While schools haven't often been the subject of choice as late, I wanted to share this editorial that argues why some CPS schools must close. Perhaps some of you out there may have your thoughts on this subject. By Dec. 1, Chicago Public Schools officials must deliver to state lawmakers a list of schools slated to close at the end of this school year. The district will release its criteria for making those decisions this week. As many as 120 Chicago schools are likely to be on the chopping block because the district faces a $1 billion budget gap next year. And the following year. This is a critical moment for CPS and its new CEO, Barbara Byrd-Bennett. Make no mistake: This will be painful. But scores of schools must be closed. There are more than 100,000 empty seats in schools because CPS badly mismanaged its real estate portfolio over the past decade. Overall district enrollment has declined by 34,000 students since 2003. CPS built new schools to relieve overcrowding in

I wonder why this wasn't said in the mainstream press? The Chicago Citizen fills us in on why there were eviction notices at the Chatham 14 almost two weeks ago: According to documents available on the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court’s website, the owner of the Chatham theater property is 210 W. 87th Chicago TH, LLC and eviction proceedings began in March. According to the electronic docket, the Starks owe at least $725,000. When more quotes came out in various press releases it seems that the Starks' deny at least owing amusement taxes and even money to distributors. I wonder what was the nature of this debt.

Just wanted to write a brief entry on Early Voting in the 6th Ward. On Saturday, my family wen tto Early Vote at Whitney Young Library at 2:10pm. Since it was a bit chilly outside, they had the line snake around the inside of the library. The line started by the aquarium, went past the south tables. We entered at edge of the children's section. A couple of people saw the line, and the wait, and decided to leave. But many others stayed, so that the line strectched past the children's section. We waited 2 hours from the beginning of the line until we actually voted. It was certainly inconvenient (we missed 1/2 of a Halloween party for my daughter's friend), but everyone had a good attitude about the wait, and it was gratifying to see so many people come out to vote. There were at least 2 or 3 first time voters who came out, and there was some small cheers that were heard. Note: we will update this entry with actual statistics, when available. Do YOU have a sotry ab

Sapphire Redman JP wrote about her last Saturday and now a positive outcome : A missing 14-year-old girl who was last seen Sept. 10 in the East Chatham neighborhood on the South Side has been found and is home safe with her family, police said. The last time anyone saw Sapphire Redman she was in the 8100 block of South Ingleside Avenue on Sept. 10, according to an alert from Area South detectives. She is home with her family as of this afternoon, police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said. She frequents the 7600 block of South Evans Avenue and the 7500 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, the alert said. We're all glad she's found and safely at home. Just curious as to where she's been for a month.

Why Do Blacks Trail in Benchmarks Leading to Middle Class? - NationalJournal.com Another article published last month with regards to the Black middle class. In each benchmark leading to the middle class, African-Americans trailed all racial groups from childhood to age 40. Only a third of blacks entered the middle class, compared with nearly 70 percent of whites and 52 percent of Hispanics. A Brookings Institution report, “Pathways to the Middle Class: Balancing Personal and Public Responsibilities,” shows that children who achieve professional success are disproportionally from higher-income and white families; those who never move up come from lower-income or black families, or both. While high poverty rates can help explain these numbers, other obstacles to the middle class include teenage and unwed pregnancies and criminal convictions, said Juan Williams, a Fox News commentator who appeared on the Brookings panel. Another avenue that slows ascension is poor educati

I edited from the original Chatham 14 reopens post. JP's personal account deserves it's own post, perhaps more of you have your own thoughts about the reopening. Did you go on Friday? What are your thoughts? What did you observe? The words below are JP's And a personal account from JP Paulus: My family went to see "Here Comes The Boom" starring Kevin James (sidenote: a great movie to take youth to) this Friday for their 5pm show on Friday, Oct. 26. We tried to see it on October 19, and that's when we broke the news here. What I noticed tonight: more security than usual. At least 2 cars patrolling, and at least 3 or 4 security personnel. The credit card machines were not working; it was cash only for that night. As far as attendance, the parking lot definitely had people, but not as many as on a typical Friday night. At Here Comes the Boom, at 5pm, there were only about 8 people in that theater screen. Despite the low attendance, the staff was ve

