WGN: Police partners with the Neighbors app to help solve burglaries

 

[VIDEO] I remember a few years ago when neighborhood security cameras usually on housing in West Chesterfield helped to solve the murder and robbery of a Cook County Judge. For those of you interested in some new technologies to help secure your home you have Neighbors app by Ring. Basically there is a doorbell you purchase which also has a camera.

Usually with this camera you can see - using an app you can probably check your mobile device such as a phone or tablet - who's at the door. As far as being able to help police you can send your information anonymously.

There is a heavy focus on Ward 19 or Beverly/Morgan Park. In a previous story from WGN shared on this blog recently there was some recording of the gun shots. Of course that camera was likely a good distance away from the shooting at a pancake house on Western Avenue perhaps that was something provided by a user of the neighbors app.

Just something to share with you all, something to utilize to help secure your home and certainly to be able to see who visits your home while you're at work. Even if you just want to know post office came by to drop off your mail.

Tribune: Blue Cross to bring 550 jobs to South Side, with opening of new center in former Target location

It's great to see one of the two Target stores that closed earlier this year will soon find a new use:

Blue Cross has leased a nearly 130,000-square-foot space that formerly housed a Target at 119th Street and Marshfield Avenue in Morgan Park, the health insurance company announced Monday.

Part of the facility will be offices for Blue Cross workers, and part of it will be used to help people in the community — and not just those with Blue Cross health insurance — such as by offering free yoga or nutrition classes.

The new center is expected to open in the first half of next year.

“It makes us more accessible to our employees who live across Chicagoland and Cook County,” said Jill Wolowitz, vice president of government relations and community affairs at the health insurer. “It makes us more visible and accessible to our members who live throughout Chicago, and we’re looking forward to providing some economic stimulus in a significant South Side neighborhood.”

Most of the 550 jobs will be new ones, but the company is still working out what type of jobs will be included, Wolowitz said.

The company plans to recruit for many of those new jobs from the surrounding communities, through job fairs and other local opportunities, she said.

Tribune: For some South Side Chicago residents, losing 2 Target stores isn't just an economic blow

This is the month that the Targets in Morgan Park (just off of I-57 at 119th Street) have closed for good. It seems reading this recent Tribune piece it is still a sore spot for many in those communities, especially in Chatham where the Target had opened in 2002.

'I feel cheated': For some South Side Chicago residents, losing 2 Target stores isn't just an economic blow https://t.co/aODu76qVv9 pic.twitter.com/py9a1OKcZy

— ChicagoBreaking (@ChicagoBreaking) February 7, 2019

Store closings aren’t unusual. But for neighborhoods served by the Targets that have left — among them Chatham, South Shore, Avalon Park, Grand Crossing, Morgan Park, Calumet Park — it is a particular blow because of the lack of big-box, nationally recognizable shopping options. The community’s emotional response reveals just how the disparity is taken personally and its impact on the morale of a neighborhood.

As Target is closing its South Side locations, it plans to open at least one new store on Chicago’s North Side, deepening the emotional blow to residents south of downtown.

“Target filled a gap in terms of the quality of life for these communities,” said U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush of Chicago, who staged public protests and demonstrations to try persuade the retailer to stay. “Abruptly, that gap has been reopened, without any consideration, commentary or collaboration with the community at all.”

It’s no wonder that residents feel so upset that some are vowing never to shop at the stores again, Rush said.

“The emotional reaction stems from, here you have a community that has been underserved for decades, finally getting a small respect, some sense of quality of life for consumers and they felt they had options to buy and purchase goods,” he said. “They were kicked to the curb, so to speak. When will it stop? We befriended Target. We supported Target. And now we’re left without many options. (Residents) are mad, they are angry.”

Nedra Sims Fears, executive director of the Greater Chatham Initiative, said Target’s pullout “just feels like a deliberate disinvestment.”

“Target wouldn’t tell us how many people the stores served, the revenue,” she said. “We wanted to work with them. But we can’t work with an organization that is impenetrable. It feels like a betrayal.”

Target called the decision to close the stores difficult but one based on their performance. A company spokeswoman said at the time that the move was “not about a neighborhood or geography,” though she said the proximity of other stores was a consideration. She also said Target remains committed to Chicago.

A Target spokeswoman declined further comment Thursday.

But in the two South Side areas affected, the closings remain a sore topic raised on email discussion groups and social media, and at community meetings. When people talk to Fears about it, she reminds them of the many small businesses and locally owned stores that could use their support.

“We are not defined by one store,” Fears said she tells them. “Target gave our community some cachet. … It had an appeal. I believe we have some lovely boutiques in the area, and we will all come together and figure out what a replacement option will look like.”

Editorial: Target's abandonment of the South Side

Target's recent decisions to close their locations in both Chatham and Morgan Park are still being discussed in the community. I want to share with you an editorial by Chicago Tribune's Kristen McQuery

Target, which descended on the Chicago area with its Greatland outlets in the early 1990s, is closing six stores next year in Illinois, New York, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Two Illinois locations are closing and both are in South Side neighborhoods, Chatham and Morgan Park. So those red splotches on the Chicago map will be mostly on the North Side come February.

