Well actually I added the title, a recurring theme on this blog as of late.
Either way Rich Miller discusses this on his blog yesterday. It's been in the news that that latino population of Chicago has overtaken the population of Blacks. It's already been documented that over the past decaded Blacks have been leaving Chicago. Blacks are either heading to the suburbs or they're leaving the state entirely.
Yesterday I finally was able to correct issues with our domain which at one point was through BlueHost and they are better for doing more than as a registrar for domains. BlueHost is more for websites and web storage than it might be for any domains.
Besides The Sixth Ward blog is a website or a blog that seeks a registrar for a domain. So as a result of the episode of the past few days where the blog was redirected to its original url http://thesixthward.blogspot.com it was necessary to change registrars to that of GoDaddy. It seems fairly common for websites to utilize that service.
As a result of this change, guess what? Now the comments widget is back. How long has it been since we saw the latest comments in the sidebar to the right on this blog?
This blog has always been about dialogue - especially since we respect and observe the 1st amendment. Regardless always bear in mind we do have a moderation policy. We DO NOT discourage anoymous comments although we will ask you to give yourself a handle or name so that we can easily identify you if we choose to reply. Of course always be respectful and refrain from using any profanity!
Again apologies for any inconvenience these changes may have caused. And now you can always visit this blog at www.sixthward.us.
Another missed post from the CTA instagram from back in July the former Englewood branch station at 63rd/Loomis. This station was closed in 1969 after the opening of the current terminal of the CTA Green Line at 63rd/Ashland.
BTW, if you want to know more about the history of Chicago L-trains feel free to visit Chicago-L.org with more information on the operations of Chicago's rapid transit network.
Steve Daniels is back discussing further what happened with the former Seaway National Bank. Perhaps nothing new is to be found in a recent FDIC report on Seaway's failure, however, this article brings to light some things that were interesting.
To start I did a post where I gave four bullet point reasons why Seaway died. This article shed some light on some unexplained issues such as for example the shuffle in the "c-suite" why Seaway couldn't attract any executives who could handle the bank's pressing problems.
In 2014, she fired long-time CEO Walter Grady. But the new CEO, Darrell Jackson, formerly of Northern Trust, didn't work out either. He was fired in the fall of 2015 after Dickens and the board decided he didn't have the experience to fix things, the report said. After that, Dickens herself served as interim CEO. "Seaway's board and management were largely ineffective from 2013 through its failure," the report stated.
In much of that period, high-priced consultants ran much of the day-to-day operations. The costs sent Seaway's overhead skyrocketing, ultimately hitting 11 percent of assets in 2016, the report said. Peer banks' overhead costs average 2.8 percent.
In a statement to Crain's, Veranda Dickens wrote: "Seaway Bank's board ... replaced the entire management team that caused the vast majority of problems that eventually led to the failure of the bank. ... The management team did the best we could to continue operating so we could serve our community under trying and difficult circumstances."
It also was unable to attract qualified executives. That led to a decision in November 2015, a little over a year before Seaway failed, to bid on $65 million of South Side mortgages offered by Urban Partnership Bank. Bizarrely, Seaway submitted the bid before informing regulators, even though the bank was under a regulatory consent order, according to the report. "Upon learning of the transaction, (regulators) informed Seaway that it may not have had sufficient capital to execute the deal," the report said.
As it turned out, Seaway pulled the plug anyway over a dispute with UPB, but it had made a $6.5 million deposit that UPB held until Seaway's failure. That deposit now is the subject of litigation between UPB and the FDIC.
As I've already seen in various reports regarding this unfortunate and shocking failure it was a combination of issues that forced regulators to shut Seaway down. It was some missteps as far as managing the portfolios of two failed banks, the changing of the guard as far as ownership - i.e. Jacoby Dickens and then his wife Veranda, then the executive management shuffle, then a mention of the board of directors, and then those consultants. With all the changes, Seaway was bleeding and no one can stop it.
As a result Seaway which had been independently owned for 52 years is now a subsidiary of Self-Help FCU.
BTW, attached to the article is the FDIC report that Mr. Daniels used to write his article. Give it a look if you're so inclined.
Maze Jackson you might have heard from WVON radio. He's starting a new political action committee read the info over at the Capitol Fax. CapFax also shares a fb post showing a cookout at the Dan Ryan Woods 87th & Western on Sunday. Check them out and lets us know how it went.
EDIT 12:14 PM - BTW, just noticed in the comments they're mentioning Kari Steele who's currently a commissioner on the Chicago Water Reclamation District.
