Happy New Year - 2021

Longtime no see everyone. Again I didn't allow myself a usual wrap up of what happened in 2020. This has been without a doubt a wild year and we hope 2021 will prove to be better for many of us.

We suffered the shock of lockdowns due to this pandemic. We also suffered from unrest which went downtown and sadly affected our neighborhoods with looting and destruction of businesses. We're still trying to figure out the 2020 presidential race which resulted in President Barack Obama's Vice President - Joe Biden being elected the 46th President of the United States.

However, the 45th President Donald Trump is still contesting the results and there will be objections filed once Congress counts the electoral votes. Seven states filed dueling electoral votes, it's a long shot without a doubt and perhaps we can expect that as most hail mary passes go it not going to work. I would say rest easy on January 20th when we should know for sure who'll take the Presidential Oath.

As for this coronavirus pandemic thankfully there is a vaccine, so here's hoping things will open up more in 2021. No more restrictions, lockdowns, and hopefully no more masks because I'm tired of them. 

Regardless I hate to bring up that the coronavirus has mutated with cases in England and some states such as California and Colorado are reporting cases of this mutated virus. Regardless what's out there in the news is that the vaccine that has been developed should be effective with this new strain and it's to be expected that the coronavirus that has shut things down around the world will likely mutate.

Also if you're concerned about the vaccine, I urge you all to ask someone in the healthcare field especially a doctor all the questions you can about it. We're in the times where you're hearing a lot of dire things about taking the vaccine. Be as knowledgeable and certain as you can about this vaccine, and this is true for those of you at the most risk for coronavirus.

I also want to add that there is a new spin-off blog - Ninth Ward Chicago. Unlike this blog it might have a shelf life, but one goal with that is to be able to do some of the things that this blog was known for at least earlier on in its life.

Either way I hope you all have a safe and happy new year. Hoping for the best in 2021!

Turn your clocks back tonight

 Saturday night you must turn your clocks backwards by 1 hour. We will lose an hour until March 14, 2021 when we will start this process all over again - and regain that hour.

Today's coronavirus updates #COVID19

Today's report on coronavirus cases 673 new cases and now the statewide total is 2,528 cases with 7 more deaths reported and this time no information as far as location. If you click through the below link to CapFax we see a breakdown as far as ethnicity. I won't characterize this as very important, however, it's very interesting the percentage of those cases marked as "left blank".

673 new cases, 7 new deaths https://t.co/3inQeCB6mP

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 26, 2020

Anyway cases are now being reported in 37 of Illinois' 102 counties with Franklin and Tazewell now reporting coronavirus cases.

I also want to note that the city in a press conference today and no doubt you likely got an alert on your smartphones - iPhone and Android - that the Mayor has ordered the lakefront closed. The emphasis is on social distancing and avoid being in large groups and keep at least 6 feet away. [VIDEO]

Spring forward: Daylight saving time

Forgot to note this but daylight saving time is tonight. Adjust your clocks accordingly put them forward 1 hour. Thankfully Worlee Glover on his page Concerned Citizens of Chatham reminds us.

Happy New Year 2020

Usually I'd end the year with a round-up of stories political or neighborhood news just to show what happened during the course of the year in this case 2019. I let time fly on doing that this year and now this is just a post wishing you well in not only a new year and a new decade.

It's still hard to believe this blog is more than a decade old, however' I'm looking forward to the new adventures that we might see on this blog.

2019 brought a number of changes to our city and to the state, especially politically. 2020 is a pivotal year with a new census coming up, and that proved to be controversial once it was time to redraw the ward map. Indeed with Lori Lightfoot as mayor once we get census numbers in it's time to redraw the map yet again. However, we got time for that next year.

Meanwhile before you go party and bring in the new year we open up the floor. Perhaps there's something we failed to cover this year. Perhaps there's a story you want us to know about from the past year. Leave a comment for us or otherwise hit our social media handles.

Once again Happy New Year! 

CTA capital budget includes investment in the Red Line Extension

Got this e-mail this week from CTA regarding the Red Line extension

On November 20, 2019, the Chicago Transit Board approved a $1.57 billion operating budget that preserves existing bus and rail service levels, while continuing the agency’s unprecedented efforts to modernize its infrastructure and improve the CTA travel experience for customers.

