Westside Health Authority

Rosemary Marsh was sure her home would withstand the heavy rains of July 23. The brick Keystone Avenue home she shares with her sister had never leaked before – and it had weathered many a storm over the past two decades.

But when the 73-year-old peered down her basement steps the morning after the rain, she was shocked to see several inches of water and sewage. Not a lot – for that, the sisters were grateful – but enough to damage their water heater, kill their dryer and bring harmful mold spores into their home.

With a health issue on their hands and boxes of water-logged clothes blocking their path, the elderly sisters called on a group of strangers to help them – the Flood Response Team of the Westside Health Authority.

Last Friday, a group of six men showed up at their door. They cleared out their water-damaged belongings, scrubbed the floors, cut out their mold-infested drywall and disinfected their basement. And they did it for free. There’s still work to be done – but the immediate problem is solved.

To continue reading click here to be directed to AustinTalks.org.

Related ChicagoTalks coverage:

FEMA Grants Available for West Side Residents, But Red Tape May Await

West Side Residents ‘Hopeful’ That Help is on the Way After Recent Storms

Chicago is the home of Saul Alinsky—style community organizing. Now you can get that kind of training and turn around and move your neighborhood and community forward. The Community Renewal Society’s flagship three-day training identifies key organizing principles, how values influence those principles and how you can become an effective organizer and leader.

Civic Action Network staff and guest trainers lead participants through challenging sessions focused on organizing skills and faith-based principles. This training will challenge your presumptions, confront your priorities and move you to reflect on who you are capable of being as a community builder.

The training includes sessions on:

• History and Principles of Organizing
• Values
• One-on-ones
• Agitation
• Cutting Issues
• Taking Action
• Power Analysis
• Base Building and Communication
• Effective Meetings
• Analysis and Campaign Development

What: Community Renewal Society 3 Day Organizing Training
When: Wednesday, September 29 – Friday, October 1 from 9:00 a.m.  – 5:00 p.m. daily
Where: Community Renewal Society Office, 332 S Michigan Avenue, Suite 500
Cost: $250

Contact Alex Wiesendanger at (312) 427-4830×3840 or awiesendanger@communityrenewalsociety.org if you are a member of a CAN or SAN Church for a discounted rate.

The deadline for registration is Friday September 17 so Register Now!

For more information click here or contact Alex Wiesendanger (awiesendanger@communityrenewalsociety.org) at 312.427.4830 x 3840

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Senior citizens and their supporters will protest the appearance of the leading proponent of Social Security privatization at a Chicago fundraiser today.  The action is part of a growing effort to defend the nation’s retirement insurance program.

The Illinois Alliance of Retired Americans, the Main Street Alliance, Citizens Action Illinois and Chicago Jobs With Justice are among the groups calling a rally at 12 p.m. (noon) today, Wednesday, Sept. 1, outside  the Four Seasons Hotel, 120 E. Delaware in Chicago. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc) will be one of the speakers at the fundraising luncheon for Joel Pollak, Republican House candidate in the 9th district.

Ryan’s controversial Roadmap for Recovery proposes privatizing Social Security and Medicare as part of a deficit reduction plan. According to Media Matters, the deficit reductions claimed by Ryan depend on budget tricks.

For John Gaudette of Citizen Action, the bigger trick is the notion that Social Security is a component of the federal deficit – or that the program faces any kind of imminent financial crisis.

“There is no crisis,” Gaudette said. “It’s one of the healthiest programs we’ve got.”

Social Security is fully funded for the next 25 years, and with no changes could pay 80 percent of promised benefits after that, he said.

To continue reading click here to be directed to Curtis Black’s Newstips Blog at the Community Media Workshop.

The results are of water quality are in, and Minnesota ranked first for the Great Lakes states — and 12th overall. Illinois was last in the region and 28th overall. Five percent of Minnesota’s samples exceeded the federal standard compared to 16 percent of Illinois’.

But beach experts say that states that test beaches more frequently may be ranked lower.

Illinois officials blame its low ranking on the frequent, often daily, beach water tests the state does during the beach season.