Recently got an update with regards to where the Chicago Transit Authority is currently with the planned Red Line extension south from 95th Street to 130th St. near Altgeld Gardens. You can read a two sheet update here from their official website.
With this in mind there are two videos with regards to the extension which in my opinion is beneficial to the far south side of Chicago. However, what I strive to do on this blog is to be fair and the first video is a local homeowner who is opposed to the Red Line extension because it's construction means the destruction of homes as far as whatever alignment the CTA will choose.
This first video is courtesy of The Chicago Reporter - and posted to YouTube in December 2016 - and shows commentary by Shari Henry who opposes the extension as the project could threaten her family home. We see a drive around through the communities that are affected by this proposed project. As I may hope there could be further development Henry uses 95th as a guide with little business development around the 95th Terminal. [VIDEO]
The next video shows a proposal for the revitalization of the intersection at 115th & Michigan - although yeah they refer to this as 116th & Michigan. This is geared towards transit oriented development with mixed use buildings that hopefully will include storefronts, low-income housing, a grand entrance to the nearby L station, and greenspace to be used for community events. Seems like a great plan that should be considered even if it must be refined. The video was posted to YouTube in May 2017. [VIDEO]
Here's yet another video which was posted to YouTube in Dec. 2012 - 4 years ahead of The Chicago Reporter video with Shari Henry. Of course this is a video that is in favor of the Red Line extension to 130th Street and certainly wants us to know the benefits of building this extension. An hour commute to downtown Chicago for cultural, education, or even jobs. The far south side won't be so disconnected or it won't take so long to take advantage of all the opportunities the city of Chicago has to offer. [VIDEO]
What you see below is the project development phase which is the final environmental impact statement and record of decision as far as the Red Line alignment along the Union Pacific Railroad route. I suppose this means which side of the tracks will have their properties impacted which is also explained in the two-page report from CTA.
This morning over at our ig account we reposted a screen cap that is a rendering of the future warehouses expected to come near 103rd/Stony Island provided by this Chicago Tribune article. As a matter of fact, these warehouses will be closer to 111th Street near the Walmart. Below I will share the post provided by Ian Lantz who owns The Pullman Cafe.
Nothing symbolizes this fact that the above ig post from our local ABC affiliate. What you see below are the last fireworks you will see at Navy Pier for the summer. After Labor Day it's time to send the young people back to school! I hope everyone enjoyed their summer this year.
Rich Miller believes based upon the screencap of the Sun-Times' front page the "adults" need to intervene and then notes the response of the editorial page which it appears Miller agrees:
Mayor Daley and, for his first term Rahm Emanuel, allowed Chicagoans to live in a fantasy world where they didn’t have to pay for the services they received. And they were enabled by the city’s media and, particularly, its editorial boards which endorsed those guys at every turn.
The question to ask here is whether or not you all agree?
Remember during the 2015 municipal elections where I expressed support for an elected school board - though my idea was a hybrid with both appointed and elected members? Well we need to get to work on this idea especially if Gov. Bruce Rauner signs legislation that sets up another property tax increase here in Chicago that would be approved not by Chicago Aldermen, but by the appointed Chicago board of education.
Tapped-out Chicago property owners would face yet another tax hit for teacher pensions — but their aldermen would escape another difficult vote — under a historic new statewide school funding deal now headed to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk.
That “compromise” bill — approved by Illinois lawmakers this week — authorizes the Chicago Board of Education, comprised of mayoral appointees, to impose a property-tax hike worth $125 million without any involvement whatsoever from the Chicago City Council, whose members are elected.
The Board of Education does indeed plan to approve the increase, enabling the Chicago Public Schools to walk away with a total of $450 million in new state and local money for the 2017-18 school year once Rauner puts his signature on the bill, school officials said.
Rauner plans a bill-signing ceremony on Thursday, his office said.
It’s unclear when the city’s school board will take up the property-tax increase.
This hike would amount to a 2.5 percent increase in the tax bill for an average Chicago homeowner. The owner of a home worth $200,000 would pay an additional $83 in property taxes, records show.
In Chicago it’s great to be part of the ruling class. But Chicago’s roads are crumbling, barely one out of four of its students in its government schools read at grade level,
its bond rating is the lowest among major cities, and businesses lack
confidence in Chicago and Illinois as a whole. If you are part of
Chicago’s ruling class you might view high taxes as a downpayment on
your next paycheck or your retirement, but Chicagoans endure the
nation’s highest sales tax rate and they were slugged with the highest
property tax increase in the city’s history to fund public-worker
pensions.
Yet Chicago’s public pensions are the worst-funded among America’s biggest cities--at a rate of just 25 percent of its obligations.
