The Aftermath: Who’s Staying and Who’s Going

Worlee Glover at Concerned Citizens of Chatham has been doing a great job keeping everyone updated on the aftermath of the George Floyd unrest from over a month ago at the end of May. Many of us are concerned about some of our retail establishments reopening after the vandalism and looting of that time.

Many of us were concerned about being able to shop in our communities for groceries. Also some of us are concerned about where to pick-up our prescriptions. Those are the main things of great concern to many as we take Jewel, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, etc for granted until they got hit by looting & vandalism.

Some of these establishments are returning to operations for our convenience. I was honestly shocked to see the Rothschild's Liquor (717 E 87th St) appeared to be closed one day I went up to 87th Street. From Worlee Rothchild's other locations throughout the city and their downtown offices were looted so they may not reopen at all. He even addressed the idea that with the disappearance of our local liquor stores - including Kenwood Liquors per their website is permanently closed - alcoholism will suddenly disappear.

We see the Walmart 8331 S. Steward or on 83rd Street and the Walgreens 11 E. 75th Street or on 75th & State Streets will take at least 2 to 6 months to reopen as they took extensive damage due to the looting. If I recall the 83rd Street Walmart was said to be on fire that last weekend in May due to the civil unrest. Also the Walgreens on 75th & State still had issues with looters even after the unrest.

Those among other updates and information you will see in the Concerned Citizen's of Chatham posting below.

Gun fire at West Chatham theater

I hate to hear about things like this in the general community. It's awful that you can't even enjoy a visit to a movie theater with a violent incident taking place. This report from the Chicago Sun-Times was interesting.

At 11:17 p.m., a group of people who were “possibly teenagers” started fighting at the cinema in the 200 block of West 87th Street, according to Chicago police.

Part of the crowd, likely three males, sprinted out the entrance, police said. At least one of them turned around to fire gunshots at the theater, striking the doors.

No one was shot or injured during the altercation, police said. As of Thursday morning, no arrests were made.

A similar short article about this was found at the Chicago Tribune also. What's interesting is there's really only one movie theater in West Chatham or even in the few block west of the Dan Ryan expressway. No one mentions that it's the Studio Movie Grill at 210 W. 87th Street neither the Sun-Times nor the Tribune. I found that interesting.

I do hope that we won't hear about any further violent incidents at a later hour at our local movie house.

BTW, I first got wind of the Tribune story in a comment to a post at 2nd City Cop with regards to state's attorney Kim Foxx recusing herself from the Jussie Smollet investigation.

The Legacy Project is a GO!

[VIDEO] In the vid above Pastor Charles Jenkins of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church discusses the donation of property located at 8522 S. Lafayette Ave. was donated to his church for their plan for redevelopment. That property vacant for a period of 11 years was once the HQ for Johnson Products Company and later Soft Sheen after their acquisition by L'Oreal.

Here's a press release and an excerpt:

The 14.5-acre site will be the new location of the church and a mixed-use development project, which promises to enhance the social fabric of the community holistically, marking a major milestone in a broad vision for the property at 8522 S. Lafayette Ave.

The irrevocable, landmark multimillion-dollar donation comes from the foundation of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., an Oklahoma City-based national arts and crafts chain that has contributed to faith-based initiatives nationwide for many years.

"I offer my sincere gratitude to the Green Family for their unparalleled generosity to Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church and our work in the city," Pastor Jenkins said. "We are excited about this huge step and other amazing friends and partners who are already joining us on this meaningful and impactful journey to serve inner city Chicago."
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The mission of the Legacy Project is to build people and community by focusing on personal growth, job creation, education, youth development, healthcare, economic development, and community empowerment.

Plans additionally call for renovation of the 229,000-square-foot office building to include a school, health and wellness center, a center for youth programming, a casual dining restaurant, as well as construction of up to seven retail stores at an estimated cost of $26 million.

"The church is committed to working toward reducing unemployment, crime and violence, raising resident morale, and providing hope to the community overall," said Pastor Jenkins. "This donation is the first I have heard of in this community and one of many examples of God blessing our effort and dedication to serving Chicago."

Want to learn more about this project, you may go to the official Legacy Project website. Here's a Sun-Times story.