CTA’s 2020 capital budget includes a commitment to invest $310 million into the $2.3 billion Red Line Extension (RLE) project, which will extend the Red Line south by 5.3 miles and include four new, fully accessible stations at 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue, and 130th Street. This is the single most significant funding contribution that CTA has ever made towards the RLE project, and will fund work efforts, including engineering and design activities, to help position the RLE project to receive federal funding.

The 2020 Budget Recommendations book is posted on CTA's web site under Finance & Budget and is available here.

Two photographs were with the email one of which I will show you here. It advertised CTA's efforts to connect with those stakeholders with regards to this future project. You might recognize one face in the photograph long time leader in West Chesterfield Michael LaFargue.

Update to the fatal chain-reaction crash on Dan Ryan early Saturday morning

The Chicago Tribune has more on that early morning wreck near Garfield Blvd that happened Saturday morning during the AM commute on the Dan Ryan Expressway. One woman dies in a chain wreck crash that involved five vehicles and resulted in injuries to four other drivers although in this article their conditions weren't reported.

Be careful out there!

Yes this is a rare Sunday post.

Were you caught in the AM delays on the CTA Red Line?

I was on the train early this morning and was told by a motorman that someone got hit by a train  at 63rd and we should head upstairs for alternate service. There were loud speaker announcements with regards to a medical emergency at 63rd. Power was said to be turned off due to this incident from 63rd to 95th Street.

I made sure to retweet this CTA update.

[Significant Delays] Red Line trains are standing near 63rd due to a medical emergency on the tracks. Crews working to restore service.

— cta (@cta) December 12, 2018

Service was restored by 8:30 AM according to this Sun-Times article. Trains started rolling by 6:40 AM. So if you were already on a train and I saw one at 69th that had just pulled out of the station and was stopped there, they may have had to wait almost an hour. Anyway the Sun-Times article below.

UPDATE: Normal Red Line service has been restored. https://t.co/n5fyTNv2JV

— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) December 12, 2018

I'm sorry to report according to the Sun-Times the person who had been hit by a train was killed. The incident was said to have occurred at 5:30 AM, however, by the time I heard about this incident I was already on the train by 5:10 AM.

If you were caught up in the delays this morning how was your commute? Did you get to where you needed to go on-time?

Election season continued...

We got through our mid term and gubernatorial election this year. Gov. Bruce Rauner will be succeeded next year by now Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker. Pritzker will be joined with his Lt. Governor-elect Juliana Stratton who is the first Black American to hold that position.

Kwame Raoul wins the race for Illinois Attorney General. Raoul is a state senator who had succeeded Barack Obama in Springfield once he had been elected a US Senator in 2004 (and we all know what happened from there).

Now we turn our attention to the municipal elections in February. At last count that I know of, there are 18 candidates looking to succeed Mayor Rahm Emanuel as he retires from office next year. There are a few names most voters know, however, as far as I know there isn't anyone who's been able to break out so far. If anyone sticks out for mayor feel free to post a comment, tweet us, or even write a quick comment on our FB page.

As we had for the past two elections we had a page dedicated for the alderman elections in 2011 for the 6th ward. In 2015 we covered three alderman elections (wards 6, 9, & 21) due to the ward remap. I would imagine 2019 isn't much different, but we hope to have a page ready to go for next years election. We do hope to keep it local and perhaps keep an eye on the mayor's race as well.

This year we usually are a stickler for making sure people know to register to vote or go to the polls on election day. We didn't do much with regards to letting you all know about early voting for this year's elections. Hopefully we'll do a lot better with regards to sharing information with you all about next year's elections as we get closer to February.

Unfortunately election season still isn't over for us. We'll still see yard signs, workers seeking petition signatures, politicians, news stories, etc for just a little while longer.

Our Instagram nametag

We have a small badge that at one point in time was provided by ig only for it to no longer be available. We also have the ability to photoshop some of ig's brand resources and with them you could use those to promote - within reasonable guidelines of course - to promote your ig page(s).