But the cruel joke may be on these well-compensated public-servants.
Despite the strong pension protection clause in the Illinois
constitution, a pension “haircut” seems unavoidable for retirees.
Michigan has similar wording it its constitution, yet Detroit municipal
retirees saw their pension checks cut after the Motor City declared bankruptcy.
This is really old news, however, the talk has somewhat ramped up again. Back in June 2017 it was announced that Whole Foods Market will be purchased by Amazon. There had been talk before that of a purchase by Albertson's - the company that owns Jewel - and of course Kroger - the company that owns Mariano's.
Now that the deal is expected to close on Monday the talk has turned to the new parent company discussing cutting prices at Whole Foods Market. However, one trick to doing so is not hurting Whole Foods' reputation for quality food. One thing is for certain, perhaps with this merger Whole Foods sooner or later could shed it's image of being "Whole Paycheck".
[VIDEO] I wanted to replay this video in light of this online petition launched this summer to restore the East 63rd Green Line east from Cottage Grove. In January 2013 artistmac posted a video driving from Morgan/63rd east to Stony Island. To keep this vid germane this video should start at about 4:25. The total duration is over 9 minutes.
When the L was destroyed beyond Cottage Grove the neighborhood was likely much different than it is now. The East 63rd corridor was very blighted and largely vacant though in the past decade there has been construction with single family houses. Then fairly recently driving through I see a building under construction at 63rd & University - once the site of an L stop.
As of now it appears the CTA while a spokesperson at first said they're always looking to explore expanding service also indicated extending East 63rd green line service to Stony Island isn't currently in the cards. Just click on this tweet by Curbed Chicago for more information.
CTA says it has ‘no plans’ to restore Green Line service to Jackson Park https://t.co/sKDda8kfWS
The petition started by Reuben Lillie earlier this summer currently has 743 signatures per the statistics shown on the petition page. My personal appeal if you support extending the red line past 95th then also consider supporting the restoration of East 63rd green line service to Stony Island. Tourists and Chicago resident should have much easier access to the future Barack Obama Presidential Library.
And while the petition is linked above I'll post this tweet below to make it easier for you to add your name to this also.
Thanks. This one's for all of us. It's time to make plans and get community input in the proper order: https://t.co/HeCwRIaZ39
Only the "The forty (40) Causes earning the highest number of votes by 11:59:59 P.M. ET, Friday, August 25, 2017 will be designated the winners"
Also there was a press release attached to this e-mail which includes reference to Cook County Judge Raymond Myles who had been murdered this past spring. The private surveillance camera network of West Chesterfield was instrumental in capturing his killers.
You might have seen this over at Worlee's Concerned Citizen's of Chatham fb page. Perhaps this is the expected outcome that we've been waiting for with Chatham referred to by Dennis Rodkin as "a longtime center of Chicago's middle-class black population":
In the past 12 months, nearly one in four of the houses sold in the neighborhood have been recent rehabs, typically by builders and investors, according to Crain's analysis of Midwest Real Estate Data records. Of 199 houses sold in the period, 48 were rehabs.
That's 24 percent, a far higher proportion than in other South and West Side neighborhoods that were hit hard by the downturn. Rehabs were fewer in nearby neighborhoods South Shore (15 percent), Park Manor and South Chicago (both 17 percent) and Auburn Gresham (19 percent).
"You're watching Chatham get rejuvenated," said Virgil Landry, a rehabber and Kale Realty agent.
In January, Landry paid $39,000 for a house on 90th Street that had recently completed a seven-year foreclosure process. He put the four-bedroom house through a rehab that included repairing a faulty foundation and installing new flooring, kitchen appliances, furnace and air conditioner. Landry put the 2,000-square-foot home half a block from Tuley Park on the market in late July, asking $199,000.
The median price of a house sold in Chatham has jumped this year, largely because of the higher-priced sales of rehabs. At the end of June, the median sale price of a house was slightly more than $120,000, up 42 percent from the year-earlier figure, $85,000, according to the Chicago Association of Realtors. That's not evidence of skyrocketing home values but of the shift from a market that was heavy on bargain-priced foreclosure sales last year to resales of improved homes this year. Data provided by Renovo Financial, a Chicago-based lender that funds many rehabbers' projects, shows that rehabbed houses in Chatham are selling at an average of nearly $212,000 this year.
