For some reason it surprises me that Richard Wooten who was thrice a candidate for Ward 6 Alderman endorses incumbent Ald. Roderick Sawyer as he goes into a runoff against Deborah Foster-Bonner. Then again often in election season we see candidates endorse their former rivals often. And I do believe that in Ald. Sawyer's runoff in 2011 against then Ald. Freddrenna Lyle, Wooten also endorsed Sawyer. And of course in 2011 Sawyer would win that runoff and take his father's old seat as 6th Ward Alderman. The election is next Tuesday.

This is the big news everyone is talking about during this past week. Jussie Smollet had his charges of hate crime hoax dismissed and the lead prosecutor doesn't believe he's innocent . However, that doesn't mean the state itself isn't looking at it. Via CapFax today: Durkin wants Raoul to review Smollett case https://t.co/M1nmmW6iUq — Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 28, 2019 I wanted to see some of the legal analysis of this, so it's worth sharing with you all. There will be a lot of questions about this for sure. [ VIDEO ]

The image you will see below is fascinating. Did you know back during the 1893 Columbia Exposition that the East 63rd/Jackson Park L was built towards the fair grounds there? View this post on Instagram Fascinating image of something I’d never seen before, sent to me by my good bud J.J. Sedelmaier. It shows the original 63rd Street EL terminal inside the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition grounds. After the fair, the station was demolished and line was cut back to Stony Island Avenue (and then shortened again to Cottage Grove in the 1990s). #1893worldsfair #worldscolumbianexposition #chicago #jacksonpark @beyokay A post shared by Lee Bey📸 (@leebey) on Mar 23, 2019 at 11:13am PDT What I didn't know until recently that Chicago-L.org also had that picture posted on their webpage for what they refer to as the Jackson Park Station of what was formerly the South Side Rapid Transit line. I had the idea of this building b

This is how Preckwinkle and Lightfoot (one of those two candidates will be the first Black female mayor of Chicago) will differentiate themselves. Preckwinkle it could be said has the backing of quite a few established Black politicos in Chicago such as Bobby Rush or Danny Davis. For example and it seems there will be more endorsements of the current county board president. Anyway read more about it at CapFax . Preckwinkle and Rush will double down today https://t.co/xzWBDHENev — Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 25, 2019 Preckwinkle isn't doing any ads on TV, but Lightfoot is continuing to spend money on ads such as this one below which you can also see at CapFax. She gets saddled with her service on the police board and this ad shows she'll help people caught in the criminal justice system. [ VIDEO ]

[ VIDEO ] If you missed it last night here's the debate between the top two candidates from last month's mayoral election. They will be squaring off in a run-off election on April 2, 2019. County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and former police board chairwoman Lori Lightfood square off in a debate that aired live on WTTW's Chicago Tonight. Let us know your thoughts on this debate if you watched it last night or even if you watch the video above. Since I didn't watch this debate last night, I want to share with you Lee Bey's thoughts. He shared them on his twitter page and had his thoughts on how the candidates address the perceived needs of the city's south and west sides. It's a bit of a thread so go to his page to see the rest, this is how he started off. I saw the Chicago Tonight mayoral candidates forum. For once, I wish the South and West sides weren’t couched and discussed as just an array of dysfunctional neighborhoods apart from the re

News from yesterday over at CapFax regarding a ruling by the state Supreme Court to not change the sentence given to former police officer Jason Van Dyke who's currently at a medium security federal prison in New York serving his sentence. Raoul responds to Van Dyke decision https://t.co/cX2GI4sEW2 — Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 20, 2019

From Block Club Chicago , Ald. Roderick Sawyer gives his thoughts on being forced into next month's runoff election for Ward 6 Alderman. He claims not to know much about his opponent Deborah Foster-Bonner. As we know he beat another incumbent Alderman of the 6th Ward in a runoff, however, do you all believe he can pull off a victory on April 2nd? Also early voting in next month's runoff for some alderman, city treasurer, and mayor races began yesterday.