Chatham 14 Theater to reopen a week after closing its doors - Chicago Sun-Times Worlee wrote a paragraph about the status of the Chatham 14 and this article answers a question I've had in mind for a while. Who is the new company coming in to manage that Chatham? Day-to-day operations will now be handled by F and F Management , and F and F vice president John Scaletta said in the statement the firm “recognizes the importance” of the theater as a member of the community. “[We] will continue working with local organizations that have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with the Chatham Theater,” Scaletta said in the statement. The theater employs about 30 people, and the Starks remain part-owners of the building. Thanks to Worlee making contact we already know that Marcus Theaters - who operated ICE's three theaters until 2007 - would not be returning to operate the Chatham 14. Also Chinta Strausberg sent us a brief article, which outlines some of the issues an

There was a posting of this on our FB page. It's coming tomorrow at the soon to open 6th Ward Service Office at 8001 S. King Dr. Refer to image above for more details!

We received the weekly showtimes email and noticed that it only included the showtimes for Lawndale. We inquired and received a response from Mrs. Alisa Starks that the theater is reopening but with ICE branding and new management. Per pother reports, the Starks will still retain ownership along with Mr. Michael Silver but have relinquished day to day operations control.

3 City Colleges to prepare students for jobs in growth industries - Chicago Sun-Times Two south side colleges are getting makeovers and a third is mentioned: Daley College will make the switch to advanced manufacturing with the help of Solo Cup Co., WaterSaver Faucet Co. and Arrow Gear. Students will be trained in computerized numeral control machining and factory machining. Both require a heavy emphasis on math to direct and maintain computer-guided heavy equipment. Workers in those fields can typically earn anywhere form $10- to $23-an-hour to start. Daley is currently the only school in Illinois with two high-tech welding machines that gives students access to hands-on training. Kennedy-King College will train students for 44,000 job openings in the culinary and hospitality industry with help from Washburne Culinary Institute alumus Jimmy Bannos, owner of Heaven On Seven and Purple Pig restaurants. Worth mentioning of course: Olive-Harvey will focus on transportation and

It was in the news recently that Bank of America takes better care of foreclosed properties in white areas than they would in Black or "minority" areas. Here's a story from the Tribune : A national fair housing group has added Chicago and two other cities to its complaint charging that Bank of America Corp. takes better care of foreclosed properties in white communities than those in predominantly minority neighborhoods. The inclusion of Chicago, along with Milwaukee and Indianapolis, brings to 13 the number of cities included in the National Fair Housing Alliance's complaint originally filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in September involving eight cities. Two other cities were added earlier this month. The Washington, D.C.-based alliance, a consortium of private, nonprofit fair housing groups, alleges that the lender "has a systemic and particularized practice" of handling foreclosed properties differently depending on

Monday was the beginning of Early Voting in Chicago, and it runs until Saturday November 3. You can vote Monday-Saturday, 9am -5pm in 51 locations. On Sunday, October 28, there are 3 locations you can vote (though somewhat far from the 6th and 9th wards). The 6th Ward's location to vote is the Whitney Young Library, 7901 S. King Drive. The 9th Ward's location is Palmer Park, 201 E. 111th Street. However, you may vote at any of the other 49 sites (and those from outside the ward, but within Chicago, may vote at Whitney Young). More information on Early Voting from the Chicago Board of Elections website . According to that website, the 6th ward was #6 among the early voting locations with 419 voters, 9th ward was # 15 with 350 voters. Mt. Greenwood Park (which is one of the 3 Sunday locations) had the 2nd most with 494 voters. The Chicgao Board of Elections (also a Sunday voting location) had 1,741 out of the total 15,711 votes cast in the city. In addition, there a f