Chatham was hit hard in the foreclosure crisis. At its worst, in 2009, the neighborhood had 4.2 foreclosure filings per 100 properties, according to the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University. Some neighborhoods, including Burnside, Chicago Lawn and East Garfield park, peaked at more than seven filings per 100. Yet like most of the South Side, Chatham saw a stark slide in home values. By November 2011, they had dropped 57 percent from their December 2007 peak, according to a study Crain's published last fall.
Not all of the rehabs are former foreclosures. Some are homes that longtime owners sold at depressed prices.
Unfortunately I'm not a real estate buff nor do I have any connections to the real estate business. With that said I wonder how many of the people who bought these rehabbed homes plan to put down roots in Chatham. Here's hoping we got new residents who plan to grow old in this longtime center for Chicago's Black middle class.
DISCLAIMER: The Sixth Ward blog or sixthward.us is written by three bloggers who aren't associated with any public official in Chicago. If that changes there will be full disclosure of that fact. With that being said let's talk about something unusual that recently happened.
Recently Worlee was contacted by a reporter for RT America looking for a comment - likely from an Alderman and we can't help with that - regarding a bust of President Abraham Lincoln located at 69th & Wolcott being vandalized recently. Ironically the first time hearing about it was on John Ruberry's Marathon Pundit yesterday. Friday, Ruberry shared a segment from FOX News' Tucker Carlson Tonight where he discusses the Lincoln bust. [VIDEO]
So why is this in the news now? As you see in the above video there are people in the nation who want to eliminate primarily statues of prominent Civil War Confederates. As we all know the Confederate States of America is very controversial because we largely know them as the side that wanted to preserve slavery. And now that this bust of Abraham Lincoln - popularly known as the President who freed the slaves - is a target of those same individuals who want Confederate statues removed.
Seaway Bank as a division of Self-Help FCU is hosting a farmer's market every Wednesday from Aug. 2 to Sept. 20, 2017 from 9 AM to 2 PM. at the main branch located at 645 E. 87th Street. Refer to flyer below for more details or click this link for a printable flyer.
In a statement, Emanuel praised the moves under his direction to end the use of one-time revenues, gradually restore actuarial funding levels to the city's four major pension systems, exchange variable-rate debt for fixed-rate securities, trim spending (Emanuel claims $600 million in cuts) and phase out by 2019 the use of "scoop and toss" financing, in which the city delays repayment of both loan principle and interest.
"We are more financially secure today than we were six years ago," said Emanuel, who took office in 2011 and soon will have to decide whether to seek a new term in the 2019 election.
Emanuel has had the benefit of a much better economy than predecessor Richard M. Daley did. City Hall says vacancies in city factories are at the lowest rate in 15 years and occupancy of downtown office space at the highest level since 2008—though Crain's reporting shows that market is softening.
Still, the city faces some continuing fiscal headwinds: It needs hundreds of millions of dollars more each year by early in the next decade to completely stabilize the four pension funds, and city sales tax revenues are slowly decreasing.
Beyond that, city labor unions can be expected to try to benefit from the better times, and the mayor will be under continuing pressure to spend money to try and curb the city's horrific murder wave.
To really look at the point of this article, let's look at the Ashburn community of the south side. How truly integrated is this part of the city
But while the data suggests there are six more integrated communities in Chicago today than there were in the 1990s, the maps and the numbers don’t tell us if residents actually feel integrated.
That’s why we went to Ashburn, a middle-class community of 40,000 people located on Chicago’s Southwest Side. It’s almost in the suburbs, and feels like it, with row upon row of bungalow homes and manicured lawns.
Ashburn was nearly all white 27 years ago, but today it’s a mixed community of blacks, Latinos and whites. It’s also the only neighborhood in Chicago with a dominant black population to add black residents from 2000 to 2010, at a time when black people have been leaving the city in droves.
If you visited Ashburn in 1990, more than four in five Ashburn residents would have been white.
Now, it’s about half black, 38 percent Latino and 13 percent white.
Ashburn’s white population declined rapidly after black people began moving into the area in large numbers in the 1980s. Today, whites continue to leave, and blacks are still moving in, along with Latinos.
...
Like Chicago, Ashburn is divided by invisible racial lines.
It’s almost like there are two neighborhoods within the official community area, one predominantly black and segregated and the other largely Latino with most of the white population sprinkled in. On the east side of Ashburn, at Dan’s Soul Food, owner Dolph Norris says integration is happening in Ashburn, “but it’s basically still segregated.”
“Hispanics [mostly] live west of Pulaski, and then African-Americans live east of Pulaski,” says Norris, who is black. “And you can tell by just walking and going to the parks.”
Loury says that while Ashburn is a diverse community, he takes “integration” to mean a more substantial mixing of people of different groups.
