Curbed Chgo: Kanye West wants to reopen Chicago’s historic Avalon Regal Theater

What has been going on with the Avalon Regal Theater. Some new developments according to Curbed Chicago.

Kanye West wants to reopen Chicago’s historic Avalon Regal Theater https://t.co/FWZdM0zzFi pic.twitter.com/3at6vayHOH

— Curbed Chicago (@curbedchicago) September 10, 2018

The building was purchased out of foreclosure for $100,000 in 2014 by entrepreneur Jerald Gary. The South Shore native hoped to raise funds to cover numerous plumbing, electrical, and tech-related updates. As of Monday afternoon, a crowdfunding campaign had raised about $200 of its $150,000 goal. The property owner says that he already put “over $1 million” of his own money into the theater, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

 

Gary hopes the restored Avalon Regal will be ready in time to host a holographic concert organized by Chicago rapper Chief Keef on September 26. If not, a “hologram truck” with a built-in stage is standing by as a back up and will host the free show in the theater’s adjacent parking lot, says the Sun-Times. 

Meanwhile, the building’s ornate lobby eyes a return to the lineup of the Chicago Architecture Center’s annual Open House Chicago weekend, scheduled for October 13 and 14. The site was abruptly pulled from the last year’s event to comply with a court order requiring the property to remain “vacant and secure,” reported the Chicago Tribune.

Provided the renovations move forward, the Avalon Regal would become the latest historic Chicago movie palace to see new life. Other notable projects include the ongoing redevelopment of Logan Square’s 2,900-seat Congress Theater and the recently announced rehabilitation of the massive, 4,381-seat Uptown Theater. 

[Kanye] West’s interest in the South Side venue was one several Chicago-related tweets published by the celebrity over the weekend. Additionally, West announced plans for a Chicago Yeezy fashion store as well as news that he would be teaching a course at the Art Institute of Chicago.

It's great to know Kanye West is involved in the efforts to restore and ultimately reopen the former movie palace. If the Uptown Theater can garner some excitement with rehabilitation so can the Regal.

 

Capitol Fax: Paul Vallas has some explaining to do

Over the past summer, Chicago Public Schools had been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse of CPS students by volunteers or employees at their schools. And now we go back further, Rich Miller takes a look at stories where former schools CEO and 2019 mayoral candidate Paul Vallas chose not to act on allegations of abuse by an elementary school volunteer.

Paul Vallas has some explaining to do https://t.co/eoL68XzSY1

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) September 13, 2018

Even though Vallas has been away from CPS since 2001, it seems the current scandals will touch him unless he's willing to adequately address it. Regardless, it seems the problem from over decade ago is almost similar to the scandals we know about today!

It's a shame! 

Hiring Day at Whole Foods Englewood #TeamWFM

Wednesday evening I posted on both our twitter and ig pages about hiring day at both Whole Foods Market and Mariano's. On this day at both companies job seekers can come in seeking job opportunities and ultimately on the spot interviews with the possibility of being hired the same day.

Sorry for the short notice of this but If you’re looking for a job @MarianosMarket & @WholeFoods are having hiring events tomorrow! #twill pic.twitter.com/D1shiNuwOI

— The Sixth Ward (@TheSixthWard) September 13, 2018

I apologize in advance for only sharing information about this only the day before, however, for those who think there are no jobs for them to get out there you get a hint about one opportunity. Of course the hiring day about both of those grocery chains are one of main hiring days we've advertised here on this blog and our social media channels over the years.

Then I see this photo from Bruce Montgomery on ig. A long line of job seekers inside the Whole Foods Englewood store. How many people got hired there today?

View this post on Instagram

Englewood Is Ready to Work! #TalentRisesToTheTop #EnglewoodRising #YesWeWork #PayToPlay #OperationHOPE

A post shared by Bruce Eric Montgomery (@techaccesstv) on Sep 13, 2018 at 10:37am PDT

Capitol Fax: Fascinating insights into Jason Van Dyke’s judge

This was on the Capitol Fax blog yesterday just as jury selection is just about to wrap up in the Van Dyke trial and a Black juror was selected. Now let's turn our attention to the judge for this trial Judge Vincent Gaughan.