“The more you sample, the more opportunity you have to find something, the more opportunity there could be to close the beach,” said Melaney Arnold, spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Read the rest of this report, with a table showing the rankings, at Report ranks the water quality of Great Lakes beaches | Great Lakes Echo.

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The IWW is now headquarted in Northcenter at 2117 W. Irving Park Road. Photo/Mike Fourcher, Center Square Journal.

Maybe you’ve passed this building at 2117 W. Irving Park, but did you know that it’s the headquarters of the international labor union, Industrial Workers of the World? The organization was originally headquartered in Chicago but, starting in the ’90s, began to move around—to Ypsilanti, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati—until returning to the Windy City in January 2010.

Joe Tessone, current General Secretary-Treasurer of IWW, explained the reason for the frequent relocation: “For awhile the organization hasn’t had quite enough people running for office, so [the headquarters] have moved around to make it easier for people to take the job of Secretary-Treasurer. Rather than you having to move to Chicago, the headquarters moved to you.”

Why did the IWW choose Northcenter?

“Our Chicago branch office is on the South Side, at 37 South Ashland, so we wanted some place that was in a different part of the city,” Tessone said. “The space here suits our needs.”

To continue reading click here to be directed to Center Square Journal.

President Barack Obama.

For Austin residents whose homes flooded in the July 23 storm, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is, President Barack Obama has declared Cook County a federal disaster area, opening the floodgates, so to speak, for clean-up dollars from Washington, D.C.

The bad news is, getting those dollars can be a confusing process, one wrought with red tape and dashed hopes. Luckily, though, there are several ways to get help through the process.

These were the lessons learned at a community meeting Tuesday night at Austin’s Hope Community Church, where more than 100 residents flocked for advice about their moldy carpeting and water-logged walls.

Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)and Small Business Administration (SBA) told the crowd how to go about filing for the federal reimbursement money, which is available since Obama declared the disaster zone on Aug. 19.

To continue reading click here to be directed to AustinTalks.org.

Check out ChicagoTalks’ earlier coverage of flooding on Chicago’s West Side: West Side Residents ‘Hopeful’ That Help is on the Way After Recent Storms.

Members of  the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization believe that access to resources like water and education are human rights. For people in the Little Village neighborhood, critical public resources are being sold to corporations who make profits as they damage the air and water in their community.

Local environmental and labor reporter, Kari Lydersen, reported recently:

For the past decade, public health and environmental advocates have been trying to force Midwest Generation L.L.C. to reduce emissions from its aging Fisk and Crawford coal-burning power plants in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods, abutting Cermak and Pulaski Roads near the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Yet Mr. Daley has fought City Council efforts to clean up emissions from the plants and has not said whether he will support a new proposal by Alderman Joe Moore (49th Ward) to force the plants to reduce emissions.

Grab your bike and join the ride, and rally to tip the balance of action in favor of health and humanity — and away from corporate profits.

Schedule of Events:

12 p.m. to 1 p.m. — Learn Power Rally at the Crawford Coal-fired Power Plant in Little Village, 34th St. and Pulaski

1 p.m. to 3 p.m. — Bike Ride from the Crawford Coal Plant to the Lakefront Along the Proposed 31st St Bus Route

3 p.m. to 6 p.m. — Clean Air and Water Show at Burnham Park/31st Street Beach

For more info, call 773.762.6991 or email “water” at lvejo.org.

The Clean Air and Water Show at 31st Street Beach will showcase community-based solutions for more just and sustainable ways of living. Activities will include theatre, games, speakers, music and food. Free and open to the public!

Co-sponsors include: LVEJO (Little Village Environmental Justice Organization) – Southeast Environmental Task Force – STOP (Southside Together Organizing for Power) – Jobs with Justice – Universidad Popular – Teachers for Social Justice – ATU (Amalgamated Transit Union) Local 241 – PERRO (Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization) – EcoJustice Collaborative – Voices for Creative Nonviolence – Rainforest Action Network Chicago – Nuclear Energy Information Service – Q4 Gallery – CAPOW! (Citizens Act to Protect Our Water) – Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice – Radios Populares – Blacks in Green – 8th Day Center for Justice, Corporate Accountability International, Topless America

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Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th). Photo/AP

A new retail/residential development project in Hyde Park won approval Thursday, Aug. 19,  from the Chicago Plan Commission. The mixed-use property along South Harper Avenue and East Hyde Park Boulevard will contain 179 condominium units in two buildings, a two-level retail center and a 400-spot parking garage. City officials hope developing the area will draw new retailers to the South Side neighborhood home to the University of Chicago.