What's One Thing You Learned about the 6th Ward in 2012

A question from Redeye Chicago @redeyechicago caught my eye

What's one thing you learned about Chicago or your neighborhood in 2012? So I want to change it around and ask what was one thing you learned about your neighborhood or the 6th Ward in 2012? What would you like to learn in 2013?

Concerned Citizens of Chatham: What to do this weekend?

Worlee notes seven events, two of them are ongoing events. There are two back to school events to be shared here hosted by a local church and by the West Chesterfield neighborhood.

 West Chesterfield's their back-to-school event from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM on Saturday at their community center 9351 S. Michigan Ave. Rev. Michael Pfleger is the keynote speaker with appearances by the Principal of Harlah High School and 6th Ward Ald. Roderick Sawyer.

Also on Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM New Covenant MB Chicago located will host their own back-to-school fest to take place in the church's parking lot at 77th & Cottage Grove. It will feature free school physicals, dental check-ups, book bag giveaways, etc.

And of course those are not the only events taking place this Saturday. Refer to Worlee's posting!

Walmart Express in West Chatham to close

Here's the Tribune story.

Walmart Express in West Chatham to close

The Walmart Express in West Chatham will close July 27, the Bentonville, Ark-based company announced Friday.
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The West Chatham Walmart Express employed 24 Walmart associates who have been offered jobs in the company, with most "walking across the parking lot" to work at the Supercenter, according to spokesman Steven Restivo.

Walmart's vision was to have the two stores complement each other, Restivo said, but increasingly customers were shopping at the Supercenter. "Customers appreciate having the one-stop shop environment at the SuperCenter," he said. "Over time we found that their unusually close proximity resulted in customers making a clear choice."

Read the whole thing!

Chicago Neighborhood Roll Through

[VIDEO] Really this is a two-part video. Marc Sims in fact is driving around the south side of Chicago starting in Hyde Park then driving south onto Stony Island then heading west along 75th Street. Then from 75th Street he drives along the Dan Ryan on the Lafayette side driving up to about 83rd Street. As usual he is just rambling about a number of subjects including the landmarks along the way such as Hyde Park High School or even the old Moo & Oink near 71st & Stony Island. BTW, Park Manor I do believe is further west along 75th. Perhaps just past South Chicago Avenue at least. I could be wrong so feel free to comment if I am!

Walmart opened today in West Chatham!

 And I (JP Paulus) was there. So here's my story (more personal rather than journalistic)

Simeon High School's marching band gave an opening performance. They then promptly marched across the street to their school. (They weren't missing any school time)

My pastor, Dr. D. Darrell Griffin of nearby Oakdale Covenant Church gave the opening convocation.

Keith Richards, Chatham Walmart's General Manager

Alderman Howard Brookins spoke (thanking many people, though no one from the Chatham Community that I was aware of), as did General Manager Keith Richards (no not THAT Keith Richards), and a couple of others.

The ceremony was quickly over and people started shopping.

As with all new stores, the shelves were clean, the food was fresh and people were friendly.  They were extra friendly due to my daughter Faith (1 year old and smiling the whole time). And the neighborhood residents who were there were the ones who were already excited about having a Walmart nearby.

Several news organizations were there, including Medill News Service (Northwestern University's journalism school). We will post the video when its ready.

Because those who opposed Walmart these past few years obviously weren't interested in shopping there (and protests at this point would not change a thing), I actually gave the argument against Walmart that I feel the community has expressed.(This was for the Medill story), Let us know if you feel that was an accurate representation of the Walmart opposition.

You can also expect a story from Anita Padilla of Fox Chicago news. ABC7 was there as well, and apparent myself and Faith were on the 11am news.

I also shared with several Walmart executives my concerns that the quality of the store might go down in the months to come, as it has in Evergreen Park.  They of course assured me that the quality would remain, but to contact Keith Richards if there was a problem.  However, when i left the store today, I saw several loose shopping carts in end of the parking lot, just like I see every week in Evergreen Park.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Don't forget to vote in our Facebook poll as well.

ABC 7's story...

WGN TV's story, which included a comment from the owner of a food mart at 79th and Vincennes.