Then ig finally unveiled their nametag where with your camera - through the ig app of course - you can scan the code and then you will be sent to that ig page. This is what we present to you below and expect the name tag to be seen in the sidebar in the near future.

BTW, some facts about our ig. Our account was first active according to ig on July 26, 2014 so we just celebrated our 4th anniversary officially on July 26, 2018. Most of our posts are regrams or even flyers about local events however occasionally you might see some original photographs. As I write this our page has over 800 followers and with our nametag it's easier to get more.

Feel free to let us know what you would like to see on our page. Also if you have any events you would like to share and have an ig ready deliverable to share tag us or email us at blog @ thesixthward.us. We would be happy to hear your suggestions or even about any event you would like for us to share.

Blogging here 10 years...

Today is the day. The first post for this blog was on this day back in November 2007. JP Paulus and myself - Levois J. - started posting to this blog 10 years ago. Perhaps we'll take some time to relive some of those important stories that we've kept an eye on over the past decade.

Do you have any favorites stories from the past 10 years?

Blogmaster updates

Yesterday I finally was able to correct issues with our domain which at one point was through BlueHost and they are better for doing more than as a registrar for domains. BlueHost is more for websites and web storage than it might be for any domains.

Besides The Sixth Ward blog is a website or a blog that seeks a registrar for a domain. So as a result of the episode of the past few days where the blog was redirected to its original url http://thesixthward.blogspot.com it was necessary to change registrars to that of GoDaddy. It seems fairly common for websites to utilize that service.

As a result of this change, guess what? Now the comments widget is back. How long has it been since we saw the latest comments in the sidebar to the right on this blog?

 This blog has always been about dialogue - especially since we respect and observe the 1st amendment. Regardless always bear in mind we do have a moderation policy. We DO NOT discourage anoymous comments although we will ask you to give yourself a handle or name so that we can easily identify you if we choose to reply. Of course always be respectful and refrain from using any profanity!

Again apologies for any inconvenience these changes may have caused. And now you can always visit this blog at www.sixthward.us.

Had a brief interuption with sixthward.us domain

With the domain at http://www.sixthward.us. Well the domain is back up and running. As always of course you can always access this blog via http://www.thesixthward.us or http://thesixthward.blogspot.com. Those addresses will redirect you to sixthward.us.

Sorry about any inconvenience the domain disruption may have been as I - the "blogmaster" at The Sixth Ward blog - attempted to settle this issue.

Proposed photo essay project

I've been very keen on doing a photo essay taking aim at the 9th ward. Alas I'm only armed with a camera-phone at this point, but it's something worth doing.

Perhaps select photos could be posted to this blog's instagram in addition to being posted here. The goal is to document those areas that could use some investment on that part of town. The vacant lots and storefronts for example.

Another possible project to undertake with this project is the potential in the Chatham community as well. I want to look at the site of the proposed Hedgeman hotel near 76th & State Street for example. The purpose there may not be whether or not this is a great location for a hotel. Indeed it could be a matter of deciding what is a good vision for this area.

Main goal is to document the community as it is today and hopefully start a discuss as to how we want the community to look in the next few years. We can always come back and see how things have changed in the future.

BTW, I hope to cross-post some photo essays to the Shedd School blog as well.

Update on Hedgeman's proposed hotel zoning hearing

The initial hearing had been held recently at City Hall an update provided by a Greater Chatham Alliance e-mail blast.

• Update on the 76th State Street Hotel Zoning Hearing meeting held on Friday, September 18t at City Hall.
  
  The zoning hearing on the hotel was continued until: December 18th at 2:00 p.m. in City Hall, room 200.
  
  This request was officially made to the zoning board by Alderman Sawyer. The Alderman wants the developer to provide more documents and information about his proposed hotel, which is rumored to be a franchise or branded hotel.
  
  According to Alderman Sawyer, he has not received any new, or updated presentations regarding Mr. Hedgeman’s hotel proposal.
  
  The Alderman said at the zoning meeting that he was not opposed to a hotel; but, he added, the hotel had to be a branded franchise (I.e., Holiday Inn, Best Western, Marriott, Ramada, La Quinta or Embassy Suites for example).
  