Credit: Zol87/flickr I'm not certain this is the story JP heard yesterday on Chicago Public Radio , but here's a write-up about the Chatham 14. They have been closed since Friday and it appears after a full week they will re-open. Now the theater may be re-opening. In an e-mail, owner Alisa Starks (who along with her husband Donzell opened the theater in 1997) said, "It's been a challenging process. But the theater is expected to be open by Friday." Starks also said a new company will manage it. The rift that apparently caused the original closure, a conflict between the Starks and their investor, Michael Silver, seems to have been smoothed over, at least temporarily. Starks told me, "Most positively, our investor has recently committed to making needed capital improvements." What led to the shuttering of the Chatham had been hard to sort out. In the immediate aftermath of the closing, there were various reports, starting with this communit

Thanks to Leslie Honore and Greater Chatham Alliance , who passed on this press release. Also, WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) released an in-depth story on ICE Theater this afternoon, which included a mention that there would be an official statement either today or tomorrow (No link to that story was available. It aired Tuesday at ~ 6:22pm). Here is that official statement:

I'm not sure if a link to this site was shared earlier on this blog, but this site makes images that are certainly insulting to neighborhoods and suburbs around the Chicagoland area. Englewood gets the treatment you see above. The site is called Slightly Insulting Chicago Posters and I checked the site out after a posting about another image from there over at Sloopin . click for larger resolution While not meant to be "slightly insulting" this almost evokes The Chicago Neighborhoods' brand for Englewood the background pic utilized was of the " murder castle " mentioned in the image above. The brand you see to the left caused a stir on this blog when it was originally posted. In any case what you see above certainly is meant to be sarcastic. The murder castle itself at 63rd & Wallace is long gone. But as with the case of the earlier brand from Chicago Neighborhoods, it may not help Englewood's image as a violent neighborhood. I wonder

The Englewood Film Festival is  built to enrich the community of Englewood. In their  second year, the event continues to  bring local access and exposure to a first class festival. Residents enjoy opportunities to  meet aspiring filmmakers and industry notables, learn about film careers, and enjoy a  family friendly environment. The Englewood Film Festival is also an excellent vehicle for filmmakers to enter their work  and establish festival credits. The goal of the panels, films, and overall event is this: To  shine light on the heart of a community plagued with negative publicity.  The festival run from October 25-28, 2012 and will screen films at Kennedy King College and other venues.  The festival kicks off on Thursday, October 25, 2012 with an opening reception honoring Englewood  resident the late Bernie Mac. For the full schedule go to  http://www.englewoodfilmfest.com/#!home/mainPage

UPDATE : So basically since I didn't watch the video before I posted this story, Tucker said that a man claiming to be the new tenant of the Chatham 14 property said that the theaters will reopen in 10 days! Some kind of way today was floated but we shall see in the next few days! [ VIDEO ] It's a respectable 15 years, but this hurts for sure. This story aired on CBS 2 this afternoon and Dorothy Tucker also takes a look at the shocking closure of the Chatham 14 theaters. Don and Alisa Starks opened the theater back in 1997. Sources say in 2007 they partnered with businessman Michael Silver and that the partners are now in the middle of a financial dispute. Signs on the door said the theater will reopen under new management. Sources told CBS2 the Starks could be forced out of their share of the business. Community activists don’t want to see that. I'm sure many of you are wondering what happened here? How did this theater find itself with an eviction notice on the d

  Basketball fans know the names Marcus Liberty, Nick Anderson, Derrick Rose and the 2012-13 consensus #1 high school basketball player Jabari Parker. Marcus Liberty, from Chicago King was the #1 player in the country in 1985 and the rest attended Simeon High School. Chicago basketball fans know all those names and one more Ben Wilson. Ben Wilson became the first Chicago Public League basketball player to be named the consensus #1 basketball player in the country.  17-year-old Ben (Benji) Wilson was a symbol of everything promising about Chicago. A sweet-natured youngster from the city's fabled South Side, Chatham community, and America's top high school basketball prospect. Nicknamed "Magic Johnson with a jump shot," Wilson's natural talents and drive assured his best years were yet to come.  Ben Wilson  was tragically killed in November 1984 the day before his senior season ,the outpouring of grief city-wide was unprecedented.  While I understand this ESPN