Walmart to open in West Chatham tomorrow, Wednesday, January 25!

The new Walmart Superstore will open tomorrow, Wednesday, January 25 at 7:30am.

It has been a long & contentious 6 years.  We have heard many opinions on this Walmart, and we have posted several times on the subject.

 Is it the Anti-Christ which will destroy our local economy? Or the Messiah that will completely revive it? Or do you have an opinion somewhere in between?

Let us know!

We also have a Facebook poll to tell us  how you feel.

State Representative Connie Howard had already weighed in:

Constance A. Connie Howard

I am pleased that the facility will provide employment opportunities for area residents.

Please vote and comment!

Labor deal paves way for stalled Chatham Wal-Mart

Sun-Times:

Now that Wal-Mart and organized labor have ended their six-year-long stalemate, paving the way for a $1 billion Chicago expansion, Mayor Daley plans to do what he could have done long ago: grant administrative approval to build a Chatham Wal-Mart in Brookins' ward.

"Why not? Why wouldn't he?" said a top mayoral aide, who asked to remain anonymous.

"There needed to be some sense that this was not the desire of a handful of people, but that the citizens wanted it. That has been demonstrated."

Brookins said one way or the other, his Wal-Mart Supercenter at 83rd and Stewart is a "done deal."

Either Daley will sign the agreement, or Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) will lift the brick in time for approval at the July 28 City Council meeting -- after the developer files a new economic disclosure statement.

Via Capitol Fax morning shorts!

So will we actually have two supercenters within a short distance of each other? One in Pullman and then one here in Chatham?

Voice your opinion on whether you would support a smaller scale Chatham Wal-Mart in our recent open blog.

Brookins: Wal-Mart opening late next year

I was just listening to V103 (102.7 FM - WVAZ) and Alderman Howard Brookins said that if the Wal-Mart vote goes well this week, the Wal-Mart project could get out of committee.

Alderman Brookins said that depending on the weather, ground could be broken by this year, and the Chatham store could be open by late next year.

We can check the news for official statements, but that's the news off of the radio.

It's a confusing situation, as the Chatham Wal-Mart was stuck due to Ed Burke and the Finance Committee.

However, the Pullman store had to go through the Zoning Committee, which it did.

After that, Ald. Burke made comments that can lead one to believe that the Chatham store would be "released" from limbo.

We should know by the end of the week where the situation stands.

From Chicago Breaking News, a short story about West Chatham's Bungalow District...

A South Side neighborhood has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency says West Chatham Bungalow Historic District has made the list.

The National Park Service is recognizing the neighborhood that's bounded by Perry and Stewart avenues and 82nd and 79th streets.

The state says the district includes 260 brick bungalows. The neighborhood's bungalows were a favorite of working-class families and date back to between 1913 and 1930.

Nice to have some good news...even though it will be overshadowed by our tragedies.

This isn't the first time our historic bungalows have been designated. We posted about the South Park Manor District in 2008. There are signs which designate this area as such. The Chicago Bungalow Association has a PDF file which goes into more detail about that district.

What kind of businesses do YOU want?

We are looking to do a poll, but before we try to create it, we need some choices.

What businesses do you want to see here? This can be in addition to, or in place of, the proposed Wal-Mart at Chatham Market.

The Chatham Avalon Park Community Council blog had a blog entry with suggestions several weeks ago

Please include the business name, a description, and a website

If you're not sure of a specific business, then feel free to describe it

Man shot, then killed by hit-run vehicle

The beginning of the story...

Chicago police Sunday were continuing their search for the person who shot a convicted sex offender and struck him with a vehicle near a lounge in the city's Chatham neighborhood.

An autopsy Sunday showed that the man -- identified as Howard Hodges, 34 -- died from injuries caused by the vehicle, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Two other men also were shot in the incident, which happened near 83rd Street and Vincennes Avenue. Those victims did not suffer life-threatening injuries, police said.

The full story is here at Chicago Breaking News.

There are plenty of comments

Mellody Hobson and Mayor Richard Daley endorse the Legacy Project by Fellowship MBC

This is the redevelopment of the Soft Sheen facility. Do you agree with the project and because the mayor endorses this project does it mean that we will see a bridge over the Dan Ryan at 85th Street.