I shared this on the fb page for this blog . We see an article from Patch for the coming runoff in Ward 6 between Deborah Foster-Bonner and Ald. Roderick Sawyer. If you didn't get the change to find out more about Ms. Foster-Bonner before last month's election take your time and read about her before next month's run-off. And as always feel free to chime in on whether or not you think Chicago's 6th Ward is better off with a change in the Alderman's office or if the incumbent is doing the job in his current role.

This was posted to Nextdoor over the weekend as something of an update to the closure of Chatham Food Market Chatham foods will be closing within a week. EVERYTHING is marked down to 50% off. Fresh meat is brought out daily & I took advantage of the sales. They will be closed for at least 2 months, slated to reopen in June as a MEAT & PRODUCE MARKET!!!!  Because they're in the remodeling stages and moving many shelving units that haven't been moved in decades??? The store has a peculiar aroma of a stagnant mice farm. Also, if you choose to by can & glass non perishables CHECK THE EXPIRATION DATES.... So we're going to get a new iteration of this local grocery store. And I'm a little concerned about the reports of the aroma since we found out about the market's impending closure for renovations. To be fair, I've only been in the store once and was disappointed when this business was sold to non-Black ownership. On the other hand since it

I've written about the group of Morehouse College students who over the years have come up here with Morehouse alum Corey Hardiman to mentor Chicago Public School male students on their spring break. They choose cold Chicago instead of the warm weather of spring break beaches. When most college students think of spring break, they think of a tropical getaway along sandy beaches. But for the sixth year in a row, a group of students from Morehouse College in Atlanta is giving back and serving the South Side of Chicago. The Morehouse mentors were matched with their mentees at Chicago State University on Thursday. "The reason why I started the Young Men of Color Conference was because, for me, growing up I didn't see brothers who look like me doing successful work," said Corey Hardiman, founder of the Morehouse group called Hope Dealers. "All we are here to do is to promote excellence of young men of color. If they can't see it, how can they b

What if you did your shopping in the suburbs to avoid the city bag tax only to find out that the state passed its own bag tax? It's been in the news as a proposal so far, and for some it had the added intent of reducing usage of plastic bags in Chicago. Because… Chicago! https://t.co/aJQ1us5wqx — Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 14, 2019 If you're tired off all these taxes then there's this from Rich Miller : In the end, this bag tax might very well turn out to be more trouble than it’s worth. What the post is about is passing a statewide bag tax, then allowing Chicago to keep our own bag tax. It seems downstate politicians take an issue with Chicago not being included in this new tax. 

To give a short hand of yesterday's question of the day from CapFax , " What constitutional provisions, if any, would you support to “protect” middle-class families from future tax increases after the new graduated tax structure takes effect? " Question of the day https://t.co/h4Qsarurir — Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 13, 2019 Well I haven't seen the responses there, but hopefully someone out there who has great familiarity with the state constitution and taxation has their own answers.

This isn't the first time we've heard about a new theater coming to 71st/Jeffrey. I first got wind of it in 2016 and the plan was the preserve the former HQ of ShoreBank and the former Jeffrey Theater. Then later it was reported that those buildings would have to be demolished to build the new theater. Now this new Cinegrill being developed by ICE Theaters owner Alisa Starks expects to open in June 2020. This is according to the Chicago Citizen : Located inside the former Urban Partnership Bank Building, 7054 S. Jeffrey Blvd., will be Cinegrill, a 50,000-square foot development that will house a seven-screen theatre with chef-designed cuisine, a bar, reclining seats, and seating capacity between 38 and 75; Odessa’s Kitchen, a Creole-inspired restaurant seating up to 105 people; AJ’s, a four-lane bowling alley, equipped with multiple big screen TVs, a lounge that serves alcohol and appetizers, and offers table games like checkers, chess and backgammon. The last compon

Shared this Sun-Times article over the weekend. Englewood is changing one sign of that is not only Kennedy-King College that has been located at 63rd & Halsted since 2007, also the Whole Foods Market store that opened at 63rd & Halsted in September 2016. Another sign of Englewood changing : Now, there’s a new demographic shift in her neighborhood. African-Americans are leaving for better opportunities as a small-but-growing number of Hispanics move into Englewood and West Englewood, a community residents commonly call Greater Englewood. Greater Englewood’s total population dropped from 71,740 in 2010 to an estimated 55,004 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. During that time, the African-American population fell from 69,776 to 51,015 — a loss of nearly 19,000 residents. African-Americans still make up more than 90 percent of the population, but as some leave, the Hispanic population has tripled in size, from 845 people in 2010 to about 2,700 people by 2017. W