“The current shopping center is 50 years old, maybe more than that,” said  Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th). “Its not particularly attractive. This is a development that will hold the street a little better and bring in some new retail, which I think will be well-received.”

Aside from bringing in new stores, the $100 million project will add jobs and housing.

“It will probably come in two stages,” said Antheus Capital partner Eli Ungar of providing jobs. Ungar’s company is financing the project and owns 80 buildings in Hyde Park. “First of all, the construction itself (will provide jobs), and this at a time when there aren’t a lot of construction projects getting going. (This will create) hundreds of jobs. And whoever ends up in those facilities will create a lot of long-time jobs.”

The pre-development and construction will be handled by Silliman Group, LLC.

“The first residential tower will be 22 floors total, with two floors for retail. The mid-rise tower will be nine floors,” said Peter Cassel, director of the Silliman Group.

One to three bedroom condos are planned for the residential space, and according to Ungar, “there is an affordable housing component to our project. Our hope is it will be an attractive option for a broad range of buyers.”

“Fifteen percent will be affordable housing. The for sale price will be established by the market terms, and the income level of the buyer,” said Cassel.

A mix of large and small retailers will be approached.

“There are a number of missing retailers in Hyde Park,” Ungar said. “There is a shortage of apparel stores and house-ware stores. I don’t want a monolithic power center where you get three big national retailers. I’d be much happier with a mix of local retailers and national retailers.”

Ungar declined to comment on which stores had been approached.

Hyde Park residents—in particular senior citizens—are taking to the project.

“There is lots of excitement,” said Jennifer Bosch, executive director of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club. “I have attended senior meetings, and they feel their needs are being met. The design elements are addressing easily accessible stores.”

The Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved the project, which now goes to the Chicago City Council Zoning Committee for consideration. The project must be approved by the full city council before construction can begin.

“The drawings will take six months,” said Cassel. “Construction will start in 18 to 24 months.”

The land currently contains an Original House of Pancakes and Village Foods. A drive-thru will be installed so trucks making deliveries to Village Foods will not impede traffic.

Brandon Campbell and Charmaine Little contributed to this story.

Children frolic on the unusually and creatively landscaped tot park in Palmer Square. Photo/Ed Finkel

About a dozen staff from community, environmental and architecture-related nonprofits toured and learned about West Side “Parks & Boulevards” on Aug. 6 to kick off “Round Two” of LISC/Chicago’s Community Showcase Tours.

Funded through a partnership with the City of Chicago Office of Tourism and The 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods, the tours are picking up where 2009 Burnham Plan Centennial tours of Albany Park, Auburn Gresham, Pilsen, Quad Communities, South Chicago and West Ridge left off.

They will continue with community-specific tours of Humboldt Park on Aug. 20, North Lawndale and Chicago Lawn on Aug. 27, and East Garfield Park on Aug. 28.

The “Parks & Boulevards” tour retraced the steps – or bicycle tracks, if you will – and recalled the spirit of last summer’s “Open Streets” event, during which the boulevards were blocked to motor-vehicle traffic for several hours.

To continue reading click here to be directed to LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program.

Hyatt Regency Chicago. Photo/Google Images

Hyatt workers locked in tough contract negotiations – and hit by job cuts and reduced hours leading to chronic understaffing and increased injuries – will announce a boycott of one or more Chicago-area Hyatt properties tomorrow.

They’ll be joined by leaders of the Central Conference of American Rabbis announcing support from 200 Jewish leaders nationwide, at a 12:30 p.m. press conference in front of Hyatt Global Headquarters, 71 S. Wacker on Tuesday, Aug. 24.

The rabbis will call on Hyatt to meet biblical obligations to treat workers fairly, and will pledge to honor worker-led boycotts and strikes of Hyatt properties.

