After today's heavy rains this is how Abbott Park at 95th & Michigan had fared earlier this afternoon. After the heavy snow melts and with heavy precipitation it seems prone to standing water in the grassy areas of the park. And standing water on the sidewalks surrounding the park. Abbott Park flooded #weather #rain #chicagogram #chicagoparks A post shared by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Mar 30, 2017 at 12:20pm PDT If you have any weather related pics send them to us or tag us on Instagram .

A variety of transit projects in our fair city could be on the gun but I want to emphasize one project that could be derailed - no pun intended - by the priority on people who drive their own vehicles: Amtrak isn’t the only transportation network expected to feel the squeeze from Washington. While CTA’s $2.1 billion Red-Purple Line modernization program managed to secure $1.1 billion in matching federal funds during the waning days of the Obama Administration, Trump’s proposed budget could cast serious doubts on a plan to extend the Red Line beyond 95th Street to Chicago’s Far South Side. If there was a time for Chicago's south side leaders to make sure we get that extension funded now, this is the time. And yes I realize Trump doesn't have many friends or allies here in Chicago.

Another article I saw referred to Chicago as "Balkanized" i.e. divided. There's a price to this division: The seven-county area's murder rate could be cut by 30 percent, its economy could churn out an additional $8 billion in goods and services and its African-American residents could earn another $3,000 a year if it could reduce racial and economic segregation to the median level for the nation's largest metro areas. And 83,000 more residents could have earned bachelor's degrees, spurring another $90 billion in collective lifetime earnings. Those were the findings of a study by the Metropolitan Planning Council, a Chicago-based public policy research group, and the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank. The Capitol Fax has more on this and the full study.

On Friday over at the Capitol Fax we were given an idea on how Paul Vallas would run Chicago State University. Seems look a good plan. Let's remember Vallas was formerly the CEO of Chicago's Public Schools and after leaving Chicago lead other urban school districts and came back to become former Gov. Pat Quinn's candidate for Lt. Governor in 2014. Unfortunately Quinn didn't win his bid for re-election. Now as we consider the strong possibility that Vallas could run Chicago State there is opposition. A group of Black leaders expressed their opposition. For example 6th Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer spoke on this issue. "I just don't know what value he adds to this university, that's my concern," said Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th. "I don't even know what a crisis intervention specialist means. I can understand it, but I would like to see a defined description of what that looks like and what he's supposed to do. Is he usurping the pres

What are we going to do to change this decline ? The estimates are that the three-state Chicago metropolitan area lost 19,570 people in the year ending last June 30, dipping to 9.513 million. That's bigger than the drop of 11,324 people the year before, according to the bureau. The region did gain a little bit since the last census in 2010, moving from 9.461 million then. But the increase of .4 percent is a small fraction of the hike in the same period by large peer cities like Los Angeles (up 3.6 percent), New York (+2.8 percent) and San Francisco (+7.7 percent). However, Chicago's decline last year and small rise over the past six years is roughly similar to that of other big Midwestern cities, lagging the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and Indianapolis, but ahead of Cleveland, Detroit and St. Louis. Even so, all of them did better than Chicago in the last year alone. The metro area declines are heavily concentrated in Cook County, but show signs of spreading to outly

Plans are being made to turn the historic Pullman factory and clock tower - located at 111th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue - to become a visitor center. In addition there will be a interpretive center and HQ for National Park Service operations. This is an initiative of the National Park Service and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives. The NPS’ ambitious plan to renovate Pullman’s historic factory building is moving forward https://t.co/ptHf4K9tPO pic.twitter.com/7bDVOaqk7u — Curbed Chicago (@curbedchicago) March 20, 2017

Walking along 79th Street this past Saturday saw this on the side of a beauty salon right off the corner of 79th & Evans. Perhaps a project of the Chatham Development Corporation who you can also follow on Instagram . A post shared by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Mar 19, 2017 at 4:08pm PDT

[ VIDEO ] We had our first serious snow of 2017 earlier this week. Jahmal Cole and his volunteers go to Pill Hill to help the senior citizens and retirees to shovel snow on their sidewalks.

For those of you who support an election Chicago Board of Education there's some news . And it appears officials (or even former officials) with Chicago Public Schools don't want this bill to pass in Springfield. For example : "I'm not here to make a generalization about elected versus appointed school boards and its impact in any school district," [CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson] told a House panel. "But I am here to say that for Chicago Public Schools, we have been governed in a particular way — and that is being threatened. And I believe that there will be an impact on academic outcomes because of the lack of stability. What are they scared of?

SMG Chatham in January 2016 Another press release from Studio Movie Grill Chatham. A series of events to celebrate the grand re-opening of our long-time local movie house which from 2012 onwards has gone through a couple of ownership changes. Now, it's featuring a brand new concept.