Fascinating insights into Jason Van Dyke’s judge https://t.co/ZPYwOslNYt

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) September 12, 2018

Sun-Times: CPD officer commits suicide; 3rd officer to take own life in 2 months

The Calumet district - HQ located in Pullman on 111th St - have suffered from sad losses. The Sun-Times talks about it:

The officer, a 54-year-old woman described by police as a “veteran” of the department, is the second member of the Chicago Police Department to take their own life in that parking lot since early July and the third Chicago police officer to commit suicide in the last two months.

She was found in her personal car and her name was not released as of Wednesday afternoon, according to police. The department said it was making counselors available to officers in the Calumet District, where the deceased officer was found.

“Crushing news for the department this morning as we grapple with the suicide of a veteran #ChicagoPolice officer who took her life inside her personal vehicle,” Guglielmi tweeted. “Please pray for this officer’s family and fellow officers of @ChicagoCAPS05.”
...
The Calumet District already suffered through two other officer deaths over the summer.

On July 9, Officer Brandon Krueger, a 36-year-old officer of five years, shot himself in the head in the Calumet District’s parking lot. Two days later, Officer Vinita Williams, 47, fell unconscious in the station and died a short time later.

As the police seeks more recruits this fall, let's recognize how difficult a job being a police officer really is. We have to treat them better than it seems we have been recently. 

Did you watch this past Friday's Chicago town hall on FOX News with Laura Ingraham?

On Friday Laura Ingraham' hour long show was a Chicago town hall. A number of prominent people in Chicago from politics, police, even churches gave us their own takes on Chicago politics and the violence. I watched this and tweeted some comments on Twitter and got one retweet from Pastor Corey Brooks who was on this town hall.

@CoreyBBrooks I'm with you the Black community can't just look for a Superman to save them. The community has to do it for itself. @IngrahamAngle

— The Sixth Ward (@TheSixthWard) September 8, 2018

I haven't been able to find the segment with Pastor Brooks so far, however, there are some segments worth sharing with you all. To start here's a segment with FOX News political analyst Gianno Caldwell discussing the issues of violence in Chicago. Even offering a young man an opportunity to leave the drug dealing life if he had a job. And with him is Vic Maggio who you might remember from those series of videos - Chicago's 10 most violent neighborhoods of which Englewood is one of them. [VIDEO]

Another video talks about Chicago's "political class" and their response to many of Chicago's issues. With DePaul University professor Jason Hill he refer to Rahm Emanuel as incompetent. I would urge you to watch this segment for yourself. [VIDEO]

Finally of the videos I can find on YouTube from Laura Ingraham's special program we see Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward)  a former police officer himself with two representatives from Chicago's police union discuss how the police could be part of the solution. What you will learn here is since the city is understaffed on police detectives which puts a damper on solving many of the crimes in the city. [VIDEO]

There is one other video I'd like to share with you, however, I think it deserves it's own dedicated post. It's a story about Demetrius Griffin. I tweet his name during his segment with a hashtag, what happened to him was so horrible and is related to what the police officers above were discussing, they aren't able to clear these cases. We don't know who killed Demetrius in such an evil way and he and his family deserves to bring the culprits to trial for their atrocity.

#DemetriusGriffin only 15 y.o. 4'7" and 97 lbs burned alive in a garbage can. Why? @IngrahamAngle #twill

— The Sixth Ward (@TheSixthWard) September 8, 2018

So now that we have an open seat for Mayor of Chicago in 2019, there are some issues for those candidates who will throw there hat into the ring for the office will have to chew on. I just hope they have the answers - that I'm sure without this townhall - will argue Rahm Emanuel just wasn't able to provide.

Crain's: With Emanuel's departure, Chicago needs a new closer

Hold on, in what way is Rahm Emanuel a closer for Chicago?