To continue reading click here to be directed to Newstips Blog, Community Media Workshop.

State Senator Jacqueline Collins (R) acknowledges several youth who participated in the Southwest Side's Smart Communities Initiatives at the Martin Luther King Skating Rink in Auburn Gresham. Photo/Ernest Sanders

As part of its Smart Communities initiative and efforts to sustain the greater Auburn Gresham community and nearby neighborhoods, the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GADC) employed and contracted with youth between the ages of 14 – 19 to increase the quality of life of its businesses and residents.

Digital Youth Summer Jobs (DYSJ)

In partnership with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC/Chicago) and the City of Chicago, GADC received federal stimulus dollars through the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) to support a comprehensive broadband adoption campaign in its community.

As part of this campaign, GADC led a Digital Youth Summer Jobs (DYSJ) program to serve 12 youth for eight weeks. The program’s purpose was to provide an opportunity for youth to obtain digital life skills training, work readiness training, work experience and career knowledge through classroom training and internship opportunities within businesses, governmental agencies and not-for-profit organizations in technology-related fields.

To continue reading click here to be directed to LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program.

Photo/Ivan Villafuerte, LISC Chicago's New Communities Program

The Chicago Police Department’s 10^th District police station on Ogden Avenue usually hosts plenty of negative action in the North Lawndale community.

But on a recent Thursday night, the action was quite the opposite. The smell of grilled hot dogs and energetic tunes from a DJ drew residents out of their houses and into the station’s parking lot, where youngsters shooting hoops took center stage.

It was a striking counterpoint to the predictable references to youth violence, and a tribute to NCP lead agency Lawndale Christian Development Corporation’s (LCDC) elegant solution to late summer teen angst — a basketball and a set of portable hoops.

For the previous four years, LCDC hosted its basketball program, “Summer Slam,” indoors at Lawndale Christian Health Center. But this summer, NCP director Tracie Worthy thought it was the right time to show the neighborhood in a more public way that positive activities can keep the youth in the area out of harm’s way.

To continue reading click here to be directed to LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program.

pThe back of Filbert Playlot Park abuts an alley, where dumpsters attract rats. Photo/Center Square Journal

For families who live near Northcenter’s Filbert Playlot Park (1822 W. Larchmont Avenue), the park is the only playground within a seven-block radius. In addition, three area schools and daycare facilities rely on the park for daily use. The City of Chicago acquired the property on which the playground now sits in 1959. Later that year it was transferred to the Chicago Park District, and in 1973 it was officially designated Filbert Park.

The pocket playlot, wedged up against the Irving Park Brown Line, stands as worn and tired as the El tracks that hover above. Weeds have grown so large that many resemble trees, the drinking fountain is rendered unusable due to unsanitary conditions, potholes scatter the concrete, graffiti covers benches and railings, and decay and mold have consumed much of the splinter-ridden wooden play equipment. Additionally, the playground is without a security gate (posing a safety hazard for quick-footed toddlers), while the appearance of a guest rat or two (the park lies adjacent to an alley lined with several dumpsters) is not uncommon. The neglected playground has indeed seen better days: That’s why area families are often compelled to drive or walk a distance to other neighborhood parks.

To continue reading click here to be directed to Center Square Journal.

Meanwhile community groups will demand action on banking issues on two fronts tomorrow – picketing US Bank and Bank of America on LaSalle Street, and testifying at a Federal Reserve hearing on modernization of the Community Reinvestment Act.

Something is wrong with policies that bail out big banks after they’ve torpedoed the economy with high-risk investments in toxic subprime loans, while “community banks which have been meeting the needs of low-income neighborhoods for decades” are allowed to fail, said Karen Harris of the Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. (See her post at the Shriver Brief.)

To continue reading click here to be directed to Curtis Black’s Newstips Blog.

You decide, voting starting on Aug. 9 and will run through Sept. 10. The public can vote online at PlacemakingChicago.com for their favorite of two dozen finalists in the “What Makes Your Place Great? Your Secret Corner of Chicagoland” photo and video contest.

