5 Loaves suffers a temporary set back this past weekend...

5 Loaves tagged us on a ig post that we regrammed on Sunday and Worlee Glover shared this on Concerned Citizens of Chatham also. It's a shame that a neighborhood eatery on 75th Street has been knocked out by copper thieves that keeps this business from operating - in this case no electricity. For a quick buck thieves prevent a legitimate business from making long-term money.

No sooner did I finish this post last night I saw this quick announcement on 5 Loaves ig that their electricity has been restored. I'm sure there is a whole story behind it, but it seems the folks at 5 Loaves got to work - with the help of the community - is back up and running and hopefully they'll see you as a customer on Tuesday and beyond!

Can Gov. Rauner deliver state funds for the Obama Library?

[VIDEO] So Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times caught up with Gov. Bruce Rauner in Washington, DC with regards to the coming Obama Library in Jackson Park. There's been some excitement and opposition, now where's the money coming from. So basically this is what the governor said:

The Chicago Sun-Times asked Rauner if he would support the state assistance. The Democratic Illinois legislative leaders — House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton — are in favor of the state bankrolling a big chunk of the infrastructure costs.

Rauner said it is an “honor” for the city of Chicago and Illinois to have the Obama Center “and I look forward to working together with the Illinois General Assembly to come up with the resources so we can put in the infrastructure around it to support it.”

“. . . I won’t speculate on the dollars at this point. I’ll say I look forward to working together to develop the infrastructure needed for that center because I think it is going to be a wonderful asset for the people of Illinois, a great tourist draw, a great economic engine.”

On the other hand according to the Tribune, the governor is unsure whether or not the state could contribute funds to this proposed library. This article was published in October.

Rauner unsure state has enough money to kick in for Obama center @moniquegarcia https://t.co/26Ir5B80tL

— Ray Long (@RayLong) October 6, 2017

Rauner said he supports the center and the investment of more money in infrastructure, but said the state faces deep financial constraints even though lawmakers put in place a budget and tax hike over his objections. Rauner contends that spending plan is $1.7 billion out of balance, and has called on lawmakers to help him identity cuts.

"We need to make sure that we have ways to pay for what we invest in," Rauner said. "If we could cut the wasteful spending and the government bureaucracy, I would love to put that money into infrastructure and expanding roads and supporting things that can grow the economy like the Obama library.”

Rauner’s remarks came as he took questions during a stop in Aurora. Democratic Senate President John Cullerton of Chicago said Wednesday that he and House Speaker Michael Madigan brought up using state dollars to help reconfigure roads around the center during one of several recent meetings with Republican leaders.

So recent figures for this project from Sweet's article, $175 from state and federal funds to redo the streets in Jackson Park. And there apparently is opposition to a proposal to close off Cornell Drive in Jackson Park.

However, if Rauner remains governor and continues to remain at odds with a Democratic General Assembly in Springfield - especially Speaker Michael Madigan who's suffering from a scandal of his own - who knows if the state could come up with their own money for the Obama Library.

We've been getting tweets regarding 69th Street...

Via Mark A. Clements twitter @prisonspeaks

Starting earlier this month we had been mentioned in a series of tweets by Mark A. Clements. Clements notes in his twitter profile that he had been sentenced to prison die in prison after being tortured and then admitting to a crime he didn't commit. Now he has a current mission, which is to look at the condition of the area near 69th & State Street.

The pic above was originally shared on Clements twitter page and we also shared it onto our ig page. This is a pothole on 69th Street and deep enough for a discarded tire.

So the series of tweets shared a number of videos shot along 69th Street just east of State Street showing us the conditions there. Potholes such as the one above, drains that need clearing, vacant lot, and trash dotted along the street. While he's yet to share this on his twitter page, these are two of his most recent videos - forgot to add that he also has a YouTube page.

[VIDEO 1 : VIDEO 2]

Finally here's one of the examples of the tweets Mr. Clements has sent to this blog on Twitter

https://t.co/70zYaxK0Vx Conditions remaining correction. @TheSixthWard @WGNNews @susannasongcbs2 @scottyrebel @chicagotribune @RandPaul

— Mark A. Clements (@Prisonspeaks) June 9, 2015

Is there anywhere else that you believe deserves attention as to the conditions of the streets, infrastructure or otherwise needs a cleanup.

Hinz: What's at stake for Chicago in transportation budget battle?