I has this real-estate listing and was looking for an excuse to post it. Now I have an excuse, so check it out here! - Levois

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.

Ald. Lyle on Chicago Tonight

Ald. Lyle joined Ald Howard Brookins , Rev. Leon Finney (of Metropoltan Apostolic Community Church and The Woodlawn Organization) and one other guest on WTTW's Chicago Tonight, with Carol Marin moderating.

Ald. Brookins of course supported the Wal-Mart, while Ald. Lyle spoke out against it.

Chicago Tonight repeats tonight on channel 11 (WTTW) at Midnight & Tuesday at 5am, and may be available On Demand (such as through Comcast).

Or you can watch it here! ;) - Levois

If you live in the 6th ward...are you for or against the Wal-Mart. And either way, what is your age?

Will Council heed unions or voters on allowing 2nd Wal-Mart in city?

Laura Washington:

Five hundred jobs is a helluva lot better than no jobs at all. In this disastrous economy, company layoffs and plant shutdowns are as plentiful as glazed doughnuts. Meanwhile, for years the City Council has been blocking the corporate behemoth Wal-Mart from building a megastore on the old Ryerson Steel yard at 83rd Street and Stewart Avenue.
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It seems that many members of that august body are terrified of labor unions like the Service Employees International Union, which charges that Wal-Mart underpays and disrespects workers. Vote for a Wal-Mart, the unions warn, and we'll run you out of office. Our jobs or no jobs, they proclaim.

No matter that the unemployment rate for metropolitan Chicago rose to 11.3 percent in June, the highest in 26 years, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

The Council doesn't care that the proposed Chatham store would employ up to 500 workers. Wal-Mart says its Chicago area stores pay an average hourly wage of $12.05 for associates (excluding managers).

Aldermen could give a whit that the multimillion-dollar West Side Wal-Mart store was built by an African-American female general contractor, with 57 percent of all the subcontracts going to women and minority-owned firms.

They sneeze at the other rich bennies Wal-Mart claims it has brought to Chicago: Its West Side store generated $10 million in new tax revenues in its first two years, and 14 new minority-owned Chicago vendors have gotten their products into Chicago area stores.

There was a poll mentioned in this column. You want to know the results? Here they come!

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is rolling out a new poll that may turn some aldermanic heads.

The poll, which queried registered voters in 12 wards throughout the city, was conducted by the Freeman Institute, a Chicago-based political advisory and public affairs firm that specializes in targeted polling. The survey, taken June 8-12, targeted residents with long histories of voter participation.

Question: "Should your alderman vote to approve the proposed Wal-Mart store on Chicago's South Side?"

Seventy-three percent of voters polled said yes, 17 percent said no, and 10 percent had "no opinion."

Question: "Has Chicago's City Council succeeded or failed to bring job growth and economic development to Chicago?"

Sixty-six percent said "failed."

Question: "If your alderman voted against building a new Wal-Mart store in Chicago, would you vote to re-elect them to office if an election were held today?"

Thirty-nine percent said, "Re-election." Thirty-eight percent said, "Not re-elected."

This is the robocall survey JP was talking about a while back!

Ald. Howard Brookins: We're Mad and We're Not Going to Take it Anymore

Ald. Howard Brookins: We're Mad and We're Not Going to Take it Anymore

I got this op/ed from 21st Ward Ald. Howard Brookins from Huffington Post via e-mail:

Walmart wants to build a store with fresh groceries in my ward, at the new Chatham Market development - a development that currently houses a Lowes and Potbelly but the remainder of this large site sits empty. The proposed store will create at least 400 new jobs, stimulate economic development, and generate millions in new taxes for the CTA/RTA, County and City. It will also assist in bringing other new retailers who have expressed interest but will not commit without the Walmart bringing additional jobs and tax revenues to the community.

In a poll conducted by McKeon & Associates in June, 2007, 82% of the residents in my ward wanted a Wal-Mart Supercenter built at Chatham Market so they could purchase their groceries, fresh fruits and vegetables and prescriptions at low prices - year round and in their own neighborhood.