To find the undiscovered places that make Chicagoland great, Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) and Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) called on people to submit a photo or video and written description of their favorite hidden public place in the region to the “What Makes Your Place Great? Your Secret Corner of Chicagoland” contest.

The public can view all 24 contest entries, including a dozen from the city of Chicago, and vote for one of the four winners at PlacemakingChicago.com/places between now and Sept. 10. Voters are encouraged to review all of the fantastic entries, which showcase not only some of the region’s secret gems, but also some truly beautiful and inspiring photography and videography.

A committee of Placemaking experts will choose three “Placemakers” winners, and all four winners will be announced Sept. 17.

Winners may have their undiscovered places featured on an exclusive CAF tour in October 2010. Winners also will receive complimentary passes to one of the following Chicago institutions:

• Brookfield Zoo
• Shedd Aquarium
• Chicago History Museum
• Chicago Architecture Foundation

MPC and CAF are grateful for donations from these organizations, as well as the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Prince Charitable Trusts, and Perkins+Will.

To view recent coverage on ChicagoTalks, check out this article: Where is Chicagoland’s Best Public Place?

Image/Center Square Journal

This week the Journals are a proud, proud family. That’s because today our family is growing to include the Roscoe View Journal, Your Definitive Guide to Roscoe Village and West Lakeview.

Yep, that’s right. New neighborhoods and new places to cover. If you take a look at our new site, you’ll notice the same frothy mix of local news, opinion, events, and personalities you’ve come to expect here at Center Square—just in a different place.

Besides the website, you can follow RVJ on Twitter and Facebook. It’s even got its own Flickr group with great(!) neighborhood pictures.

To continue reading click here to be directed to Center Square Journal.

Online registration opened at 9:00 a.m. on Monday. If you were unable to register today, the Chicago Park District has reserved walk-in spaces. Walk-in registration will take place on Saturday, at each park’s field house at 9 a.m.

Photo/JUAN FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ, New Communities Program

Summer in the city has meant no shortage of outdoor activities in New Communities Program neighborhoods, ranging from the annual Basketball on the Block and Hoops in the Hood basketball leagues, to a blooming array of farmers markets and street festivals of all varieties.

The B-Ball/Hoops program, which combines basketball for youth, arts activities, health screenings, and a police presence to ensure the peace is kept, has tipped off in nine neighborhoods: Auburn Gresham, Back of the Yards, East Garfield Park, Englewood, Humboldt Park, Little Village, North Lawndale, Pilsen and West Haven. (More on farmers markets and street fests here.)

NCP lead agencies Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corp., Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp., Enlace Chicago, Lawndale Christian Development Corp., The Resurrection Project, Teamwork Englewood, and Near West Side CDC are managing or co-managing their leagues. GADC is paired with In the Paint, Teamwork Englewood is working with Safety Nets, and Enlace is holding court alongside Beyond the Ball.

To continue reading click here to be directed to New Communities Program.

You and a team make a movie—write, shoot, edit and score it in just 48 hours.

Read Details from the Filmmakers

On Friday night, each team receives a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre, all to include in the movie. And, you guessed it, 48 hours later, the movie must be complete.

Once completed, each movie was shown at a local theater.

This year’s elements included a character, either Duncan or Denise Kerrey, a sales clerk, a mug and this line of dialogue: “I am sure you are mistaken.”

This is a worldwide project, and more than 70 cities were part of the 48 Hour Film Project this year, including Chicago.

The films will be shown over the next few days, and tickets to any session are only $12. Each session features anywhere from 10 to 12 different films. There are several different sessions, including: premieres, best of Chicago, best of the best. See  The 48 Hour Film Project: Chicago for all the details.

Premiere Screenings

• Date: August 17 through 19
• Time: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. each night
• Place: Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark, Chicago
• Tickets: $12 (purchase tickets)

Notes: The 6th Annual Chicago 48 Hour Film Project screenings will be at the Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema. Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema is a state-of-the-art and architecturally unique facility, and the first all-stadium seating theatre showcasing independent and foreign language films in the Chicagoland area. Featuring convenient validated parking, unobstructed sightlines, Dolby Digital sound and gourmet as well as traditional concessions, Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema is one of the city’s most innovative and exciting theatre locations.

