DNAinfo.

While the approach to covering Chicago neighborhoods will be similar to that of DNAinfo, Block Club Chicago will rely on a subscription-based model for funding. Readers will be asked to subscribe once they reach a certain number of stories each month. Prices have not been set, but they’re likely to be around $4.99 a month.

In addition to a Kickstarter campaign, major support will come from Civil, a new decentralized, blockchain-based platform that’s helping start up hyperlocal newsrooms across the country. Civil was launched last year with $5 million from ConsenSys, the world’s premier venture crypto studio.

Sabella briefly worked as managing editor of The Takeout, a food site from The Onion and The A.V. Club, before rejoining Toomey and Lulay to create Block Club Chicago.

Here's hoping that when this venture is up and running BlockClubChi will soon be covering the many stories that occur in our communities as DNAInfo had. I'm glad to see there will be some efforts towards that.

Capitol Fax: Maze Jackson forms new PAC #WIIFTBP

Maze Jackson you might have heard from WVON radio. He's starting a new political action committee read the info over at the Capitol Fax. CapFax also shares a fb post showing a cookout at the Dan Ryan Woods 87th & Western on Sunday. Check them out and lets us know how it went.

EDIT 12:14 PM - BTW, just noticed in the comments they're mentioning Kari Steele who's currently a commissioner on the Chicago Water Reclamation District.

Summer is almost over

Nothing symbolizes this fact that the above ig post from our local ABC affiliate. What you see below are the last fireworks you will see at Navy Pier for the summer. After Labor Day it's time to send the young people back to school! I hope everyone enjoyed their summer this year.

Granted we have a lot going on in Chicago with gun violence and further away from home people have been soldiering through a major hurricane that has caused significant flooding.

Final Fireworks show for summer of 2017 at Navy Pier!! Thanks to @soaringbadger for sharing this stunning pic!

A post shared by ABC 7 Chicago (@abc7chicago) on Sep 2, 2017 at 9:03pm PDT

The vandalism of an Abe Lincoln bust...

DISCLAIMER: The Sixth Ward blog or sixthward.us is written by three bloggers who aren't associated with any public official in Chicago. If that changes there will be full disclosure of that fact. With that being said let's talk about something unusual that recently happened.

Recently Worlee was contacted by a reporter for RT America looking for a comment - likely from an Alderman and we can't help with that - regarding a bust of President Abraham Lincoln located at 69th & Wolcott being vandalized recently. Ironically the first time hearing about it was on John Ruberry's Marathon Pundit yesterday. Friday, Ruberry shared a segment from FOX News' Tucker Carlson Tonight where he discusses the Lincoln bust. [VIDEO]

So why is this in the news now? As you see in the above video there are people in the nation who want to eliminate primarily statues of prominent Civil War Confederates. As we all know the Confederate States of America is very controversial because we largely know them as the side that wanted to preserve slavery. And now that this bust of Abraham Lincoln - popularly known as the President who freed the slaves - is a target of those same individuals who want Confederate statues removed.

Our municipal flag at 100 years

Today the Chicago flag - that you see in the header above - celebrates 100 years. You can read more about the flag and it's history over at Curbed Chicago.

Happy 100th birthday of the Chicago city flag! pic.twitter.com/oOYvc1XABj

— Dennis Rodkin (@Dennis_Rodkin) April 4, 2017