Emanuel was as enthusiastic a pitchman for Chicago as Daley, which is saying something. But after years as a national Democratic fundraiser, Emanuel had access to CEOs across the country, if not around the world. That included tech chiefs like Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Salesforce's Marc Benioff and Google's Eric Schmidt. When word broke a year ago that Amazon was looking for a second headquarters, Emanuel already had been working on Bezos.

"He understood he had access to the tech community at a level very few people have," says Howard Tullman, a veteran tech entrepreneur and avid watcher of Chicago politics who traveled with Emanuel overseas on recruiting trips. "He used that great advantage. The biggest loss (in Emanuel's decision to leave office) is he had an international reputation. You saw this in Japan, China. People wanted to meet and work with him because of his stature. He had the ability to talk about national and global politics."

Emanuel also put CEOs at ease, and it showed in the parade of companies that moved their headquarters to downtown Chicago from other countries, other states, downstate Illinois and the suburbs during his two terms. The list includes Motorola, Archer Daniels Midland, GE Healthcare, Conagra, McDonald's, Beam Suntory and Kraft Heinz. Though they're not ribbon-cutting full-fledged HQs, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Google and Facebook are staffing up significantly downtown, too.

"Businesses want to know the mayor and the administration understand the private sector—that they don't view it as an enemy," says Steve Koch, a former investment banker who was Emanuel's point person on economic development for five years as deputy mayor. "The private sector really wants to know the mayor is committed to fiscal responsibility. They want to know the city has a vision for the future. Rahm was extraordinary at that. He's an unbelievable bundle of energy. With his commitment to (what companies care about), you were already 75 percent there."

OK, it's great to see the Mayor work hard to make big business at ease with doing business in Chicago. However, perhaps a future mayor of Chicago - to be elected next year in 2019 - could be a closer for both the south and west sides of the city? Don't just put all the focus on the north side and downtown Chicago.

BTW, I suggest you read the whole thing! 

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.

Editorial: Will the next mayor get Chicago its cut of a booming economy?

If this economy is booming right now shouldn't Chicago have already gotten a piece of it? From a Tribune editiorial:

Under Emanuel, the city attracted major employers, experienced a building boom and boosted tourism. He bolstered O’Hare and Midway airports and kept a shine on downtown, the lakefront and many neighborhoods. He made little progress helping the underdeveloped South and West sides, besides recruiting the oft-mentioned Whole Foods to Englewood. Yes, he got the Barack Obama Presidential Center for Jackson Park, but that was a gimme — imagine the scandal if Obama had taken his library to New York. Will Emanuel cap his tenure by winning Amazon’s second headquarters? We’ll know soon.
What connects the mayor’s accomplishments as bond salesman and corporate recruitment cheerleader is his commitment to the cause and ability to speak the language of business and finance. Emanuel, who did a turn as an investment banker, made economic and urban development a priority and went hard at CEOs to convince them to locate in Chicago. With each of those HQs came good-paying jobs.

We’ve echoed the desire of Emanuel’s critics to see private-sector investment spread evenly across Chicago. But Emanuel understood that money invested in an already healthy downtown does a lot more for all Chicagoans than if that money went to Atlanta or Dallas.

So how about the next mayor? America’s economy is booming. Will Chicago get its share? Who among the candidates understands the city’s potential, and who can best balance competing needs to achieve the greater good?

The bond market people will have opinions. So will CEOs and developers. But voters, hiring a mayor who can win their trust is up to you.

Chicago's next mayor isn't in the race?

As many Chicago politicos either bow out of the mayor's race in 2019  such as Valerie Jarrett and someone such as a Toni Preckwinkle begins exploratory committees for mayor. We have this parting shot from Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Emanuel told WGN radio host Steve Cochran he doesn’t think any of the 12 announced candidates for the fifth floor office at City Hall has the skill set to do the job, while getting in plugs for some of his own work.

“No,” Emanuel said when Cochran asked him whether the next mayor is in the race. “I don’t think so. And here’s the thing: The public knows that this is a very big job, and the mayor cannot be a one-trick pony. You can’t just speak on one issue. You got to do economic development, you got to do education policy, you got to be able to get money out of Springfield and Washington. You’ve got to have an ability to actually invest in our neighborhoods, transportation, libraries, schools and park system.”