Best of the Chicago 48HFP

• Date: Tuesday, August 24th
• Time: 7pm to 10pm
• Place: Lincoln Hall , 2424 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614
• Tickets: $20 (purchase tickets)

Notes: BEST OF THE BEST AWARDS 2010!!!! Who will win for the following categories: Best Film Best Directing Best Acting Best Box Office Receipts Best Writing Best Editing Best Cinematography Best Graphics Best Sound Design Best Use of Prop Best Use of Character Best Use of Dialogue Best Costumes Best Musical Score Best Special Effects

Photo/Center Square Journal

Sean Flannery’s Never Been To Paris is a new one-man show debuting at Lincoln Lodge on Friday, August 20, and it’s sure to make even the toughest cynic crack a smile. Flannery has been piecing this show together for more than two years, working to get it exactly where he wants it. I’ve seen several performances during the perfecting process and have enjoyed every bit of the show’s development.

To continue reading click here to be directed to Center Square Journal.

The films are free and open to the public, and after each film their will be an opportunity for discussion. They will be screened in the beautiful Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. on Saturday, August 15, and Sunday, August 22. The films are sponsored by ITVS,  Chicago Foundation for Women, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Chicago Public Media.

From garment workers, to fire fighters, young teens, to daughters whose mothers are in prison, these films provide fascinating glimpses into the lives of women in America today. For more information, contact Naomi Walker, [ITVS] National Community Cinema Coordinator 773-677-9600   naomi_walker@itvs.org

Congressman Danny K. Davis speaks to West Side residents at last week's Austin Town Hall meeting. Photo/Austin Weekly News

Elias Valencia didn’t know it when the rain started, but the storm that hit Chicago July 23 would cost him dearly. It would be so expensive in fact, that he, like thousands of other residents, are looking to the federal government for help.

At some point during the heavy rains, sewage started backing up into the first floor of Valencia’s Leamington Avenue home. By the storm’s end, sludgy water sat two feet deep in his children’s playroom, his floors had buckled, and everything from the new kitchen cabinets to his big-screen TV was  waterlogged and useless.

The damages to his home could top $20,000, Valencia estimates – and to make matters worse, he’s now worried that his family is inhaling dangerous mold spores.

To continue reading click here to be directed to AustinTalks.org.

Carlos Hernandez Gomez, Ace Reporter

Unveiling Carlos Hernandez Gomez Way Photo

Naming a stretch of Pulaski Road, “Honorary Casimir Pulaski Way” is redundant and pretty silly. Naming a stretch of Chicago pavement in honor of ace reporter Carlos Hernandez Gomez, 36, who died in last January is appropriate.

In a city with “Vito Marzullo Way,” honest citizens deserve to have a street named after an intrepid political reporter who wasn’t afraid to ask politicians tough questions.

ChicagoTalks is thrilled to hear that the City of Chicago, and Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) are naming a stretch of Racine Avenue the honorary “Carlos Hernandez Gomez Way.”  The ceremony will take place on August 27, at 4:00 p.m., on the North East corner of Racine Avenue and Ogden Street.

Here are some clips of Carlos in action from politifax for your viewing pleasure.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thomas Zapler, director of Public Affairs for Union Pacific Railroad, told the Bulldog last week the railroad is reluctant to accept a key feature of the agreement: building the station platform over the viaduct at Leland. Zapler explained the bridge would cost significantly more to maintain over its life if there is a station over it.

The new Ravenswood station is part of a shovel-ready, $185 million project, being funded in part by the America Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

Schulter said the infrastructure project is the largest such project in the history of the 47^th Ward. Eleven bridges on the Union Pacific North Metra line will be replaced in the first four years of the project. All the bridges are in the Ravenswood neighborhood. Starting in 2014 eleven additional bridges would be rebuilt south of the Ravenswood neighborhood.

In addition, the Ravenswood station, currently a simple platform without protection from the elements, would be rebuilt. Metra indicated the new station would have an office for a ticket agent, room for vendors, and be larger and offer greater protection from the weather than the current station.