According to Greg Hinz, there is a coming fight over transportation infrastructure in Washington. Perhaps this might mean the difference between getting various transit projects done and I would include for example the Red Line extension:

At issue, potentially, for the Chicago area is everything from building western access to O'Hare International Airport and rebuilding hundreds of miles of crumbling roads and bridges, and maintaining and maybe even expanding service by the Chicago Transit Authority and Metra, to freeing up the region's often-blocked freight-rail system and keeping interstate passenger trains rolling.

Metropolitan Chicago now is heavily reliant on the U.S. government to help pay for those kinds of items, and unlike with most federal spending, we actually do pretty well with federal transportation money. The Chicago area now gets $612 million a year from the feds for highway and transit funding, more than any other metropolitan area except New York, according to a new report out today by Transportation for America, a Washington-based group that supports increasing federal funding for transportation.

But unless Congress soon passes a new multi-year appropriations bill, all of that will be in at least some danger. The money won't totally disappear, but any new projects will be delayed, indefinitely. And current funds won't cover all ongoing projects, much less new ones.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, the core problem is that per-gallon taxes on gasoline that fund road and transit work are running short. But Congress has been unable to bring itself to come up with another revenue source, leading to cut-and-paste temporary solutions, the latest of which runs out this summer.

Interested in transportation funding, this is one article to get you up to speed on this subject.

Ed Gardner stops sewer construction project...

You may have seen information about this protest on our FB page. Michael LaFargue of West Chesterfield e-mails an update to this work stoppage by former Soft Sheen Products & House of Kicks owner Ed Gardner. He's on this crusade to advocate for construction jobs on projects that especially take place in Black communities. He started with the projects taking place in Evergreen Park with a new shopping center. This time a sewer project taking place in the community.

Ed Gardner Stops Sewer Construction Project at 90th and King Drive

On Friday June 7, 2013, Mr. Ed Gardner, leading 50 to 60 people, stopped the work at the sewer construction site between 90th and King Drive and 90th and Indiana. This site was shut down from about 9:30am to 2:30pm due to the ongoing lack of African Americans working. (A few photos recently received are attached)

Some of those in attendance included Alderman Roderick Sawyer, Radio Personalities Cliff Kelly and Dorothy Tillman, W.L. Lillard, Bob Isreal, Carl McFarlan, Mr. Godfrey Lawson and Mr. Arnold Pugh of the Roseland Chamber of Commerce, Mrs. E. Washington of Chesterfield Community Council, and John Large of the West Chesterfield Community Association. There were also many local carpenters, electricians, plumbers, etc. present.

$1 Million : What Would You Do With It

Four Chicago aldermen are holding participatory budgeting meetings for their residents soon. The aldermen are asking their constituents to help budget for community infrastructure projects with $4 million of the $5.2 million (menu money)they control. These are discretionary funds Alderman have to complete projects in their wards.

The wards and aldermen are:

•Leslie Hairston, 5th
•John Arena, 45th
•James Cappleman, 46th
•Joe Moore, 49th

Some of the prices are as follows:

Street Resurfacing $40,000

Street Relighting $100,000

New Fieldhouse $7,000,000-$10,000,000

                                                                  New Playground $12,000

What would you ask for?

For more details:http://gridchicago.com/2012/take-action-46th-ward-residents-have-opportunity-to-directly-influence-expenditure-of-1-3-million-on-infrastructure/

Speaking of the Red Line South project...

There is a need at least for more bus drivers to operate the various shuttle bus routes in addition to other opportunities below forwarded from the Greater Chatham Alliance

CTA Red Line South Job Opportunities

Construction Job Opportunities––Check it OUT NOW!

CTA will work with the selected Red Line South general contractor and its subcontractors to hire trades people and apprentices in carpentry, electrical, ironwork, laborers, operators, plumbers and other areas.

In addition to the DBE goal, CTA will work with the general contractor to hire Disadvantaged Workers.

Individuals must qualify via guidelines under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) as "Disadvantaged Workers," which typically includes, but is not limited to:

1. Those who meet income specific guidelines

2. Who've been laid-off, terminated or self-employed

Interested individuals will be encouraged to visit a one-stop WIA Workforce Center.

Individuals who qualify will be screened and trained, if needed, by Dawson Technical Institute, a division of Kennedy-King College.

Following their training, potential apprentices will be eligible to be hired by the contractor on the project.