“My view is … the list is not done,” he added. “It’s going to shake out for about a month, and then the voters will make a smart decision of who can fill that office. And what I mean by that is, you’re not going to shrink the mayoralty, and there’s got to be a mayor that actually fills this job.”

Plenty of big names are still out there.

Among those reportedly weighing bids to join the field in the February election are Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, 2011 mayoral candidate Gery Chico, city Treasurer Kurt Summers, state Comptroller Susana Mendoza, former White House chief of staff Bill Daley and GCM Grosvenor CEO Michael Sacks, Emanuel’s close friend, confidant and top campaign donor.

And Arne Duncan, the former secretary of education for President Barack Obama and a former CPS CEO, and former White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett have long been discussed as possible mayoral candidates.

Who has these skills set to become mayor that's in this race right now? And who's not in the race that has these skills set?

Usually Saturday's are light days on this blog, but Rahm Emanuel not seeking a third term is the big story right now.

Chicago Tonight: Aldermen Discuss Priorities for Mayor’s Next 9 Months #6WardChicago

6th ward Ald. Roderick Sawyer appeared on Chicago Tonight with Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36), Ald. John Arena (45), and Ald. Brian Hopkins (2). They discussed not only whether or not they would run for mayor, the mayor's decision to no seek a third term, and of course what his priorities are going to be for the remainder of his term.

Ald. Sawyer was the only one who answered the questions about his mayoral aspirations. Also bear in mind that the alderman is also the son of Mayor Eugene Sawyer who served for two years after the death of Mayor Harold Washington from 1987 to 1989. Sawyer discussed being in the family of a Mayor of Chicago.

All the same Ald. Sawyer indicated that if the voters of the 6th Ward so choose he would continue to serve them. He believes this is the best place for him at this point in time. He did indicate he made some calls with this especially noted in a Sun-Times article earlier this week. I suppose I can't blame him if you're going to go for such an important office the time is now! Who knows when the next opportunity will come around?

Silas Purnell College Expo on Sept. 8, 2018

This event will take place at Tuley Park 90th & King Drive starting at 11:00 AM this Saturday. Here's a post from the organizers of this annual event - Chesterfield Community Organization.

Crain's: Urban Partnership Bank finds a buyer

Another great article by Crain's Steve Daniels, this time about Urban Partnership Bank:

The ShoreBank saga appears to be nearing a definitive end as south suburban lender Providence Bank & Trust looks to acquire the legendary failed community bank’s successor.

Urban Partnership Bank, the lender established in 2010 to take over the ShoreBank franchise after the high-profile urban community bank’s demise, is throwing in the towel.

The South Side bank has an agreement to sell to Providence Bank & Trust, based in south suburban South Holland, the companies announced today. The deal brings to a close UPB’s effort to continue the “mission” of ShoreBank, for decades a bank renowned for lending actively in low-income urban neighborhoods neglected by other banks until it foundered on hundreds of millions in bad loans following the housing bust and Great Recession.

Still, David Vitale, longtime Chicago banker and chairman of UPB, said in an interview he was pleased to find a buyer interested in furthering ShoreBank’s legacy. Having shrunk dramatically from an asset size that had well exceeded $1 billion, UPB wasn’t able to attain its goals, he said.

“The ability to do what we wanted to do at that scale, with the regulatory costs, put our future into question,” he said. “We’re feeling excited for our customers and our communities that someone was willing to invest in us and our communities.”

Providence Bank & Trust is an interesting story in and of itself. Launched in 2004, just six years before UPB, the bank glided relatively unscathed through the financial crisis when most bank startups from that time frame went belly up. It has 12 branches located mainly in the south suburbs, with a few in northwest Indiana.

The acquisition of UPB will give Providence its first presence in the city.

Describing itself as a “stewardship” bank, Providence donates 10 percent of its profits each year to nonprofits and other causes.