If we are so worried about the escalating violence in our communities, why are we exporting to the suburbs the needed job opportunities and sales tax revenues new retail stores will provide? Every year, Chicago residents purchase more than $500 million worth of goods at Walmart stores outside Chicago. The residents of the three zip codes that comprise my ward spent $80 million at suburban Walmarts last year alone.

The City, economists and business organizations are all studying ways to eradicate the Chicago food deserts by luring grocery retailers to these under-served areas. We wouldn't need to provide any incentives to retailers to build stores in Chicago if we simply encouraged economic development the correct way -- provide a competitive retail environment without the threat of unreasonable and unfair wage mandates.

Posted using ShareThis

End Wal-Mart mystery delay, OK Chatham site

A Sun-Times commentary:

There's a mystery at City Hall. It's not your old-fashioned whodunit. It doesn't even have much intrigue.

But solving the mystery matters, both for the job-starved South Side and a city dealing with a massive drop off in tax revenue.

It revolves around the City Council Rules Committee, which is where an ordinance to allow for a long-awaited Wal-Mart in Chatham sits.

The chair of that committee, Ald. Dick Mell (33rd), apparently told Wal-Mart officials and the alderman pushing for the Wal-Mart, Howard Brookins (21st), that the Rules Committee would consider the Wal-Mart ordinance in July.

Well, time is running out -- and no one seems to be able to get an answer from Mell, this page included.
The last chance for a Rules Committee vote is July 28, the day before the full City Council's July meeting. Notice for a rules meeting must go up no later than Friday.

We urge Mell to solve this mystery and allow for a Wal-Mart vote next week

Here's some stats!

The first and only Wal-Mart in Chicago, which opened in Austin in 2006, has been a boon for that neighborhood and the city. In its first two years, Wal-Mart says, it generated $10.3 million in new sales tax revenue and created more than 400 permanent jobs. The average hourly wage, excluding managers, is $11.30.

We know Wal-Mart has its problems and unions vehemently oppose the chain. They say Wal-Mart mistreats its workers and doesn't pay a decent wage. And they're most concerned that a Wal-Mart with a grocery department will depress wages in local supermarkets.

We share those concerns, but we also see some improvements at Wal-Mart recently, including a major expansion of employee health care last year and new plans to label all products to reflect their impact on the environment.

Worth a decent read!

UPDATE 4:51PM: I just found this Sun-Times article which has Mayor Daley's comments on Wal-Mart...

After accepting a $700,000 Wal-Mart grant to create “green jobs” for ex-offenders, Daley lauded the world’s largest retailer as a “great corporate citizen” that is “responding” to concerns about wages and health care that have fueled union opposition.

The mayor said it’s “up to the citizens” to pressure their aldermen to give Wal-Mart the go-ahead to build its second Chicago store — and first super-center that sells groceries — at a former Chatham industrial site at 83rd and Stewart.

But, Daley left little doubt where he stands.

“It’s OK in Evergreen Park. It’s not OK in Chicago,” the mayor said, accusing union leaders of hypocrisy.

“People need jobs. … Labor had better understand that. ... It’s something that they better come to grips with because people do need jobs.”

If he feels so strongly about the need for jobs and shopping choices, Daley was asked why he refused to give Wal-Mart administrative approval to build a second store in Chatham.

“If I start doing that, you would write a headline, ‘Mayor is arrogant. He’s usurping his power. Mayor starts changing the law for his own benefit because, one day he likes Wal-Mart. The next day he’s liking something else.’... I’m not gonna fall into that trap,” Daley said.

Another good read!

UPDATE 4:56PM: More news from Clout Street!

Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) said today that he will "re-refer the [21st Ward Wal-Mart] item to the committee where it belongs, the Finance Committee" when his Rules Committee next meets July 28.

Asked if his move will make it seem like he's passing the hot political potato, Mell said, "That's true, to a certain extent."

But Mell said the real reason he is passing the Wal-Mart issue Ald. Ed Burke's Finance Committee is procedural. Mell's rules panel is a "committee of the whole." That means all 50 aldermen are members and if one opponent asked to verify there was a quorum present, they would need at least 26 council members there to have a vote.