For more information about the Disadvantaged Worker Program or your eligibility, please visit the:

Mid-South Workforce Center (MSWC)
4314 S. Cottage Grove, Chicago, Illinois
Contact MSWC at 773.538.5627 TTY: 773-538-8260.

New CTA Bus Driver Positions

As part of CTA's operations' needs, 150-200 new bus operator positions will be created to help serve our customers' needs during the five-month construction period, specifically to operate bus shuttles.

These jobs are permanent and will replace positions that become available over time, even after the construction project is over.

It's a great time to join the CTA team! For more information about these and other employment opportunities at CTA.

Click the link below. Follow the directions on their Careers page to see job postings.

http://www.transitchicago.com/default.aspx

Ward Room: Rahm's $7 Billion Chicago Redevelopment

So the next question on this is how can we get some of that money to come our way?

Mayor Rahm Emanuel reportedly has good news for about 30,000 Chicagoans out of work right now.

Emanuel is expected to announce Thursday a "major new infrastructure program" to create tens of thousands of jobs across Chicago by "coordinating the revitalization of Chicago’s infrastructure."

The plan, which includes expanding O'Hare Airport, costs $7 billion, according to The New York Times. It also focuses on improving city streets, water systems, schools, community colleges, parks and spending big bucks on renovating Chicago Transit Authority stations.

Emanuel wants to fund the renewal projects with private funds through the Chicago Infrastructure Trust that he unveiled with former President Bill Clinton earlier this month.

The mayor said during the March 1 announcement that he plans to work with the Trust and debt and equity investors to finance $200-$250 million worth of energy-efficiency projects in city buildings, which would create more than 2,000 jobs.

Read the whole thing!

Aldermen to Pay More for Pork in Wards - Chicago News Cooperative

Aldermen to Pay More for Pork in Wards - Chicago News Cooperative

Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) is quoted in this article about how certain items in the "Aldermanic menu". With this menu Aldermen are given funds to take home to their wards for certain projects such as repaving streets, constructing curbs or gutters, new streetlights, etc.

“It will hurt the aldermen in that we can’t do as much,” Ald. Howard Brookins (21st Ward) said.

Despite annual budget deficits in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Daley has continued to allocate $66 million a year for the aldermanic menu program. Every spring, council members have cherished the chance to tour their wards and decide where to direct city dollars for improvements.

Many aldermen protested in vain when the Daley administration hiked menu prices dramatically in 2005, the first such move in five years.

Until then, a block of new curbs and gutters resulted in a charge of $28,500. That figure rose to $40,000 in 2005, and by last year, the price was $59,500. Another increase this year will bring the cost to $62,500, city documents show.

Brookins said areas like his South Side ward are more deeply hurt by the price increases than geographically smaller wards that are more densely populated. Each ward receives the same amount — $1.32 million — but larger wards have more streets and alleys.

FCC hails Mayor Daley's plan to bring technology to 5 neighborhoods

Sun-Times:

Wireless Internet access along a 26-block stretch of 63rd Street. Free refurbished computers as an incentive to complete technology training. Family NetCenters and Community Craig’s Lists to support local businesses.

Five months after designating four impoverished Chicago neighborhoods as “digital excellence demonstration communities,” Mayor Daley on Monday added a fifth neighborhood to the list and put some meat on the bone.

The plan to flood Englewood, Auburn Gresham, Chicago Lawn, Pilsen and the latest addition, Humboldt Park, with technology was hailed by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski as a model for the nation.

“As we develop the national broadband plan in Washington, we’re paying a lot of attention to the smart actions being taken in cities like Chicago,” Genachowski said.

Read the whole thing!

Another thought on the proposed 85th street bridge

My personal thoughts on Levois' post on a proposed bridge over 85th...

1) Rather than a conduit for business to the 87th street shops, or the proposed Wal-Mart, it's more like an "escape path" for the residents, who might find 83rd much more congested, and frustrating (probably a more real reason why they are opposed to Wal-Mart)

2) Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, from what I heard form a member a year ago, bought some property near 86th & LaFayette, to build a hotel complex there. A bridge can facilitate traffic coming in from the south. The previous statements should not be considered solid fact...but something to investigate.

Whatever the case, we would really love to hear your thoughts.

State funding shortage holds up pothole repairs

I suppose this is going to be one of those reasons why we should be calling for a statewide capitol program and that there has to be a way Springfield will be able to get it down without much pain. From the Sun-Times:

Chicago is fighting a losing battle against potholes because arterial street re-surfacing has been put on hold for the last two years, aldermen were told Monday.