To be honest, I would've liked it if some Black investors who hopefully were unscathed by what happened with Seaway Bank for example could've gotten it. Thus we could have another Black-owned bank in the community. Just shows banking is a very difficult business right now or certainly it always has been.

Ald. Sawyer for Mayor...

This was in Tuesday's news about Rahm Emanuel bowing out of his re-election bid next year:

Ald. Roderick Sawyer, (6th), chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, said he’s considering a run.

“I’m talking to someone this afternoon just to talk it through,” Sawyer said. “I would be lying to you if I said I was not interested.”

Sawyer said he’s having conversations about “the greater impact of all of this, not just the personality.”

I'm sorry I didn't see this on Tuesday or even earlier on Wednesday.

I see the feedback on the link to this article at Concerned Citizens of Chatham. I suppose the question is not whether or not Ald. Sawyer should run it would be if he decided to forgo re-election for 6th ward alderman who could replace him?

On the other hand is Chicago ready for another Mayor Sawyer?

2019 mayor's race without Rahm Emanuel...

 

[VIDEO] It was hard looking for a full uncut video of the Mayor's announcement that he's not seeking re-election. Found a vid last night from the Mayor's own YouTube channel. If you want a transcript of his remarks, CapFax shared them yesterday - and I linked to it here also.

I also wanted to share this with you. This CBS Chicago aired yesterday on their 11 AM broadcast and had investigative reporter Brad Edwards speculate on the timing of Emanuel's announcement. Does the Mayor dropping out of the 2019 race have anything to do with the Jason Van Dyke trial that's about to start this week? [VIDEO]

On the other hand, even if it was edited I think I'll go with former Obama advisor David Axelrod on this. There's probably nothing coming out of that Van Dyke trial that could hurt the mayor in any way. Although who knows how politically charged that trial could become as it goes forward. [VIDEO]

Of course needless to say what happened with LaQuan McDonald was shot 16 times by Van Dyke and an alleged cover-up after that probably helped to hobble the mayor. Just remember before the news broke about this in 2015, Emanuel defeated county commissioner Chuy Garcia in a run-off earlier that year. He had a rough period as mayor without a doubt.

Also I might add, Axelrod also noted that third terms are difficult to govern. Emanuel was worried about and yet publicly it seemed he was enthused about a third term. Who knows what changed his mind, but it might not have been a last minute decision for certain.

I know in another post yesterday before this Emanuel's announcement broke that I asked a loaded question asking if you're ready to send the mayor packing. The new question today is whether or not you're enthused by the 11 other candidates who are seeking to replace Rahm Emanuel?

Kennedy Expressway Labor Day anti-violence march disrupted

I didn't follow much coverage of this. I know that Rev. Gregory Livingston had a falling out with Tio Hardimon - who ran for Governor this year and is known for running the Ceasefire organization. Livingston and Hardimon organized a north side anti-violence march that shut down traffic on north Lake Shore Drive and ended in Wrigleyville.

This time around on the Labor Day holiday Rev. Livingston wants to shut down traffic on the Kennedy Expressway to disrupt traffic to O'Hare! And I almost forgot about this until I saw this blurb yesterday on Newsalert.

Then the protesters were prevented from marching on the Kennedy and many were arrested, could it have been doomed from the start?

First from ABC 7 Chicago a video of police blocking demonstrators from marching onto the Kennedy Expressway [VIDEO]

What catches my eye for this vid is the screencap with a sign for "Northside against white supremacy". Hmmmm, for some reason I felt this was out of place for a march against violence in innercity neighborhoods. What I've noticed with protest movements is that there are different types of causes within such a movement. It's about one thing, but then those who are involved brings their own agenda with them.

Anyway, the AP got in on the action with this video noting the arrests [VIDEO]

 More signs about racism and racial equality in that vid. Also a chant about "Rahm Emanuel has got to go?" Hmmm, can't argue with that just who are Chicagoans going to vote for next year. And the video got quite tense towards the end.

With that out of the way, the question stand. Do you support the protests against the violence in Chicago? Do you support these protest designed to shut down the major expressways in the Chicago-area?