As of now the CTA terminal at 95th endures. It has undergone some changes over the years, a reconstruction in 2003-04, the shutdown & reconstruction of the Red Line south in 2013, and of course the expected overhaul expected to be completed in 2018. The ig post below from the CTA's ig profile shows a scene not too unfamiliar to today's transit riders who begin or complete their commutes at 95th street. This 1970 photo (from our historical photo collection) shows a busy 95th/Dan Ryan bus terminal as people get off of buses and make their way to the train, not long after it opened. In 2014, construction began on the 95th Street Terminal Improvement Project, which will expand and greatly improve the 95th/Dan Ryan station (the south terminal of the CTA Red Line). #cta #cta70 #chicago #ctaredline #buses #terminal #busterminal #princetonpark #westchesterfield #roseland #longwoodmanor A post shared by Chicago Transit Authority (@chicagocta) on Mar 11, 2017 at 5:20

Thursday, March 16, 2017 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Olive-Harvey College 10001 S. Woodlawn Ave Chicago, IL Refer to flyer below for more details on this event.

Subject to regulatory approval the remains of Seaway Bank will go from the ownership of State Bank of Texas to Self-Help Federal Credit Union . The North Carolina based financial institution already has a presence in the Chicago market where it took over the assets of Second Federal Savings. In any case the well known Seaway Bank name survives once again. Steve Daniels who wrote a number of stories on Seaway Bank had this to write today : The owners of the Texas bank that acquired Seaway from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in late January now are selling Seaway's branches and deposits to a North Carolina-based credit union. Greensboro, N.C.-based Self-Help Federal Credit Union, which specializes in lending to low-income and minority customers and already owns a Chicago lender focused on Hispanics, will take over Seaway's franchise beginning in May. Dallas-based State Bank of Texas will continue to hold and manage Seaway's existing loans and will operate

Woodlawn won the 2016 Curbed Cup. With that said DNA reports that the south side neighborhood to be the recipient of former President Obama's presidential library has yet to gentrify: Woodlawn has seen more than $400 million in investment in the last five years. In some neighborhoods, that kind of money would have inevitably led to gentrification, forcing longtime residents from their homes. But that's not the case, the largest developer in the neighborhood said in a new report about the investments. Preservation of Affordable Housing , a national nonprofit which has sought to revitalize some of the nation's largest cities while keeping housing affordable, released a report Monday showing $400 million was invested in the neighborhood in 2011. That year, the group started redeveloping Grove Parc Plaza through a $30.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Bill Eager, vice president for the nonprofit’s Chicago branch, which is behind

In addition to $1 million he's donating to CPS school after his meeting with Gov. Bruce Rauner to discuss the schools, Chance the Rapper is also donating $10,000 to these schools. Charles Carroll Elementary Clemente High School Fenger High School Hirsch High School Juarez High School Mahalia Jackson Elementary Nathan S. Davis Elementary Orr High School Robeson High School Oliver S. Westcott Elementary These donations are from Chance's Social Works Chicago non-profit. According to WGN: " The one million dollars is not meant to cure the $215 million CPS funding shortfall, but to call attention to the political feud in Springfield and how it affects communities. " You're also encouraged to visit the Social Works website and make a donation in addition to Chance's donations.

Chicagoist.com The owners of Chicagoist - called appropriately Gothamist LLC - announced that they have been acquired by the Joe Ricketts owned DNA Info . Gothamist also has blogs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York (the home base) and DC. That means DNA Info would expand into new cities. Over the years we have used articles from DNA Info. In some cases Worlee may have been quote in an article or a photograph posted to this blog was used in an article. And Chicagoist has linked to us once also. And why did I mention Joe Ricketts, well as you see in the post via Gothamist, he's the owner of the 2016 world series champion Chicago Cubs.

Early concept of SMG Chatham The concept you see above have come slowly, but has finally become reality according to this press release from Studio Movie Grill regarding our local movie house. And also this ig post we shared around Oscar time.

Josephine "Mother" Wade , owner of Josephine's Cooking (formerly known as Captain's Hard Time Dining), at 436 E. 79th Street,  has had a very good week. This weekend, she was honored with a stretch of 79th street named after her, in an honorary street sign. The event was attended by several community leaders and politicians. She was also featured in  the most recent issue of the African American Tribune (on the cover and a story; the issue is available in many places, such as churches). From the Inspiration 1390 AM Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/Inspiration1390/photos/pcb.10154717253174900/10154717238704900/?type=3&theater Today she was on the morning show on Inspiration 1390 AM with Sonya Blakey. She talked about her history with the neighborhorhood, community involvement. She also noted that she actually wanted to keep the name Captain's Hard Time Dining. Her son, in consultation with others, thought it would be better branding to not ha

If only the community organizations of the south side had the resources presumably that the Gold Coast Neighbors Association has. What we see here are snippets of e-mails from that CBO expressing concern about a series of violent crimes in that near north side - or actually near downtown Chicago - community. The man behind Newsalert shared these screencaps with the quote: " No word yet on when the wealthy progressives will suggest 'packing heat' in Chicago. " That's certainly one angle to approach with this, however such a hoi-polloi neighborhood near downtown Chicago, the city surely will take care of such a community. In the meanwhile, the other communities that have serious issues with crime don't have as much to unify and combat these issues.

