Kusanya clean-up day August 19, 2018

If you're done with the back-to-school events on Saturday perhaps you might be interested in volunteering with Kusanya Cafe or My Block My Hood My City on Sunday. They're looking to clean up an adjacent vacant lot at 6950 South Green Street on August 19 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

This Sunday we’re back on the the block, volunteering for the @kusanyacafe Clean Up Day! Join us, lose yourself for a couple of hours. Explore #englewood

A post shared by My Block, My Hood, My City (@formyblock) on Aug 17, 2018 at 12:00pm PDT

We've been getting tweets regarding 69th Street...

Via Mark A. Clements twitter @prisonspeaks

Starting earlier this month we had been mentioned in a series of tweets by Mark A. Clements. Clements notes in his twitter profile that he had been sentenced to prison die in prison after being tortured and then admitting to a crime he didn't commit. Now he has a current mission, which is to look at the condition of the area near 69th & State Street.

The pic above was originally shared on Clements twitter page and we also shared it onto our ig page. This is a pothole on 69th Street and deep enough for a discarded tire.

So the series of tweets shared a number of videos shot along 69th Street just east of State Street showing us the conditions there. Potholes such as the one above, drains that need clearing, vacant lot, and trash dotted along the street. While he's yet to share this on his twitter page, these are two of his most recent videos - forgot to add that he also has a YouTube page.

[VIDEO 1 : VIDEO 2]

Finally here's one of the examples of the tweets Mr. Clements has sent to this blog on Twitter

https://t.co/70zYaxK0Vx Conditions remaining correction. @TheSixthWard @WGNNews @susannasongcbs2 @scottyrebel @chicagotribune @RandPaul

— Mark A. Clements (@Prisonspeaks) June 9, 2015

Is there anywhere else that you believe deserves attention as to the conditions of the streets, infrastructure or otherwise needs a cleanup.

DNA Info: Englewood Barber Aims to Clean up Neighborhood, Open Barber School

Barber, Sunni Powell by DNAinfo/Wendell Hutson

The man you see above has some good activities going on in the Englewood neighborhood. Something that proves to be a very positive development and then some in the future:

Entrepreneur Sunni Powell is a busy man these days, as he makes plans to improve the South Side community where he works, lives and grew up.

The 43-year-old owner of Powell's Barbershop, 1139 W. 63rd St., will sponsor and host his annual block party from noon-5 p.m. April 19 in the parking lot outside his Englewood shop

For three hours before his third annual party, Powell and a group of volunteers will clean up four empty lots that surround his business.

"If we don't clean it up then who will? A lot of the young men who get their hair cut at my shop have agreed to help out. Hopefully, as we start cleaning up others will join us," Powell said. "It's a great way for students to earn service hours, but more importantly, it's an opportunity for them to see black men taking care of their neighborhood instead of destroying it by selling drugs or committing a crime."

Then he hopes to open up a barber college in the community:

Powell also said he is planning to open a barber college in Englewood, which he hopes to have open by March 2015.

"I have looked at a few sites, but I think I will end up going with a building near Kennedy-King College," Powell said. "This is a good location when you consider that it's a few blocks from Kennedy-King College, which could serve as a feeder for my school, since Kennedy-King does not offer this type of skills set."

The vacant commercial space was previously occupied by a convenience store and sits in the city's 6th Ward, which is represented by Ald. Roderick Sawyer.

"I have touched base with Ald. Sawyer, and he likes my barber college idea," Powell said.

Powell said since trade schools need to be opened for two years before being eligible to receive financial aid, the annual tuition the first two years at his college would not exceed $2,000. That would be significantly less than most Chicago barber colleges, including Cain's Barber College Inc., at 365 E. 51st St., which costs $11,700, and Larry's Barber College, at 10456 S. Halsted St., which costs $9,750.

"A barber college puts people in a position to make money in their own neighborhood," Powell said. "Having a barber college in Englewood means that people don't have to leave their neighborhood yet again for something they want."

Best of luck with his block party and his clean-up, also I hope that his barber college gets off the ground.