Photo by Worlee Glover On Nextdoor it was reported that Chatham Food Market (fka Chatham Food Center) will be closing March 24, 2019. It was also reported in that thread that the property that would be left vacant won't be in that state for long. If you believe the photo above by Worlee Glover which was shot sometime on Sunday (also posted on Nextdoor), perhaps a name change is in store. Here's a video posted on this blog over a decade ago from YoChicago which featured the previous owner of the grocery store located at 79th & Calumet. [ VIDEO ]

The graphic below was posted to Nextdoor this morning. With a link to a Sun-Times article regarding the retired Chicago police officer who shot himself this past Monday. There was this message attached to it. Sadness and devastation have overcome my life. There was such unexpressed sorrow that despite being given options, he felt this was the choice to make. I’m at a loss and at this time I cannot say much more. While some actions cannot be stopped, please acknowledge depression and reach out to everyone, especially first responders. They cannot unsee the horrors of the world. Help reduce the stigma of accepting mental health. Condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues! Also, I wanted to share this in the spirit of "reducing the stigma of accepting mental health". It's disturbing hearing about the suicides of Chicago Police active or retired, and hope that we'll get those troubled police officers the help they need. However, if the family requests t

You might have seen this on Concerned Citizens of Chatham , as the count had continued from last week's election it appears that there will be a runoff in the 6th Ward between incumbent Roderick T. Sawyer and Deborah Foster Bonner.

You might have seen this on our FB page , and is especially tragic since it occurred in the Chatham neighborhood on Monday. The 61-year-old man was found with multiple self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the chest at 7:02 p.m. at his home in the 7900 block of South Michigan Avenue, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy Tuesday found he died of his wounds and his death was ruled a suicide, according to the medical examiner’s office. Police said he retired from the Chicago Police Department in 2017 after 20 years of service. Very sad, unfortunately we've seen a number of suicides especially last year of active police officers. What can be done about to prevent other suicides?

I wanted to highlight what's interesting about the coming run-off next month between Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot from yesterday's post by Rich Miller . CFL takes a pass on mayor’s race https://t.co/Gu48iTaZMR — Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 4, 2019 I think Preckwinkle’s biggest problem is that people who voted for everyone else in the first round did so at least partly because they couldn’t bring themselves to vote for the purported “front-runner” - and that would be 84 percent of those who voted. Few really know who Lori Lightfoot is, which as a commenter pointed out earlier today is most definitely a big help at this point in the campaign. It’s hers to lose right now because she’s 1) not Toni Preckwinkle; and 2) a blank slate.  Preckwinkle has to firmly and quickly take Lightfoot down, gin up the aldermen with the warning that Lightfoot will take away their outside income and their ward prerogatives, hand out as much patronage as she can lay her hands o

Perhaps Preckwinkle & Lightfoot will have an answer to this Sun-Times editorial as they head to the their April run-off. Here’s the challenge for the next mayor of Chicago: Bring back the middle class. We don’t mean save the middle class. That would mean Chicago has one, the @Suntimes editorial board writes. https://t.co/9ojXyBWz9D — Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) March 2, 2019 A city without a middle class is no place to be. It is a ladder with a few rungs at the top and a few at the bottom — and none in the middle. It is a place where the social mobility essential to a democracy — the ability to climb the ladder of success — becomes prohibitively difficult, if even possible. The next mayor of Chicago may argue that the biggest challenge facing our city is getting its finances in order, or improving its schools, or curbing violent crime. But all those challenges must be met in ways that pull the whole city along — that create opportunities for the poor to move up and f

Still concern over potential retaliation in the death of gang leader Lawrence "Big Law" Loggins. They came to mourn a high-ranking member of the Black Disciples street gang, but four men who attended the funeral of Lawrence “Big Law” Loggins wound up in jail on gun charges. https://t.co/Pn9poFB31O — Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) March 1, 2019 Remember the advisory over his funeral last month.