I'm posting this because in a great society as we have in this great nation - yes I know many of you would debate this - this shouldn't happen. And this is without a doubt very terrible. Chicago police said officers were called to a home in the 900 block of West 59th Street shortly before 1 p.m., when they were notified of a child allegedly left alone. Once inside, they found nine children, ranging in age from an infant to a teenager. The two-flat has several broken windows, but no heat, and police said there was no food for the children to eat. “We have never seen those children. We did not know they were hungry. We did not know they were being neglected,” said Apostle Willie Shears, with God’s Divine Glory Ministry, a church located just steps from the home. “We were totally unaware, and it’s a shock to us. We would have reached out. We would have helped them in any way that we could have helped them.” The children were taken into protective custody. “At one time,

  [ AUDIO ]  Rich Miller shares a podcast from The Daily Line (aka Aldertrack) where Dean Angelo - President of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, the Chicago Police union - to discuss the reforms in the wake of the Justice Department probe. Offers this rather damning headline: " The headline on the piece quotes Angelo as saying that Chicago police 'care about black lives more than most black politicians.' "

Went there on a sunny Friday afternoon to do some actual shopping there for the first time since they opened September 2016. Snapped this shot of the bakery case there and posted to ig . Not a very busy afternoon it appeared and just meant quicker checkout. :P The bakery case at @wholefoodseng on a nice wonderful Friday afternoon #chicagogram #teamwfm #EnglewoodRising #goodinenglewood #olloclip A post shared by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Mar 3, 2017 at 5:39pm PST Found out through the store's ig page that they hosted an event the $5 after 5 which is basically: " a glass of wine and an appetizer, and receive a free Whole Foods Market Englewood wine glass. " There was also an example of this event in a later photo posted also. I wonder how well they did with this event.

Via The Chicago Neighborhoods JP Paulus shared this post on our FB page and I basically got stuck on the " black tax " what does this even mean? But Chatham was no urban Mayberry. When I was in high school, the “Chatham rapist” stalked the neighborhood. On more than one occasion, thieves broke into our garage. “There was crime in the neighborhood, although it was a very nice neighborhood,” my mom said. “But you would hear about robberies in the area, so that was a downfall, I think.” This is part of what’s called the black tax. Black middle-class neighborhoods are more affected by urban ills than white middle-class neighborhoods; you have to deal with more poverty, more crime, worse schools and fewer services. Another example of this black tax: My dad said he saw the black tax even when he shopped at a Jewel grocery in the neighborhood. “When I wanted to pay for the groceries by check, I had to almost get my birth certificate for ID,” he recalled. But then

[ VIDEO ] What you see above was the only YouTube posting I have found so far that discusses the failure of Seaway National Bank . Where do I start in talking about what happened here? This discussion is happening knowing our community - that is perhaps someone wanted to take Seaway Bank out. The host of the video above alleges that once the "Bank Black" movement took hold and those who supported that movement chose to start accounts at Seaway - in some cases closed accounts at larger majority-owned banks (and I won't explain what this means) - this itself started the regulatory scrutiny that shut Seaway down. What I recognize is that Seaway was dying through the purchase of two failed banks earlier in this decade. Most banks fail due to an inability to recapitalize and it doesn't help that a bank handed out many loans to customers who couldn't afford to repay. Another indication that Seaway was dying is the leadership, there was a shuffle going on that

The former Obama White House chief of staff, former Clinton Secretary of Commerce, and the son & brother of two Chicago mayors has this to say about the gun violence in our fair city's crime ridden neighborhoods We keep thinking that Chicago's gun violence can't get worse, and then it does. Three children killed in four days in February. Nearly 100 gun deaths already this year, after 766 last year. The latest? Chicago gangs are increasingly using high-powered rifles to maim and kill each other (and innocent bystanders, too, of course). As the Chicago Tribune reports, police say rifles are increasingly becoming popular because, well, "they are deadlier." "Rifle bullets can tear through cars and other obstacles, including standard-issue bulletproof vests worn by Chicago police ," the Tribune reports. If foreign terrorists had infiltrated Chicago to commit this mayhem, is there any doubt that the country would be at war? Why, then, are we wringin