“Essentially what we're seeing [in Ashburn] is that they're all in the same space defined by a border, but they're not necessarily living amongst one another,” he says.
You can see the divisions between blacks and Latinos on a map of Ashburn — and you can also see them by walking around the community, according to Fernando Serna, who is Mexican-American and owns an auto body shop in Ashburn.
Serna says there’s a vibe in the neighborhood he calls: “You do your thing and I do my thing.”
So two or more groups merely living in a community area but in different parts isn't integration. It's not many different ethnicities living on the same block.
Click on the link in the embed tweet below and read the whole thing.
There are two Chicagos, one Black and one White. There are two districts in the city – the White one north and the Black one combining the South and West Sides.
By the time Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s term is up in 2019, the city will be revamped, the redesign of Chicago will be complete, and the divide will be greater than ever through economic maneuvers.
The Black community, the Black vote, as usual is being taken for granted by the Democrats and ignored by the Republicans. You can see it everywhere and the Black community is losing as the renaissance of the city goes forth before your very eyes.
Taxes are increasing, housing is changing, and the cranes in the south loop and downtown Chicago are erecting condos and hotels as fast as possible. Hyde Park is a new community with high-rise rentals and new stores as they prepare for the Obama library.
And then it goes on:
The Black community is asleep, a sleeping giant, the voting elephant in a room where Black lives don’t matter in reality. Wake up, if you please, and look at the surroundings.
The neighborhoods are changing rapidly and Black folk don’t matter and we don’t know the plan. Hopefully we will look through the political talk and hold the politicians accountable.
Crime is rampant in our neighborhoods that will change soon, bringing new land development and new populations. Displacement abounds. New schools are coming. New stores are coming. New restaurants are coming, but they are not for the Black community that is currently in those neighborhoods now. Economic development is not coming our way. The newest innovation is pianos in the park, where Blacks are afraid to play, ride bicycles or picnic for fear of being shot, while listening to the tinkling piano music, I suppose.
I excerpted a lot more than I should've but read the whole thing & let me know what you think. Whenever the subject of the decline of Black Chicago comes up on this blog, there is a recurring theme. Blacks are leaving the city of Chicago and going to the burbs or out of state - perhaps to the south. Also we're losing population, however, there is a construction boom near downtown Chicago or in Hyde Park.
Javondlynn Dunagan, came up with the idea of gun training classes geared toward women, and for the "Ladies of Steel" gun club -- after successful training, the women gather twice a month to practice their skills.
Dunagan served as a parole officer for 25 years before finishing her career in January, but had rarely held a gun when dealing with convicts.
She said she started carrying one after divorcing her police officer husband.
"I was at home by myself with my daughter, and I was used to having a firearm in a home with my ex-husband," she explained. "So, I wanted to make sure that we were safe."
But Dunagan noticed something curious when she visited gun ranges around Chicago to practice.
"I noticed that I never saw two women at the range together or a group of ladies," she recounted.
As for the answer to women who are scared of guns:
That answer prompted her to start JMD Defense & Investigations, offering gun training programs geared towards women. The "investigations" side of the business will debut next year.
Dunagan also offers classes such as the "Mommy & Me Self-Defense Class," where women can bring their daughters, ages 8-18 years, to learn hand-to-hand combat.
"That came about because my daughter was going to college four years ago and she couldn't find a self-defense class on the south side of Chicago," Dunagan said.
Her clients are from the predominantly African-American communities in Chicago's south side, in or near neighborhoods struggling with runaway gun violence.
If you'd like follow JMD (visit their website) on ig. Their offices are located in Beverly at 1447 W. 103rd Street
Yesterday Englewood residents attended a meeting at Parker Elementary regarding a new high school coming to that community. Today WBEZ has a report about CPS enrollment declines:
CPS officials estimate 8,000 fewer students will enroll in the city’s public schools next school year. District officials gave principals their budgets Thursday. This is the latest school-based budgets have been released in recent memory.
Separate from the enrollment drop, CPS plans to boost per pupil spending by about $200 this year to $4,390. That’s good news for principals who need the money to cover staff raises promised in contracts approved last year. Still, overall school spending will be $43 million less than last year — nearly $2.3 billion total — primarily because of the enrollment drop but also because the school district is expecting less federal money.
For the third year in a row, CPS it is crafting a budget that counts on state money that may never materialize. This year, CPS is assuming an overhaul of the state’s school funding formula will become law and deliver an extra $300 million to Chicago. Lawmakers passed the bill in May but Gov. Bruce Rauner says he will veto it. He calls it a “bailout” for the school district.