A girl from East Chatham, Sapphire Redman, has been reported missing. Here is the story from Chicago Breaking News :  Police hunt for girl missing from East Chatham ( Tribune illustration / October 20 , 2012 ) Police are searching for a missing 14-year-old girl who was last seen Sept. 10 in the East Chatham neighborhood on the South Side. The last time anyone saw Sapphire Redman she was in the 8100 block of South Ingleside Avenue on Sept. 10, according to an alert from Area South detectives. She frequents the 7600 block of South Evans Avenue and the 7500 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, the alert said. Redman is African-American, 5-foot-11, and has brown eyes and brown hair. She weighs 138 pounds and has a medium complexion. Anyone with information should contact police, 312-747-8274 In the comments of this section, a reader pointed out that she has been missing for OVER a month,

(see bottom of post for updates)    When stopping by the ICE Theaters in Chatham this evening, we discovered a neon green sign from the Cook County Sheriff's office that the ICE Theater was evicted form the building. According to the sign, this happened TODAY (Friday, October 19), some time just before the movies were about to begin. There were addtional yellow signs which stated that the closure was temporary and would open soon. These were signs that looked like they were printed from a computer, which may indicate an actual attempt to re-open (as opposed to handwritten signs which are hastily put up to give hope to surprised customers). Looking at the ICE Theater Facebook page , an entry was posted by ICE as of 12 noon , promoting the Alex Cross movie. However, a patron also wrote on the Facebook page that she went to the 12:30pm showing of that same movie, and the doors were closed. People who had purchased tickets in advance had no idea that they theater was closed, a

This is a follow up to an earlier post . We are happy to report that the missing teen has been found. Apparently, the community effort put pressure on the abductor the release the teen. here are the e-mails we received from 6th ward Alderman Sawyer's Office: MISSING CHESTERFIELD TEEN FOUND Diamond Smith, 14, was found safe and sound. She was reported missing on Sunday, October 14 from her home in the Chesterfield neighborhood on the South side. After flyers were distributed throughout the community, Smith’s abductor let her go. She is in the hospital now and her family said they are glad she is safe. The Smith family thanked Sixth Ward Alderman Roderick T. Sawyer’s office, the police, and the entire community for their assistance. And Hello, Thank you so much for your help in finding Diamond, after flyers went up everywhere the person that she left with let her go. Diamond is in the hospital now but we are just happy she is SAFE! Thanks so much. We will k

[ VIDEO ] On the latest edition of Chicago Tonight , Geoffrey Baer was asked several questions about Chicago-area landmarks. Well actually one of those questions is in fact about a landmark in town 60 miles from Springfield, IL. In any case one of those questions involved the Bishop Ford Freeway (or if you will the former Calumet Expressway). Anyway one of our blog posts about the expressway was a related link. The Bishop Ford question is the second one in this segment.

The information below was just recieved from the office of 6th Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer FAMILY AND POLICE SEEK PUBLIC’S HELP IN FINDING MISSING CHESTERFIELD TEEN Diamond Smith, 14, was reported missing from home in the Chesterfield neighborhood on the Southside on Sunday, October 14, 2012. She was last seen wearing a black jacket, plaid shirt, blue jeans with a red MP3 player. Smith is an African-American female who is 5'7 and weighs 160 pounds. She has a medium complexion, sandy brown hair, brown eyes, and has a cut mark on both arms. The Office of Sixth Ward Alderman Roderick T. Sawyer is assisting in police efforts to help find Smith. If anyone has any information that will assist police in finding Smith, please contact the Chicago Police Department-Area 2 Special Victims Unit at 312-747-8274 or call Alderman Sawyer's office at 773-635-0006. I hope this young lady is found safe and sound!

Photo via Chicago-L.org CTA Opens Produce Market At Ashland/63rd Station « CBS Chicago The CTA is trying something new at one of its ‘L’ stations — a produce market. CTA riders already can buy plenty of newspapers, coffee, doughnuts and candy at many CTA stops, but now one train station will be selling apples, bananas, citrus and salads. It’s not in a trendy neighborhood, either, but at the hardscrabble Ashland/63rd terminal on the Green Line. It’s a one-year experiment by Lunderman Produce, but if it works, CTA President Forrest Claypool said you might see more. What he hopes he does not see is more apple cores and garbage aboard Green Line trains as a result. “We don’t want people littering our trains and eating their fried egg sandwiches on the train,” he said. “That’s just common sense.” Via Curbed !

