Everyblock is officially online!

Everyblock is back! You may heard it on the news, but now it is official.

In case you don't know know what Everyblock is, it's a site that tries to connect many communities. They offer aggregate news, message boards, and more. Communities are set up in various ways, such as by zip codes, wards and neighborhoods. They are considered one of the leading sites for hyperlocal news

You can also custom make a location on Everyblock, such as a police beat, so you can follow the news/discussions of a particular area. In particular, our 6th Ward is very different from one area to another, so this can be particularly use.

What I am personally grateful for is that previous messages and conversations have been preserved, so some of the information and opinion that people have poured much time into (such as Worlee & RAGE) is still there, so we can go back and discuss it even further.

Everyblock is  a great tool, and thanks to Comcast for putting it back up. Some of us may have issues with Comcast on a number of things, but support local efforts like Everyblock, CLTV and CAN TV are very much appreciated.

I'd like like others in Englewood to know...

R.A.G.E (Resident Association of Greater Englewood) posted these photos on their Facebook page. These signs are located at 63rd & Halsted.

As of 1:00 Wednesday, they reported onfacebook:

Both sides are now filled up with positive words which completely override any negative comments...

Do you think we should try a similar thing in Chatham, and other neighborhoods?

Where is this blog's direction?

I had been considering bouncing off of Worlee's recent post over at Concerned Citizens of Chatham entitled "How well do we communicate Chatham". Then it leads me to the question having been considered here over time. That question being, where is this blog going?

The original vision was to have somewhat matched the activity of other neighborhood blogs around the city such as Uptown Update, Sloopin' or even The Broken Heart of Roger's Park. It certainly appears that we haven't quite gotten to that level of activity just yet.

I wondered if the people in our communities aren't quite open to using the various technologies available to talk about whats going on in our neck of the woods. If they're not doing it on this blog perhaps they're using FB or twitter. Still one wonders if there's a lack of comfort discussing neighborhood issues online.

And at that here's another thought, whether or not people in our communities know we exist. This has been a concern from the day this blog was started in 2007. It seems more people around the city know about our existence but how many people in the community knows about this blog?

For now the concern isn't about about matching Uptown Update's traffic which one year came to 3 million hits. We will continue to discuss the issues that affect our communities. And in the process show how engaged many of our neighbors are in this community.

BTW, Worlee noted that many of our neighborhood organizations utilize various means to communicate in a given area. Not only with blogs, websites, or even social networking sites but e-mail as well. We hope that with whatever method you may choose to use that there will continue to be vital information shared between neighbors!

Direction - communication & cooperation

Chatham community area

Worlee had recently alerted me to news that another community organization is about to emerge in Chatham called Re-Unite Chatham (RUC). My first reaction to this was between aren't two neighborhood organizations enough or is this more "turf wars"?

Well RUC's stated purpose was to not engage in "turf wars" and to get grants for community development. When you think about pursuing community development grants should be the niche of another Chatham organization, Chatham Business Association (CBA).

It's great to see a new neighborhood organization arise in Chatham hopefully with differing ideas on how to revilatize the community. There definitely needs to be solid vision to keep this particular community special.

Currently there are two main neigborhood organizations in Chatham, and both have lineage. The Greater Chatham Alliance (GCA) have held major monthly meetings during their existence (they have had a meeting on Wal-Mart, ward remap, hosted forums for Aldermanic and State Representative candidates, a forum with Gary McCarthy, etc) had once been known as the Wabash-Indiana-Michigan Block Club. They have definitely made a mark during their time in existence.

Also there is the Chatham Avalon Park Community Council (CAPCC) who also have lineage since the 1950s or earlier as the organization still had whites in it during the time of racial transition and they accepted Blacks into their membership. Their organization goes block by block as it goes from sub-area to sub-area. They are known for meetings regarding a pawn shop that would've opened on the site of the former Chatham Pancake House.

My point in noting those two organizations is that they bring something to the table. They're able to get people out for whatever their subject matter are. GCA is able to get the big ticket meetings and CAPCC has an organization that seems to allow smaller areas to organize. Besides CAPCC has called people to sub-area meetings.

Only time will tell if RUC will bring anything of value to the table. Perhaps having various community organizations in Chatham isn't entirely a bad thing. The question we have to ask now if there is any communication or cooperative between the different groups?

We already have one example of one groups' mission overlapping the other. Can any community survive having competing organizations with overlapping missions, but without having some form of cooperation or communication between the various groups?