Capitol Fax: Mayor Emanuel won’t seek reelection

To be honest, I didn't see this coming. On the other hand, it seems we had a rough go since 2011. Either way we will have a new mayor in May 2019. Who will it be?

This just in… Mayor Emanuel won’t seek reelection https://t.co/sgdqDPVA94

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) September 4, 2018

Now in relation to who could win in 2019, what prompted this decision? You will see in Rich Miller's post a quote from Fran Spielman's article about former Mayor Richard M. Daley's decision to leave office in 2010, and it was described as a political earthquake. And in his case, I understand Daley's then wife was ill and later passed away. What's Emanuel's consideration?

Later today, there's another post I will share some more news about the protests on the Kennedy Expressway which was disrupted yesterday. One of the videos you will see in that post contains a woman chanting "Rahm Emanuel has got to go". Well Emanuel is now going...

Crain's: A much-needed dose of good financial news for the South Side

Some new developments out of what's left of the former Seaway National Bank of Chicago - now owned by Self-Help FCU:

Self-Help Federal Credit Union of Durham, N.C., which acquired the Seaway franchise after its failure, recently named a veteran South Side banker to run it and now has obtained $15 million in low-cost funding to put the bank back on offense at a time when the neighborhoods it serves desperately need capital. That $15 million, a low-interest loan from Chicago's MacArthur Foundation, is a key to restoring Seaway to its historic size in terms of assets, according to Randy Chambers, Self-Help's chief financial officer.

Don't doubt the impact of that investment. Five years ago, MacArthur poured $15 million into Self-Help when it took over Second Federal, a failed Hispanic-focused thrift on the Southwest Side. Since then, that arm of Self-Help has made about 1,000 new home loans to families in Pilsen, Little Village, Back of the Yards and other Southwest Side and near suburban communities, and virtually all of the borrowers are first-time homebuyers, Chambers says. In the past 15 months, Self-Help has begun making small-business and church loans in Chicago as well, totaling more than $5 million.

The idea: Neighborhoods troubled by crime and blight improve when more families own their homes there, giving them a stake in the future of the area. That prompts potentially more cooperation with police when crime occurs and better property maintenance, and helps support neighborhood businesses that provide jobs for neighborhood residents. "Homeownership in working communities is the backbone of these communities," Chambers says.

Seaway has shrunk to about $150 million in assets since the failure, Chambers says. The goal is to nearly double in size over time. If that occurs, Self-Help's scale on just the South and Southwest sides will be close to $500 million, a difference-maker.

This article was written by Crain's Steve Daniels who had written a lot about what was going on with Seaway even before last year's shocking FDIC takeover and sale.

Mark Brown: Whether personal or philosophical, Quinn and Rahm lock horns on term limits

This is the truest portion of this column from last Friday:

I’m not a fan of term limits. If Quinn’s proposal makes the ballot, I’d probably vote against it. It seems to me that Chicago voters are going to have every opportunity to term-limit Emanuel in 2019 by electing someone else, if that’s what they want.

But I also know that voters like term limits, and they at least deserve an opportunity to vote on the issue when someone has gone to the extreme effort of collecting the necessary tens of thousands of signatures to put the matter before them.

In addition, the City Council shouldn’t be allowed to push such a referendum off the ballot by offering up the usual batch of three useless advisory referenda.

Meanwhile our former governor - who was defeated in 2014 by Bruce Rauner who this year in considered endangered - fights to get his term limits referendum on the ballot in November. I also know as Emanuel doesn't get along with Rauner now, he also hadn't got along well with Quinn when he was our governor. Just remember Quinn and Emanuel are both Democrats so what is the deal?

All the same, is it time for mayoral term limits? How many of you are ready to send Emanuel packing next year?

Happy Labor Day

 Unfortunately we have reached that point where it's now the unofficial summer. Labor Day another day to BBQ and gather with friends and family. For many and the main thing a day off from work and certainly from school - though school will start soon after Labor Day.

May you all have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.