Found this article via Sloopin that was published on June 24. There is official interest in turning the Metra Electric Line into a rapid transit service with more frequent trains. A proposal to convert the Metra Electric District Line into a rapid-transit line with more frequent stops to serve the South Side and suburbs has drawn the interest of Mayor Rahm Emanuel , who has asked the head of the Regional Transportation Authority to facilitate discussion on the issue, RTA officials said. During the transit agency's monthly board meeting Thursday, Chairman Kirk Dillard told a representative of a coalition of South Side and south suburban groups that Emanuel had reached out to him about the rapid-transit idea last month, and that talks had begun. Dillard said he spoke with Metra Chairman Martin Oberman about the proposal Wednesday. "The RTA is working with the CTA and Metra," Dillard said after the meeting. "We need to get a handle obviously on th

[ VIDEO ] Over the recent weekend Gov. Bruce Rauner paid a visit to the Liberation Christian Center at 7400 S. Michigan. As you see in the above Sun-Times video his speech to the congregation there was met by protest outside of the church. He later met with select members of the protesters. I only thought to post this story because Worlee did a post about this church in 2013. Of course it should be noted that it's unrelated to this recent news. But it came up for results you can see on this blog regarding popular posts here over the last 7 days. I wonder if Rauner's visit has people looking up any information about this church.

Via Crain's More bad news from local lender Seaway Bank & Trust Company: Seaway Bank & Trust is in the early stages of a capital-raising campaign that, if successful, could well threaten its status as the largest black-owned bank in the Midwest. The South Side lender has suffered $16 million in total losses over the past five quarters ended March 31. Its capital is below the minimum needed for the bank to be deemed “adequately capitalized” by regulators. To prop it up and enable it to lend actively, Seaway is preparing to select an investment banker to raise what one source says would be more than $15 million in fresh capital. In an email, a spokeswoman acknowledges the need for cash but won't comment on the amount sought. “Seaway is currently engaging investment bankers for a capital raise,” she says. “We remain committed to our mission and our markets.” The bank also remains without a CEO since the departure in September of Darrell Jackson, who led Seaway fo

The pictures above were shot in April 2016 near 107th & King Drive of a vacant lot which as you see in the pic above is zoned for a cellphone tower. A group of Roseland activists want to see this turned into a park : Members of the 9th Ward Greater Roseland Community Coalition said they fear the potential environmental and health threats the cell tower could bring to the empty lot at 107th Street between Vernon and Eberhart avenues. ... The neighborhood coalition has been circulating petitions opposing the cellphone tower. Members said they want the land cleaned up and turned into a park and botanical garden. Of course there's this: The city did an environmental screen of the site in 2014 to identify any potential environmental concerns and said the site’s history of pollution doesn’t make it the best location for a garden. "The site is listed as an abandoned service station, and available records identified several underground storage tank (UST) install

In light of recent social media and blog posts about maintenance issues and lead issues at city schools we now see stories about lead testing of drinking water. Of course in an earlier post about lead poisoning shared here on this blog it was over lead based paint in some older schools. The Sun-Times and DNA Info shares articles on this and also a listing of those schools tested for lead via CPS. In addition at DNA Info you see a google map that show which schools have testing positive for lead and those that have tested negative. Also, the lead poisoning testing was noted on Capitol Fax in a post on Thursday where north side legislators and educators invited Governor Rauner to tour a school. Unfortunately this invitation was noted as a "stunt". Because there is still no budget from Springfield CPS can't say if they are going to have summer school this year also via Capitol Fax . We also see a further debate regarding charter schools or even newer charter or ot

UPDATE June 7, 2016 11:48 AM : An update to this is seen on the Capitol Fax this morning one new pic of that classroom provided by a spokeswoman from CPS which is in better condition. Then from Kyle Hillman a more recent pic of the hallway which still doesn't look in that great of a condition. The pic of that classroom you see below was said to be from a DNA Info article from 2014 and we learn that CPS has a $3 billion deferred maintenance backlog. It's been in the news that due to the current budget stalemate in Springfield, CPS may not open in September. You can follow a lot of the state budget news over at the Capitol Fax . In the meanwhile CPS CEO Claypool took issue with Governor Rauner referring to Chicago Public Schools as crumbling prisons. I don't blame Forrest Claypool or any other figure named in that Capitol Fax post for sticking up for Chicago's schools. Unfortunately they are often maligned mostly for the right reasons and those students who

Hotel Florence by John Ruberry John Ruberry of Marathon Pundit takes a look at the Pullman neighborhood and any progress made on the national monument here. Ruberry doesn't have much faith that the federal government will make far more progress here than the state government had. The state actually owns the Hotel Florence that you see above which is waiting for a new use. He goes through the history of this neighborhood and any governmental role in the future of this neighborhood. Including the purchase of select property such as the Pullman factory, adminstrative buildings and the clock tower. Those in addition to the Hotel Florence. He also noted the Bernie Sanders signs throughout the neighborhood. Sanders back in March lost the Illinois Democratic presidential primary to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton but we see one strong enclave of Sanders supporters. I even noted a sign on our ig page . Ruberry has some strong opinions on what's going on here. Anyon

I realized that I failed to what I set out to do a few months ago. I wanted to do a photo essay and basically I started with taking some photos along 103rd Street. This was back in October and although I shared a few pics back then there were than that in my photo library. For example, I have some pics taken east of King Drive on 103rd Street. 103rd & Rhodes The pic above I knew at one time as the offices of Congressman Mel Reynolds. In 1995 he was caught up in a sex scandal with an underaged girl and was forced to resign. Unfortunately this property is now vacant and looking for a use since the time of Reynold's having his congressional offices here. Across the street is a former dry cleaners. It's unclear when this particular building became vacant. Across the street from here is this. 103rd Street between Rhodes and St. Lawrence In a different time this property had once been home to a McDonald's. That store eventually closed down and was ulti