I'm sharing a direct tweet to an article about Austin losing its designation as Chicago's most populous neighborhood - though remaining the largest community area geographically.
According to the Tribune article shared over at the Capitol Fax it loses this designation to the north side Lakeview neighborhood:
Home to nearly 118,000 people in 2000, Austin has seen its population
drop to 97,600, according to an average of census data collected between
2011 and 2015. It has been overtaken by the North Side's Lakeview
neighborhood, whose population has remained steady since the 1980s and
currently has about 98,200 residents.
Now the reasons Austin is losing population is not much different than a number of neighborhoods on the south side or even the west side. Better yet not much different than why many are leaving Chicago, period.
In a neighborhood as large as Austin, each block can be its own world.
The tree-lined ones, with restored Victorian homes or brick two-flats and kids playing in polished gardens, are what residents call good blocks. They're free of the shootings and drug deals that plague others. But those other blocks, dotted with boarded-up houses and vacant lots with overgrown weeds, are often down the street or around the corner.
Austin is the city's largest community area geographically, and was the
most populated for 45 years. But as the West Side neighborhood's gun
violence has increased, so too has families' realization that at any
moment the shootings can creep into their blocks — even the good blocks.
Austin's residents are leaving, with some saying goodbye to the place
they've called home their entire lives.
...
Chicago's violence is at its highest since the drug wars of the 1990s, and Austin is center stage to many of the shootings and homicides: As of July 13, there were 258 shootings in the area in 2017 and 44 homicides, according to Tribune data. More than 1,900 people have been shot in Chicago so far this year.
The city as a whole is losing residents, and Chicago last year was the only city of the country's 10 largest to lose population. Residents who've packed up and left Chicago have cited a variety of reasons — high taxes, the state budget stalemate and the weather.
Those in Austin have a different list of concerns. More than 30 percent live in poverty. Storefronts are shuttered, and grocery stores are few and far between. The neighborhood high schools that remain open are under-resourced.
But in a neighborhood where retaliatory shootings mean unending violence, many residents say safety is the biggest issue.
Of course there is more to this story so I suggest you give this a read. And check out the video with the Trib article. If only many of us has signs like this to rep our neighborhoods. For example I <3 Chatham or I <3 Roseland or I <3 Englewood.
UPDATE 10:55 AM - Had to make some updates and tweaks to this post for better readability. It's generally a policy for this blog not to copy and paste whole articles. However I've left this article up in light of JP Paulus' points. If you click link to the article you will see that it has been corrected there were some corrections - Levois
Saturday, July 15, 2017 11:27PMCHICAGO (WLS) --A 58-year-old community activist was fatally shot Saturday afternoon across the street from the nonprofit he ran in Chicago's Far South Side.
William "Willie" Cooper was principal officer of Lilydale Outreach Workers for a Better Community, a nonprofit that provides jobs to South Side teens.
"People are so cold-hearted. How could you take somebody's life? He helped everybody. I just don't understand," said Patricia Carter, the victim's niece.
The shooting occurred at about 4:15 p.m. in the 1100-block of West 95th Street. His nonprofit is nearby on 95th Street near the Dan Ryan Expressway.
Cooper was walking when he was hit in the mouth and back by someone in a dark-colored vehicle driving by. No one was in custody late Saturday.
It was immediately unclear if others were on the street, but the shooting occurred near a liquor store that has been the scene of several shootings in recent years.
"Will is preventing violence. Trying to find jobs for ex-offenders, working in this community. I almost want to name him the mayor of 95th Street," said Bamani Obadele, a friend.
Cooper died at the scene. An AR-15 was used in the shooting.
"It's scary when you hear that an assault weapon is used. It's scary when you hear and I'm not saying how many markers, but when you show up and there are 35 shell casings on the street, that's scary," Dawn Valenti, a crisis responder.
Family and friends came to the scene of the shooting, sharing the same story of a man dedicated to his community and spending his life helping others get a leg up.
"Since my dad passed away he's been a man in the house, making sure that me and my mom was ok," said Carter, his niece.
"I met him when I was a little boy and all through time there are so many stories of him doing good in the community. Him paying for funerals for other people, people to go to school. Whatever anybody needed. Whatever anybody needed," said Donovan Price, of Praise Chicago.
I sent in my corrections on Sunday at 8:37 am :
it looks like 2 major typos.
1st, the address... you have listed as 1100 W 95th.. that is near my church Oakdale Covenant Church, and Popeyes, Metra & Oakdale Park.
The victim's nonprofit is much close to 100 W 95th (near the Dan Ryan).
HUGE difference.