As reported last week in The Bulldog, neighbors worked with Schulter to gain his approval of a plan to build the replacement station at the current location. Metra has acquiesced to this plan; however, Metra Media Relations Manager Michael Gillis indicated to the Bulldog, that the decision ultimately lies with Union Pacific.

Union Pacific indicated it will make a decision on or around Labor Day, as plans need to move quickly on the project. Zapler though, was not encouraging regarding the move.

“It is more difficult to maintain a platform on a bridge because of the drainage,” he told the Bulldog.

Zapler noted that Metra believes the Ravenswood station is the second busiest station on the Union Pacific North line. The new station would accommodate eight car trains, longer than the current platform.

“The engineers say look at what happened to these bridges,” Zapler said. He indicated that the bridges built under stations have a significantly higher cost over their life.

The current bridges are of an indeterminate age. A Union Pacific spokesmen said they believe some tracks may have been built as early as 1880, with the latest coming on line as late as 1918. The bridges are made of high carbon steel, which sets a technological date for their age as such steel was widely discontinued for construction after World War I, according to engineers on the project.

Metra plans for the Ravenswood Station on the UP North line.

The Union Pacific and Metra say the current bridges are in good condition, although they are built without a base, being laid on the ground. The bridges were built to comply with a 19^th Century city ordinance, which required railroads to be raised above street level, according to Metra sources.

Although Zapler indicated the railroad wants to work with residents, and local non-government organizations to save the vegetation along the right-of-way, the current station plan, if implemented north of Lawrence, would see many of the trees along Ravenswood Avenue removed for the station construction.

In other areas, where the railroad retaining wall is rebuilt, gardeners and the railroad expect the vegetation to take a major hit. The issue of the plant destruction and the movement of the station north of Lawrence are two key issues forcing the challenge to the station by the new Ravenswood Neighbors Association.

As noted in The Bulldog, the Ravenswood Neighbors Association threatened to derail the plan, citing the residential nature of North Ravenswood Avenue from Foster north.

However, Eli Suzikovich, a gardener at the American Indian Center, looks forward to having a clean slate after the construction for a planned garden along the railroad right-of-way. The center wants to restore the right-of-way to the way it may have looked in 1868, he said.

“It’s an open canvas,” he said, and added that the American Indian Center is excited. “It makes our job easier.”

Schulter said the right-of-way reconstruction is an effort going back to the “Greening of Ravenswood” effort, about 25 years ago. He said Metra first introduced a plan to rebuild the Ravenswood bridges about 19 years ago; however, the plan was shelved due to a lack of funding.

Schulter praised the efforts of Greening of Ravenswood for restoring an eyesore along the tracks to an amenity in the neighborhood.

“I wish we had more time to work on the train station(with neighbors),” Schulter told the Bulldog last week. Schulter said neighbors first knew of the Metra plan about 19 months ago.

“I was never thrilled with moving (the Ravenswood Station),” Schulter said. “I always felt it should be (re)built where it is now.”

Schulter said plans for the station were revealed as quickly as they were known.

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Chicago will be one of a record 87 cities worldwide, that will be participating in the event. And remember, films submitted even one minute late on Aug. 15 will be disqualified. Last year, in 2009, 40,000 filmmakers made 3,000 films in 76 cities.

How it works:
On August 13, all participating teams must meet at the Red Bull Chicago offices, on the 5th floor at 180 N. Wacker Drive, this is where everyone will be assigned a genra, character, prop and a line of dialogue that they must work into their film.

On August 15, all films must be submitted on time, or they will be disqualified. Each submitted film will be screened for the public and judged by a panel of experts. The best film from Chicago will be chosen at this time and winners will be in the running for top honors at Filmapalooza, which is the 48 Hour Film Project’s annual awards. In addition, the top 12 international 48 Hour Film Project films will be screened at the Cannes Short Film Corner in 2010.

Competition Information:

START:

Date: Friday, August 13th

Time: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Venue: Red Bull Chicago Offices (180 N. Wacker 5th Floor)

END:

Date: Sunday, August 15th

Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (by 7:30pm to be on time!)

