Struggle for safety: EPA commits to resolving Pilsen pollution
After being stonewalled by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway company, the EPA will be seeking a warrant from the courts to clean up toxic land on the railway’s property that tested for lead content as high as 23,000 parts per million, the highest level of lead contamination seen in Pilsen yet and more than [...]
Manifest Talent, Identity, Achievement and Celebrate
It is the end of the semester at Columbia College Chicago, and Friday is that yearly explosion of talent and fun: Manifest. View the video preview and then read the 5 reasons Manifest is the place to be on Friday. 1. “Manifest Destiny” (Be there or be square) Columbia’s mission is, “to educate students who [...]
Park and path on former elevated rail line in Logan Square close to breaking ground
Construction is set to begin on a nearly three mile long park and path that will stretch from Goose Island to North Kimball Avenue on Chicago’s Near Northwest Side. The design plans for the Bloomingdale Trail, which is an old rail line being converted into a park, have been completed and are awaiting final approval by [...]
Chicago street artist’s struggle continues
On May 7th, at 11 a.m. in front of Macy’s on State St., artists and friends will hand out postcards commemorating the late street artist activist, Chris Drew. This follows a memorial for Drew, who died a year ago, that was held on April 28, and is prior to the release of a documentary about [...]
Austin Talks Reporters Win Lisagor Journalism Awards
Society for Professional Journalistslocal chapter, the Headline Club, held the annual Lisagor dinner where journalists are recognized by their peers for outstanding reporting and writing. Former ChicagoTalks editor Ellyn Fortino was a winner for a story she reported for our Talks publication, Austin Talks. John Fountain won his independent blog which is published in Austin [...]
Volkswagen donates cars to Chicago Fire Department
Volkswagen donated three of its passenger sedans to the Chicago Fire Department Training Division to help rescue teams learn how to get into the vehicles after they’ve crashed. At a demonstration Thursday, fire rescue squads annihilated one of the brand new vehicles with the hydraulic Jaws of Life from Hurst Tools. A firefighter walked up and [...]
Temp Agencies and ‘Raiteros’ in Immigrant Chicago
[I]n Chicago’s Little Village, the largest Mexican community in the Midwest, the raiteros have melded with temp agencies and their corporate clients in a way that might be unparalleled anywhere in America — and could violate Illinois’ wage laws. Raiteros tell temp workers to show up early to secure work for the day, leading to [...]
After school program brings bricolage mural making into Chicago classrooms
Green Star Movement is a nonprofit arts organization that provides the youth in Chicago with the opportunity to participate in public art projects in the city, all while making a difference in their communities and getting a behind-the-scenes look at how an original mural is produced, designed, & installed. The mural program, which is part [...]
Earth Day film review: ‘Musicwood’
“Forests are not quiet. There’s music in the forest,” says a man in the opening lines of the film. “When you cut down the spruce tree and make it into a thousand guitars, all that means is that a spruce tree is singing in a thousand different places.” ‘Musicwood,’ a 2012 documentary directed by Maxine [...]
Lead pollution in Pilsen takes new form
Every so often, Sallie Gordon, driving force behind the Growing Station Community Garden group in Pilsen, goes to an abandoned lot located near the garden between Peoria Street and Cullerton Street, only a block away from the Walsh School, to pick up trash. Gordon has taken it upon herself to take care of the small [...]
State lawmaker questions ALL KIDS program after audit
With the state finances reeling, one lawmaker is exploring how much money could be saved by restricting access to state healthcare benefits for undocumented immigrants. The potentially explosive issue already has come under scrutiny following a state audit that showed as many as 75 percent of the children covered under the state’s ALL KIDS program were [...]
Editorial: Do we need a federal gun control law?
After the Jonylah Watkins funeral last month, and the recent death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, debate over the proposed assault weapons ban in Illinois has legislators outside Chicago and those representing inner-city districts staunchly divided over this time-sensitive issue. While visiting Chicago area churches Saturday and Sunday, Gov. Quinn said, “We’ve got to show in [...]
Legislators consider extending insurance coverage for Illinois dependents
Erin Watson, a 23-year-old Chicago native getting a business degree from Fordham University in New York, said she hopes to get a job with good health insurance after graduation, but added that if she doesn’t get one, she worries she will not be able to afford insurance. “It’d be helpful to have the extra money [...]
Growing Station Community Garden in Pilsen focuses on water conservation
For the past two years, every April through September, 63 year-old Carlos Nunez, has been waking up early morning to go water his plants, monitor the garden for about two to four hours and returns after sunset to do it all again. Nunez, a Pilsen resident, is a volunteer garden monitor for the Growing Station Community [...]
Ward remap problems with space and timing
An ongoing effort by a West Side church to close an unpopular hotel, which neighbors say attracts prostitutes and drug dealers, Tuesday found itself at the center of a redistricting debate over who represents whom in the aftermath of a city remap. Parishioners from Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church told members of the City Council’s [...]
Federal cuts to take away meals for Illinois seniors
Andy Laterza’s heart functions at only 15 percent. The 81-year-old Chicagoan’s reliance on home-delivered foods is much greater that his wife’s, who also suffers from congestive heart failure. Because of the federal sequester, the Laterzas could see their weekend meals taken away, leaving them fending for themselves. “My husband’s not doing so good,” said Ann [...]
Hiring our Heroes helps veteran job seekers in Chicago
Job-seeking veterans and spouses gathered at the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago late last month in hopes of finding employment at the Hiring Our Heroes job fair. Christopher Garza is currently in U.S. Navy and retiring in 13 months. He hadn’t been home to Chicago in months. “I’m entering a new unknown territory, but [...]
The Iraq War: 10 years later
In the 10 years since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, interest in the collections at Chicago’s Pritzker Military Library has grown, even if the media are paying less attention to the story. Teri Embrey, chief librarian, said the collection has especially grown over the last few years because veterans have been able to distance themselves [...]