Ald. Brookins on CAN TV tomorrow

From a  recent post on Everyblock:

Ald. Howard Brookins, Jr. (21st Ward) will be the guest on this week's Political Forum, a live call-in program, this Wednesday at 7 p.m. on cable channel CAN TV21 and online at http://www.cantv.org/live/. Would you like to ask Ald. Brookins about an issue in your neighborhood or your city? Just leave a comment on this post! You can also tune in and call in live to get you questions answered. For more information visit http://www.cantv.org/politicalforum.htm

You can follow the Everyblock discussion on this message here. Alderman Brookins was previously on CAN TV's Political Forum program on February 8 of this year.

CPS hotline for students signed into law...

By Gov. Pat Quinn yesterday:

Chicago Public School students will be able to tip police off about after-school fights and other violence anonymously via a new hotline, signed into law by Gov. Quinn today.

Backers hope the hotline, due to be set up by January, will encourage students to break the code of silence protecting gang members and help prevent shootings and fights like those that claimed the lives of Fenger High School student Derrion Albert in September last year and 13-year-old Robert Freeman on July 29.

“We want the violence to stop and the silence about the violence to stop,” the governor said before touring the troubled Roseland community — where Freeman was shot as many as 22 times — with Rev. Jesse Jackson and other ministers.

State Rep. Monique Davis, who sponsored the bill, said “a lot of kids knew what was going to happen” the day Albert was killed, adding, “they didn’t know it was going to be Derrion Albert, but they knew there was going to be a big fight.”

The hotline could help in situations like that, she said. It will be answered by Chicago Police officers and all calls will be recorded, she added.

The police department already has anonymous tip hotlines for gun law enforcement, bombs & arson, drugs, gangs, and a superintendent’s hotline, also for reporting drug offenses.

Here's another approach to this issue but seemingly unrelated from CBS2:

Tilden High School Principal Marcey Sorenson's BlackBerry will keep her in communication with 30 others from the Tilden family -- security guards, administrators, teachers, police officers, parents and community leaders.

"We're all in communication," she said. "So, if there's a fight at 51st and Marshfield, we're notified. It's just to keep the communications loop so that students are safe."

Passing out cellphones to the community is a first for CPS. It's part of the district's Safe Passage Plan.

Adults are placed around the neighborhood to keep an eye on students as they travel to and from school. The advantage, say teachers, is nipping a potential conflict in the bud.

"Say if we found out there might be a fight," explains Sylvia Maayteh, a Tilden teacher. "We might be able to put them in a peace circle ... where they sit around and discuss the problem before it becomes a bigger problem."

Looks like there are plans in place to deal with the issue of violence by public schools students. Let's hope there are some cool headed and thoughtful students who will utilize the hotline. Also let's hope the communication amongst the adults in a given neighborhood can prevent a problem from becoming a serious one as well.

Couple found trapped by their own junk!

From Chicago Breaking News...of a couple who were trapped by their own junk!

An elderly couple who authorities described as hoarders were found buried alive under mounds of trash in their South Side two-flat Monday night and may have been there for as long as three weeks, authorities said this morning.

"It (the residence) was packed from floor to ceiling," said Police Lt. Dale Kingsley.

Police conducting a well-being check at the request of a neighbor about 6:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of East 69th Street in the Grand Crossing neighborhood detected an overpowering odor and called the Fire Department to make a forced entry, police said.

A fire official on the scene said couple had not been heard from for three weeks and the 75-year-old woman had injuries that resembled rat bites. Both she and her 76-year-old husband were taken to Jackson Park Hospital in critical condition, but a nurse there said this morning their conditions were improved, although they still were in intensive care.

(more on the website)

Thankfully, they are still alive!

However, it's a stark reminder that we need to know our neighbors, and check in on them every so often.

We complain about trash...but we need to be humble enough sometimes to ask for help, and be generous (and not selfish) to give things to people who may need them. Or, if you need the money, work with someone to sell things on e-bay!

Chatham Avalon Park Community Council meeting today

Chatham Avalon Park Community Council, sub-area IV, has meeting today at 3pm.

Unfortunately, the information showed up as a flyer on my door around noon on Thanksgiving. It would have been nice to know this ahead of time.

The meeting is Friday, November 27, 3p -4p at Mather's More than a Cafe, 33 E. 83rd St.

For more info, call the CAPCC office at 1-866-272-1215

The agenda is as such:
1. Opening
2. Sub area operations Overview
3. Sub area update
Area Block club presidents
Are concerns/hot spots
4. 213 E. 83rd St. Proposal
5. Upcoming Community Events
6. Adjournment.

Elgie Simms, who is running against William Beavers for Cook County Commissioner, is the Vice President for CAPCC, Area IV.