In other words, the South Side loses again. Hundreds of workers will be displaced. Nearby stores that rely on Target as an anchor will suffer. And left behind? Two vacant behemoths, each the size of three football fields.

Here’s the extra salt: Target is expanding and building on the North Side. The developers of a $58 million Target mall expected to open at the Edens Expressway and Foster Avenue secured $13 million in tax increment financing from the city. So Target is abandoning two South Side stores while taking taxpayer money to build anew on the North Side. That’s greedy.

Nationally, Target is renovating hundreds of locations and opening retail hubs to serve college towns and metro areas. The store planned along the Edens Expressway looks like an architectural gem with soft lighting and rows of landscaping, not the brick boxes built elsewhere.

But lopsided treatment is something to which South Siders, including myself, are accustomed. We’re stuck in the marketplace of low expectations. It’s not unusual to be pushing a shopping cart that is missing the lower rack where ordinarily you’d toss cases of water or pop. Company executives apparently have determined, based on my address, I might sneak items through the checkout without paying. So they rig my shopping cart. 

And let me share this with you also:

Ald. Carrie Austin, 34th, helped bring Target to the Morgan Park location and fought organized labor’s “big box” ordinance at the time. The ordinance would have required large retailers to pay a higher minimum wage. She knew Target wouldn’t come unless she blocked it. She also acquiesced on the size of the store, the grocery component and alcohol sales. The neighborhood didn’t want a superstore, but Target wanted it. And her ward needed the economic development.

She learned of the store closing via news release. Same for U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, who has been holding community meetings and talking about a boycott. He led a protest Monday at a Target store in the West Loop.

“The killer for me is you (Target) want to capture the Christmas dollars and then you’re gone,” Austin said. “That is just such heartbreak for me. We fought to keep you and keep you and keep you. And now you say you’re not making enough money. And then no warning. They didn’t tell the store managers or tell us until they gave out a press release. How do you dog people like that?”

I want you to read the whole thing when you get a chance.

Also from Worlee Glover's Concerned Citizens of Chatham. The Chatham Avalon Park Community Council is behind a boycott of Target on Black Friday though it still seems with or without this boycott the decision isn't likely to change on Target's end.

 

Doesn't look like Target will reconsider #6thWardChicago

Posted to the Concerned Citizens of Chatham FB page (which is run by Worlee Glover who's running for 6th ward alderman) an article about Target choosing to double down on their decision to close two of their south side stores.

City officials are scrambling to get Target to reconsider its decision to close two South Side stores early next year, offering the retailer millions of dollars in incentives to keep the stores open.

But Target, which last week announced plans to close stores in the Morgan Park and Chatham neighborhoods, said it is standing by its “difficult decision” — one that has been met with criticism from shoppers and local officials alike.

The city is still trying to get Target to change its mind, though officials recognize it’s a long shot, said Adam Collins, a spokesman for Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Emanuel has spoken with Target’s CEO at least five times since the company notified the city of its plans the day before the closures were announced publicly, and he has offered millions of dollars in tax increment financing assistance, said Collins, who declined to comment on details of the city’s offer.

On Wednesday, Emanuel signed an executive order that would keep developers seeking TIF money for retail projects from getting incentives if one of their large tenants is planning to close stores in another part of the city.

The move was in response to Target’s announcement, Collins said. The City Council recently approved $13 million in assistance for a shopping center in Albany Park that the city said is expected to include a Target. The Minneapolis-based retailer has not publicly announced plans for a store at that location.

Emanuel said the executive order is meant to ensure “if you’re going to be a Chicagoland store you’re in all parts of Chicago.”

Mayor Emanuel may be unpopular for a variety of reasons, but I am with him on this. If you're going to be in Chicago you have to be in all parts of the city. It's one reason why Whole Foods Market is in Englewood today!

On the other hand, what would it take for Target to change their minds on closing either or both stores on the south side? It seems like they've made up their mind and no mood to change it!

RELATED: Target to exit far south side neighborhoods #6WardChicago

Upset with the closure of Target?

The store in Chatham & Morgan Park which was announced earlier this week? Concerned Citizens of Chatham let's us know who to direct our questions and concerns to. Probably worth it to reach out and let them know how valuable the store has been to our community.

Congrats to Jackie Robinson West #JRW

I want to offer a belated congratulations to the Morgan Park based Jackie Robinson West Little League team. They made it all the way to the Little League World Series and unfortunately lost to a team from South Korea on Sunday for the Little League baseball world title.

Unfortunately I never had the chance to truly watch them play but it's great to know this group of young men have already tasted success in their young sports careers. Here's hoping they will continue to have success not only on the baseball diamond but also in their lives away from sports.

Every young man or woman either playing youth sports or even playing in high school, college or professional can always have the ability to become a champion if they work extremely hard. That also goes for life whether in school or in a career as well.