  Approximately 35 to 40 people from the community were present. At the next zoning meeting in December, GCA hopes three or four times this amount of residents attend: we need to make sure the zoning board understands what the community wants!
  
  Ms. Helena Haley, President of 75th, 76th, 77th, 78th Wabash Block Club, is currently in the process of planning a community Town Hall meeting to work on a strategy for going forward.
  
  This meeting is tentatively slated for October.
  
  Be on the lookout for the October Town Hall meeting’s when, where and time.
  
  Attached, you will find a letter that was submitted to the City’s Zoning board by Mrs. Haley’s group.

EDIT: Forgot to post that letter. Here it is below

Happy Labor Day

Unfortunately, this is the unofficial last day of summer and I can't believe it went by so quick. Well now we have next summer to look forward to as the weather changes and eventually time will go back an hour in the near future.

BTW, I want to ask I've decided that it's time to update any possible events on our calendar. It might be time to start a new system where people can add dates. That being said send an e-mail to blog @ thesixthward.us if you want to share any future events and we will be sure to pass the word.

I sincerely hope you all have a safe and happy Labor Day. Hopefully those grills are ready to go for one last time this summer.

Time to start updating the 2015 elections page

Last night I decided to work on a page for the 2015 elections over at the Shedd School blog. I know it's been over 6 months since the Aldermanic election that saw Ald. Beale win another term on Chicago's city council. It was something that was on my mind since the election of this past February.

It brings to mind our own election page. At this point as far as Aldermanic elections we have two pages. One for the 2011 runoff between then Ald. Freddrenna Lyle and current Ald. Roderick Sawyer in the 6th Ward. Believe it or not the 2011 page still is viewable publicly although there is no longer an available link for the reader to click - at least until posting a link here.

Unfortunately the 2015 page hasn't been updated with any numbers at all from the Board of Elections although it had been promised. It's something that has been on my mind after posting some final numbers over at the other blog. Plus, I have to consider the format especially since this blog covered essentially three elections and one of those elections went to a run-off.

In addition, back in 2011 since we only covered the 6th ward election we wittled away all the candidate to the two - Lyle & Sawyer - who were in a runoff. And ultimately the 2011 page reflected the results of that runoff.

In the near future got some changes to make to the 2015 elections page, but they will be made. Consider this something of a history post as well and one of the things we do talk about here is politics. And Aldermen in some way do affect the communities they serve.

No disrespect...

I posted two posts that received comments that were likened to spam attacking this blog because of a column and video shared here. The attacks seem quite petty as we were attacked for the assertions of that column and we were also attacked because we made the "mistake" of not stating exactly that a candidate was running in the 2015 election.

Although let's be clear we had acknowledged this candidate running for alderman during the petition phase and after that had concluded. All I - as the writer of both posts - attempted to state that this individual had ran previously four years ago.

So anyway, we'll be publishing later - as we're really close to election day for the municipal elections - the information that this campaign had sent to the blog. Because of the activity in the comment section of those posts, I had been real willing to drag my feet on sharing this information.

Since this is the final weekend before the election, we're posting this info later today. While this information will be shared it was important air the reservations I had in doing so.

#chiberia: CPS classes are cancelled due to the snow...

You may have seen this announcement if you follow CPS' FB and Twitter profiles. This is important news so sorry if this is breaking into your enjoyment of tonight's Super Bowl between the Patriots and Seahawks.

Also I wanted to share with you the city plow tracker to see if the city is coming down your street to clear it.

If you want to see a radar picture here's WGN's Chicago Weather Center radar.

DNA Info: CPS Schedules Makeup Days for January Cancellations

Those two days earlier this month where CPS students had no class because of the cold weather well they have to make up those days somehow:

On Jan. 6 and Jan. 7, snow and frigid temperatures forced CPS to cancel classes. "To ensure students receive the valuable instructional time that was intended" for those days, CPS has scheduled the two makeup days, including one that will delay summer break for a day.

Jan. 30, which was scheduled to be a School Improvement Day without classes, will now be a regular attendance day for all CPS students, officials said.

June 17, which was supposed to be the first day of summer break, will also be a regular attendance day. Summer break will begin June 18 instead.