Concerned Citizens of Chatham: Important Streets and Sanitation Information

Worlee provides us with some important information to keep our communities clean this spring. This information mainly regards the 6th ward, but for those of you outside of the 6th I would encourage you to find out who your local Street & Sanitation contact is for your ward. Only we can keep our communities clean this spring!

Tribune: CTA train-cleaning schedule will be dialed back

Photo by artistmac/flickr

The Tribune's John Hilkevitch writes about one side effect of shutting down the ex-offender program as was announced recently:

The quick spot-cleaning that CTA rail cars receive when trains pull into terminals in the mornings and afternoons will be eliminated at the end of the year, the transit agency and its rail workers union said Monday.

The CTA has not budgeted for new positions to replace ex-offenders whom the CTA has employed as part-time apprentices since 2007 to clean rail cars and buses, said Robert Kelly, president of Local 308 of the Amalgamated Transit Union. The ex-offenders program will end Dec. 31, the CTA and the union said last week.

The union said trains will be cleaned only on the midnight shifts starting at the first of the year, because the CTA said it is eliminating all morning and midafternoon jobs for car-servicer positions.

“This could become a serious health matter for the public,’’ Kelly said.

CTA spokesman Brian Steele confirmed that effective Jan. 1, all current daytime crews will instead be assigned to work overnight hours to replace the apprentices, who work exclusively at night.

Well what this means is we won't see spot-cleaning in the mornings and afternoons that we would see if we were waiting for a train from 95th Street for example.

Important Streets and Sanitation Information

In a conversation with the Ward Streets and Sanitation office they are asking residents to  follow several request to help keep the ward clean and rodent free. With the new grid system coming these request will help  keep residents from getting sanitation code violation fines.


First the 6th Ward Clean and Green is April 20, 2013. Block clubs and other organizations are asked to call early to reserve equipment(no power tools). The flyer is below

The following are request

• Place trash inside the carts and close lids. keeps pest out of cans and trash off the ground

• Limit large items(chairs, bed frames, etc,) to one to two items per week. There are no more "Bulk" or "Junk" pickups and these items go on the regular truck.Also, place these items out as close to pickup date as possible to discourage salvage trucks from "stripping" mattresses and other cloth items for the metal frames. 

• You MUST call the Street and Sanitation office to schedule pickup for excessive large items and amounts of trash. If you do not call for pick up ( garbage truck personnel are not responsible for completing your "cleanouts") you may be subject to fines. 

• Call 311 and report fly dumping, cart additions or replacement.

• Please cooperate and move your vehicle when you see the signs posted for street cleaning. Street cleaning will resume the week of March 25, 2013. Streets from State to King Drive will start that week and King Drive to Cottage will start in April.

Other tips are:

• Cole Park will be accepting gently used sports equipment(baseballs, basketballs, gloves, soccer balls, etc). Please check with the park about exercise equipment.
• Recycle small electronic items( cell phones, MP3,game players,etc) at electronic stores such as Best Buy, Frye's, etc
• Do not put mail or other documents with personal information in trash. There will be paper shredding days coming up where those items can be shredded.

• Donate large working/non working electronic items, furniture, clothing to non profit organizations such as the Salvation Army(1-800-SA-TRUCK) or Zealous Good.

If you have problems with dirty alleys, excessive trash or any other sanitation problem call the office at 312-747-8776. Your ward sanitation superintendent is Mr. Paul Bryson. Mr. Bryson goal is to make the 6th Ward the cleanest in Chicago.

West Chesterfield Clean & Green

A flyer posted by Worlee over at EveryBlock. It's coming April 21st and refer to the flyer below for more details!

Click pic for larger resolution!

Alderman Sawyer at CAPS clean up

From Alderman Sawyer's 6th Ward  Facebook page...

Join Alderman Roderick T. Sawyer at CAPS Clean up day. Tomorrow June 16th, 9:15 a.m. located at the Midas on 81st and Cottage Grove. There will be a few speakers and a police roll call. Join us as we work to take back our neighborhood.