Cmdr. Carter at a GCA event in 2011 The Greater Chatham Alliance welcomes to their October meeting Commander Eric Carter and Lt. Cynthia Lance who is part of the Chicago Police's Troubled Buildings Unit. The meeting is at St. James Lutheran Church located at 8000 S. Michigan. If you recall correctly Commander Carter paid a visit to a GCA monthly meeting once before when Superintendent Garry McCarthy didn't show up . That was in August 2011 and that was attributed to a scheduling conflict. McCarthy did show up at another GCA forum this past summer. I wanted to mention that small bit of trivia. Hopefully, those who show up for this meeting will have nothing but questions for the Commander. Not only questions, but certainly bring to his attention issues that need an adequate solution. BTW, GCA credits the new State Rep. Elgie Sims with bring Commander Carter and Lt. Lance to the GCA meeting. The flyer and a form for the coming meeting are below.

64th & Halsted in 1955 - Englewood as it was! Englewood: 'Not just a charity case,' residents say Google “Englewood” and the results are news articles about violence, murders and gangs. Community members are working to rebrand Englewood as the thriving neighborhood it once was. “Most people when they think of Englewood they think of the poverty, they think of homelessness, they think of the gangs,” said Asiaha Butler, president and co-founder of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood. Butler said she wants people to know there are residents who are educated and have great jobs and haven’t turned their backs on the community. She added the focus on the community is often on the unemployed and homeless, but there are taxpayers working hard to improve the area. During the 1850s the intersection of 63rd and LaSalle was known as “Junction Grove“ because of the thriving railroad industry. In the 1970s the community was home to a large shopping center tha

Click for a larger resolution EDIT 6:56 PM Just uploaded this pic to Flickr to provide for a better resolution. Click the pic above or this link . At random I just decided to get a panorama of Abbott Park (49 E. 95th St) on Friday afternoon. It was not long after dismissal at the nearby Harlan High School . If you see anyone in vests they're volunteers for CPS who work for an initiative called Safe Passages. You will see these individuals in yellow reflective vests not only before school starts on any given day but also at dismissal time. Also you will see the goal posts up and there is football practice going on at this time.

Article written by Chicago Tribune's Dawn Turner Trice. Another piece that concerned itself with the Black middle class and how they're struggling in the current economic environment. Late last month I posted another piece that concerned itself with the current condition of the nation's Black middle class. For months, the presidential candidates have been trying to court the middle class, extending offers of tax cuts, lower gas prices and better schools. The message: America does well when the middle class does well. The corollary: We feel your pain. But much less attention has been given to the black middle class, which since the recession and slow recovery has suffered massive decreases in wealth and high rates of home foreclosures. Blacks overall are experiencing a 13.4 percent unemployment rate, according to figures released Friday, much higher than the national rate of 7.8 percent. The Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project recently release

Don't Vote, Don't Complain presentation by Jahmal Cole at Whitney Young Library from October 4, 2012 something mentioned in passing on this blog last month. Follow Cole on Twitter on @rolemodelmoves www.rolemodelmovement.com Part 1* [ VIDEO ] *Part 2* [ VIDEO ]

Chicago News and Weather | FOX Chicago News The Talker: Ald. Sawyer (6th) suggests commuter tax in Chicago - Chicago News and Weather | FOX Chicago News [ VIDEO ] Ald. Sawyer was on FOX Chicago to talk about a commuter tax in our city: Chicagoans were talking about making commuters pay Thursday night. No one likes to pay more city taxes, but some folks are paying none at all - suburbanites who come into Chicago to work. They drive on Chicago's roads, walk on Chicago's sidewalks, drink Chicago's water and then leave. Chicago's facing a huge budget deficit and at least one alderman is wondering whether it's time to force suburbanites to pay extra, if they work downtown. Alderman Roderick Sawyer (6th) suggested the idea of a commuter tax after Mayor Emanuel released his budget to City Council on Wednesday. Do you agree with this? Hat-tip WG ! :)