Also, Donovan Price is a part of PRAYCHICAGO ( www.praychicago.us ), and NOT Praise Chicago
[VIDEO] What you see above is a video advertising the petition campaign to restore East 63rd Green Line service to Jackson Park.
As always if you support restoration of the East 63rd Green Line then sign the petition over at change.org. There are also some updates provided and as of the latest update reportedly Reuben Lillie - who you see interviewing Woodlawn residents above - has recieved 405 signatures to his petition.
The campaign got the attention of Chicagoist who shared this response from the CTA:
Irene D. Ferradaz, a CTA public affairs representative told Chicagoist:
"The CTA is focused on rebuilding and modernizing the existing ‘L’ system, and on pursuing the extension of the Red Line South to 130th Street. While there are no current plans to extend the Cottage Grove branch of the Green Line, CTA always looks for opportunities to improve the system to meet ridership demand."
As stated in an earlier post about this if there is some opportunities to expand public transit on the south side as far as the L system this is one worthwhile project in addition to my favored CTA Red Line extension south from 95th Street. Here's hoping Lillie's campaign is successful and this becomes part of CTA's long term plans.
Since we've found ourselves talking about public transit with a petition for the restoration of the East 63rd Green Line service east of Cottage Grove, via Chicagoist we get wind of some plans for the new 95th terminal. These plans were created by Mr. Theaster Gates. The same one who created the Currency Exchange Cafe on Garfield and the Stony Island Arts Bank.
The under-construction upgrades to the 95th Red Line Red Line stop are
getting on board with some arts-and-culture additions. Renowned
Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates on Wednesday unveiled renderings of
his twin contribution to the South Side station, including a DJ
booth—and potential radio station.
...
The CTA will pipe the jams from the steel wheels through the
station's PA system—with the possibility kept open to also broadcast the
music via Internet radio in the future.
The second aspect of Gates' 95th work will incorporate decommissioned firehoses, sewn together, into a large-scale tapestry. It's intended to echo the black civil-rights movement, when citizens were blasted with high-pressure hoses.
Hearing some jams while waitng for a bus or train? Sign me up!
Back when he was making his first run at the top job, the media pointed out his documented propensity to use a certain racial slur. During his second run, we pointed out his "holier than thou" attitude when his daughter got pulled over by regular cops and also the numerous broken streetlights that appeared in close proximity to him. Since he's been fired, his choice of company doesn't inspire confidence in his judgement at all.
But he could tap into a certain amount of resentment. And if he opened the doors on how the McDonald tape really got suppressed and who really saw it before the settlement offer, well.....that could sink Rahm before he even got started.
In April I've written about a future project involving the East 63rd branch of the CTA Green Line which would mean upgrades to the Cottage Grove station the current terminus of this branch. Now a petition which you can find through 63rdL.com. Here's a portion of the argument in favor of restoration that you might read with the petition:
While CTA Buses, Metra Electric trains, and S. Lake Shore Drive carry passengers along the Lakefront, none of the existing infrastructure effectively connects the South Side Lakefront with points west. Without restoring the ‘L’ between Cottage Grove Ave and Stony Island Ave we have no way to carry people through the heart of Woodlawn. Likewise, residents, students, and commuters to Hyde Park, Woodlawn, and South Shore who do not live, study, or work near the Lakefront arterial infrastructure have no way of accessing the ‘L’ to travel to and from other parts of Chicagoland. Restoring the E. 63rd Street branch of the Green Line with strategically placed stations not only encourages visitors to Jackson Park to take in the surrounding neighborhoods but also enables our South Side neighbors to move more freely to, from, and within Woodlawn and steps from the University of Chicago in ways they have not been able since the ‘L’ was razed 20 years ago.
This is one project worthwhile in addition to the plan to extend the CTA Red Line further south from 95th Street. Let's hope that CTA will eventually add for future expansions the possible restoration of the former Jackson Park branch of the Green Line to it's former terminus at Stony Island. Perhaps even a pipe dream send the L over to the Museum of Science & Industry as it once was during the 1893 Columbian Exposition.
You can read more of any proposals surrounding the restoration of CTA Green Line service to Cottage Grover via this tweet below from Curbed Chi.
In addition this petion is not only directed towards Mayor Emanuel, also 5th Ward Ald. Leslie Hairston, and 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale who chairs the city council transportation committee. Those three especially in addition to 17 other decision makers.
I missed this segment that aired last night on WTTW one of Chicago's local PBS affiliates. It discusses the Englewood Rising campaign. Something that we've seen on ig with a number of posts about billboards and even a website http://englewoodrising.com/.