First Deputy Transportation Commissioner Tom Powers blamed a shortage of state funding, apparently tied to the Illinois General Assembly's failure to approve a capital plan.

"The state owes us $80 million. Typically, we use the state money to ... re-surface. And we haven't done any arterial re-surfacing in the last two years, with the exception of funds provided by the county to do work on county roads. That's the only arterial re-surfacing we've done in the last two years," Powers told the City Council's Transportation Committee.

"That translates into roughly 25 miles a year that has not been done. The snowball effect to that is we've had to take our resources and put them on [patching potholes] on arterial streets that should have been re-surfaced the last two years. It's added to our durations on filling potholes on other roads."

Transportation Commissioner Tom Byrne added, "All our federal monies we cannot use because the state won't match. They haven't matched any of our infrastructure projects for the last three years. If federal funds are there for major projects and arterial re-surfacing but the state will not match our funding, we cannot do those projects."

Byrne said 20 city crews -- including seasonal workers called in earlier than expected -- have filled more than 400,000 potholes since December, using 8,000 tons of material.

But they cannot keep pace with the growing demand. They routinely fill at least 2,000 potholes during daylight hours, only to get 900 more calls the same night.

As of Monday morning, 2,100 potholes had been called in to the 311 non-emergency system and entered into the city's computerized mapping system. Potholes in alleys were left untouched until last week.

Unfortunately I'm not sure about what happens this year. Too bad I have last year as a guide. It was a mess well I'm saying this as merely an observer but surely for the participants in that overtime session last year as well.

Street damaged by water main break

This is all the way on the north side but this is something. I almost wonder what is it like to have a street collapse right in front of you and you see a virtual lake or river in front of your home or business. Story from the Tribune and the picture posted here is also from the Tribune...

It will take about two weeks to repair the street that collapsed because of Tuesday morning's water main break that created a small lake on the North Side, city officials said.

Montrose Avenue will be closed between Wolcott Avenue and Honore Street, said John Spatz, commissioner for the city's Water Management Department.

A 36-inch, 100-year-old water main burst overnight, leaving a 15-foot-deep hole in Montrose that measures about 80 feet in diameter, Spatz said. The resulting flood partially submerged parked cars and rerouted CTA service. Officials said they are looking for the cause.

The area bounded by Ravenswood Avenue on the east, Lincoln Avenue on the west, Berteau Avenue on the south and Sunnyside Avenue will be closed through at least Tuesday for the immediate cleanup. Cars now in the area will be allowed to leave.

The cast-iron main burst about 1:30 a.m. near Montrose Avenue and Wolcott Street, forcing police to close an area of several square blocks. The CTA briefly shut its Brown Line Montrose station and rerouted two buses.

"It was a dramatic scene; that's a lot of water to come out of the pipe all at once," said Tom LaPorte, a spokesman for the city's Department of Water Management. "The deepest was about 4 feet of water."

The water was shut off about 7 a.m., and city crews began what promised to be a long clean-up operation.

At a late-morning news conference, Richard Rodriguez, commissioner for the city's Buildings Department, pointed to a one-story structure at 1825 W. Montrose whose basement walls and floor are starting to collapse.

"The foundation and footing have basically come apart," he said.

Will Goodwin, manager of Beans and Bagels near the Montrose station, received a call at 6:30 a.m. that his coffee shop's basement contained 4 feet of water.

"Everything was floating—boxes of cups, records and boxes of receipts," said Goodwin, 33. "The entire basement is pretty much destroyed." By late morning, city officials had pumped out much of the water.

A short distance away, Jill Vandehei, 30, a Chicago Public Schools teacher, used a coffee cup to slowly bail out her four-door Mazda sedan, which refused to start. The mud line on the outside reached to the top of her tires; the one inside covered the bottom of her seats.

"I think I just ended up at a bad spot," she said, somewhat unnecessarily, of her parking spot at Montrose and Wolcott.

The water undermined the foundation of Montrose Avenue, opening a rupture with an 80-foot diameter and 15-foot depth. Several parking meters and a light pole were ripped from the sidewalk.

Why the main ruptured wasn't immediately known.

"It wouldn't be surprising to see that that the weather played a role," LaPorte said. "It went from very cold over the weekend to warmer temperatures that can cause weakness in the pipe."