600 block E. 87th Pl Devlin Brown, Chicago Tribune / October 11 , 2012 A much more recent report from the Chicago Tribune regarding the murder on the 600 block of E. 87th which is the Tribune photo you see above where the police were investigation outside of the home: Police were searching for an attacker who fatally shot a man in a Burnside neighborhood home just before noon today, authorities said. The man shot in the head in the home in the 600 block of East 87th Place was believed to be about 20 years, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Robert Perez. The man, 21-year-old Rakim Douman, was dead on the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.A family member called police to say a male relative had been shot about noon today in the home, Perez said. Police were searching for an attacker, described as a young man wearing a red hat and a dark blue jacket, in the shooting, Perez said. Fire Department paramedics responded to the scene, but no t

In discussing this Chicago Reader piece at Curbed Chicago it was considered satire. It does look like satire in fact and certainly unlike anything ever proposed in this city before. The writer of this piece Steve Boigra is a genius for this one! The aides said the mayor had considered several other approaches for combating segregation. The boldest plan called for Emanuel to challenge segregation personally by moving to a poor black neighborhood. City housing officials had chosen a vacant, foreclosed, three-bedroom home in Englewood, near the Halsted stop on the Green Line, for the mayor's consideration. Englewood is 99 percent black, 45 percent of its residents are living in poverty, and 26 percent are in extreme poverty—they're living on incomes below half of the poverty line. The neighborhood's per capita income between 2006 and 2010 was about $12,000. Twenty-nine percent of its residents age 25 and older did not have a high school diploma, and 21 percent were un

Courtesy of CBS Chicago : A man was killed when he was shot in the head in a home in the South Side Chatham neighborhood Thursday afternoon. The shooting occurred just after noon inside a residence in the 600 block of East 87th Place, according to police News Affairs Officer Robert Perez. A man suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was dead on the scene, he said. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said the victim was 21, but had no additional details as of about 2:30 p.m. Area South detectives are investigating.

This press release was published by Ald. Roderick Sawyer's office on Wednesday discussing the Mayor's budget address . You can read the full document after the quote: Today, Alderman Roderick T. Sawyer of the Sixth (6th) Ward calls for broader investment in the city of Chicago. After today’s special meeting of the City Council, Alderman Sawyer said that he is looking forward to seeing the details of the Mayor’s budget and that he is optimistic about the stated investments that attempt to address the major issues of violence, infrastructure and pension obligations. However he believes that long term solutions will require the city to look at new revenue.

I adapted the following from a friend (& neighbor)’s Facebook status…the contest is today and tomorrow ONLY. Your like (“vote”) will them win a prize that will get them resources to fund the adoption (i..e 1-on-1 counseling and a books). Please vote ASAP – it’s the FIRST couples that get 75 likes which will win! ) So please take a moment and take a look To all my friends, as many of you may or may not know Nicole and I (John Anthony)   are planning on using adoption to build our family. Sadly like most African American couples we do not have tens of thousands of dollars laying around to facilitate an adoption. However we would like to give you all an opportunity to join us on this journey in building our family. Today at 11:59 AM and going until 5:59PM Thursday, all you have to do is "like" the organization Resources4Adoption. Here you can see the tools we have the opportunity to win, and bring us closer to building our family. Please help us out and like them. Th

Hiring 500 police officers in 2013 not enough, aldermen say - Chicago Sun-Times The Chicago Police Department will hire 500 police officers in 2013 and hold two police exams — one for new officers, the other for sergeants, aldermen were told Tuesday. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to hire 125 officers-per-quarter was not enough to satisfy aldermen convinced Chicago needs at least 1,000 new officers to ease a manpower shortage they contend has hamstrung the city’s ability to stop a 25 percent surge in homicides and a nine percent increase in shootings. They were not appeased by the argument made by the mayor’s budget team that Chicago already has more police officers-per-capita than any other major city and that it’s the first time since 2006 that the city has hired enough officers to keep pace with retirements for two straight years. Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) noted that Emanuel balanced his first budget — and saved $82 million — by eliminating more than 1,400 police vacancies. “We have