Here's one post that was regrammed to the blog regarding "Englewood rising".
The former site of the Rhodes Theater is going to get itself a clean-up and a new use. If you're not familiar with Boombox read more at the site boomboxchicago.com. They nearest set up they have is across the street from Whole Foods Market Englewood at 63rd and Halsted. An example of this you will see below
Found this Tribune article via Newsalert this morning. An interesting, however, unlikely possibility if you believe Rahm Emanuel's former Chicago Police superintendent.
Former Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy is mulling over making his first run for political office against the man who fired him — and now there are campaign buttons.
Small gold and green "GMFM" buttons have been circulating in some corners of the city. That's short for Garry McCarthy For Mayor. And in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, McCarthy acknowledged he's weighing a challenge against Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
"There's a group of people who are very serious about this, and they are looking at all the angles," McCarthy said Wednesday. "I haven't said 'no' yet. Let's put it that way."
He's not close to saying "yes" yet, either, calling a run for mayor "probably unlikely.
And here's more:
McCarthy, 58, said he knows running for mayor would be difficult on his family. He's married to prominent attorney Kristin Barnette, and the couple have an 8-month-old son. But McCarthy also said he "can't stand what's going on in this city."
"Honestly, I swing back and forth both ways. ... I'm not sure I want to do that to my family. As my wife so eloquently put it, 'Everybody just started leaving us alone, why would you want to get back into a rat race like that?'" McCarthy said. "But I have this thing about making a difference, and I was well down that road before the rug got pulled out from underneath me."
Of course he may still have to answer for his role in the LaQuan McDonald story where there were allegations of a cover-up in releasing any footage of McDonald's shooting in 2014.
Would anyone like to see McCarthy as Mayor of Chicago? Is anyone certain Mayor Emanuel - who had a tough go as Mayor since 2011 - will run in 2019?
Lost in all the tweets of personal attacks on cable network media personalities and a video which portrays the President at a past WWF Wrestlemania attacking someone who represents CNN (whose logo you see in place of their face - probably WWF owner Vince McMahon) was a mention of federal help being sent to Chicago.
Crime and killings in Chicago have reached such epidemic proportions that I am sending in Federal help. 1714 shootings in Chicago this year!
Twenty federal gun agents have been assigned to Chicago to join a
newly formed task force aimed at cutting the flow of illegal guns into
the city and cracking down on people repeatedly arrested on gun charges.
Hours after the Chicago police department sent out a news release about the task force, President Donald Trump claimed credit for sending in the agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
...
The roughly 40-person strike force, which consists of Chicago police
officers, ATF agents and Illinois State Police, will be working on
unsolved shootings and gun-related homicides and combating illegal gun
trafficking, officials said Friday.
In addition to the federal angle help from the Cook County Sheriff is coming to the south side also announced late last month:
The sheriff's office announced Wednesday that 55 to 60 sheriff's police and staff members would "supplement" the work already done by Chicago police in the Calumet and Gresham police districts.
Sheriff's officers and staff will help with patrol units, special operations, crime suppression tactical teams, evictions and other services.
Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) asked the sheriff's police to help "to create a safer, healthier environment," according to a news release.
Will additional law enforcement help from the federal government or the sheriff be enough to curb violent crime in the many low-income neighborhoods of Chicago?
BTW, yes the WWF is actually WWE now, however, as a wrestling fan old habits die hard. WWE will always be WWF or World Wrestling Federation to me. The usage of WWF was intentional.
We here at The Sixth Ward blog and the folks of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE) - who provided the ig post embedded below - wishes everyone reading this blog a happy and safe Independence Day and Fourth of July. Enjoy your bbq and fireworks with friends, neighbors, or family on this day.
If you attempted to pay Lem's Bar-B-Q (@ 311 E. 75th Street) a visit the evening before the 4th of July there was a line wrapped around the establishment. It seems a lot of people want to get that quick Lem's fix in time for the holidays. Bear in mind however that the long-time bbq restaurant will be open on the Fourth and will be closed Wednesday. Normally Lem's is closed on Tuesday.
I'll even post the ig post from the official Lem's profile below:
Posted some shots on ig of the main branch of the former Seaway National Bank at 645 E. 87th Street Friday night. I heard reports that someone likely used pellet guns to shoot out some of the windows there
It could be alleged that someone was upset with the situation of the bank which failed at the end of January 2017 and has undergone two ownership changes - from State Bank of Texas to Self-Help FCU. Then again this could be a random act of vandalism which unfortunately isn't too uncommon and both situations are certainly out of anger regardless of the reasoning.