This past Friday, October 5, 2012. Chicago State University WCSU Radio became an official member of the iHeartRadio family. Also, the date marked the birthday of Chicago legend and station manager Herb Kent The Cool Gent birthday. The station offers a wide variety of music genres as well as community radio. The station will be able to be heard around the world with the Iheart Radio application. A big hand to President Dr. Wayne Watson, Wanda Wright and Troi Tyler . More pictures can be found at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151123755785678.430057.30031385677&type=1

After months of complaints of illegal tobacco sales, sale of tobacco to minors, loitering and alleged marijuana sales, the store is permanently CLOSED. The owners have  moved out their inventory and fixtures. Per the Alderman,the store owes the City of  Chicago thousands of dollars for code violations. The store was previously closed because they were fined $10,000 for code violations. A big thanks to the residents of the 8000-8200 blocks of King Drive,Vernon and Eberhart, Alderman Roderick T. Sawyer and his staff,the Chicago Police Department and all the residents of Chatham for their vigilance to rid the community of the problem business.

Last week, the topic of  liquor licenses was the focus and now it appears when it rains it pours. The City Life Cocktail Lounge located at 712 E. 83rd Street has decided to apply for a Public Place of  Amusement (PPA) license from the City of Chicago. What is a PPA license. Per the City of Chicago Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) defines what establishments need a this type of license:   The term “Public Place of Amusement” (PPA) includes but is not limited to: Live Theaters & Concert Halls Sports Stadiums Movie Theaters Bowling Alleys Comedy Clubs Businesses with 2+ pool tables Nightclubs & Dance Clubs Businesses with 3+ arcade games Karaoke & DJs Renting out a facility for a party or event open to the public It is important to understand that a PPA and liquor license have similar guidelines. The major similarity is the distance from a education or religious institution. The requirements for a PPA are as follows:

Aldermen push for details on feared school closings - Chicago Sun-Times In this article Ald. Sawyer is quoted about school closings: Thirty-two aldermen from across the city are demanding that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s handpicked school team come clean about what they fear is a secret plan to close more than 100 under-utilized Chicago Public Schools to pay for the newly-ratified teachers’ contract. “CPS administration and, to a certain extent, the mayor’s office are playing hide the ball. That’s not acceptable,” Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) said. “We are the people who get blamed. If I’m gonna take the heat, I want to know what’s going on. Not letting us know what’s going on shows a blatant disrespect for us as elected officials.” What's the deal? Emanuel’s repeated refusal to spell out how he plans to bankroll the four-year, $295 million teachers contract has fueled speculation that schools closings that have slowed to a trickle in recent years would turn into a flood. School clo

Logo prints are now available at The Chicago Neighborhoods . Buy a print and help represent the neighborhood where you live. Especially if you live in the various neighborhoods on this part of town. And also remember you can still buy t-shirts as well.

Check this listing of early voting sites via Ward Room throughout the city starting on October 22nd. Be advised that many of these sites are based on the new ward map approved in January of this year. So many of you may be voting in the 9th or 8th wards instead of the 6th ward for example. You might want to contact the Chicago Board of Elections if you have any questions.

This morning the Mayor was asked about retired businessman Ed Gardner's protest for black construction jobs that took place in the Beverly community this past Sunday. He was asked this on WVON radio Wednesday morning: First of all, my staff has been in touch with Mr. Gardner. I think they’re meeting with him this morning, and they’ve met with him before. Mr. Gardner and I share the same goals, and the same objectives. We’ve talked about, where other cities are pulling back on public transportation, I just told you, we’ve got 400 permanent CTA bus driver jobs. We’ve got 200 to 300 jobs in rehabilitating our buses. We’re going to fix the Red Line, and over 30 percent of the work is going to be done by firms that are minority- and women-owned, and over 50 percent of that is African-American firms. On this particular project at 95-th. I talked to my staff, and as soon he said it was Hispanic and whites working on, I said, “Go check out what’s happened.” But remember, onl