Venue: LimeGreen Entertainment Group Office (344 N. Ogden Avenue)

PUBIC SCREENING:

Date: August 17 – 19

Time: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Venue: Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema (2828 N. Clark)

Price: $12 (https://tickets.landmarktheatres.com/Ticketing.aspx?TheatreID=252)

PRIZE FOR THE WINNING FILM:

The Chicago Best Film is awarded a trophy, is screened at the 48 Hour Film Project Filmapalooza. The Grand Prize winner receives $3,000 cash, filmmaking equipment and the Grand Prize Trophy.

http://www.48hourfilm.com/photos/

Cover of Historic Photos of the Chicago World's Fair by Russell Lewis

Chicago’s 1893 Columbian World’s Fair, or the World’s Columbian Exposition, was known popularly as Chicago World’s Fair introduced Chicago and the world to the 20th century.

It was the first event of its kind to have a publicity department, and an organized promotional campaign that included two official photographers who were licensed to produce images. Photography by the public was limited and cost $2 a day.

Electric lighting was still novel on a large scale, but was featured throughout the White City and the rest of the Fair. Even State Street was draped with electric lights to promote the Columbia Exposition, as the fair was called.

My grand-parents’ parents met at the World’s Fair, as did my husband’s grand-parents’ parents. For these and many other young immigrants in Chicago in the 1890s, women found work “in service” as ladies, maids or nannies, and men were journeymen, tradesmen, chauffeurs or manual laborers. The World’s Fair was an escape from life’s drudgeries. For less than one dollar a day, you could enter the White City, stroll along the Midway and spend the day in what must have seemed like a dream of a distant future.

The photos in this book chronicle the wonder that was the Columbian Exposition, which was built on the shore of Lake Michigan, rose to shine brightly and literally, with an unprecedented display of electric lighting, and then burst into flames to disappear into the collective memories of Chicagoans and the world.

Russell Lewis’ access to the most extensive collection of photographs of the 1893 World’s Fair held by the Chicago History Museum where he is  chief historian, allowed him to go seek out images that weren’t part of the fair’s official promotion. These  images are not available online, and the images by Arnold, the official fair photographer, are available only from other libraries and archives. Only a single structure from the 1893 World’s Fair, the Museum of Science and Industry, survived into the 21st century. Typically, we see photos of the fair’s lost buildings, most of which burned down in a series of fires between 1893 and 1894.

Lewis chooses a different set of photos that put the fair into a geographic context. Through photos of the “intramural elevated railway” and the electric shuttle trains that moved attendees from the 63rd St. pier, where many arrived by the ferry from downtown, to the fair grounds, we can map the World’s Fair onto the Chicago of the 21st century. The origins of public transportation are evident in photos of the the South Side Rapid Transit, the first elevated line put in operation, built and put into operation to take people from the Loop to the fair. It was originally pulled by small steam locomotive and it was electrified in the late 1890s. The intramural was built for the fair. There are several photos that allow the viewer to see the fair in relation to Hyde Park and downtown.

The photos have been cropped, and some have been cleaned up, but the prints have not been otherwise digitally altered. The captions are informative, but not exhaustive. This makes the book accessible to someone who is new to the World’s Fair, as well as making it a quick reference for those who are interested in architecture or history. The chapter called  “Building the White City” makes Historic Photos of the Chicago World’s Fair a visual companion piece for the exhaustive information about the construction and site preparation in “Devil in the White City.”

The Chicago History Museum has a set of the official images as well as professional images by a number of prominent photographers of the day. If you have any photos of the fair taken by amateurs, the staff would love for you to click on “About the Collection” and then click on “Artifact Donation.” Scroll down to “How to donate artifacts and documents” and fill out the online donation form. Attach a copy of the photograph for the curatorial staff to review.

The book can be purchased from Amazon.com or from Turner Publishing.

Related articles by Zemanta

• World’s Fair Flashback (chicagoist.com)
• Louis Sullivan’s Idea at the CCC (chicagoist.com)

Photo/FDIC Website

Last night Ravenswood Bank, 2300 W. Lawrence Ave., was taken over by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and put into the receivership of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Ravenswood’s doors opened again this morning as branches of Northbrook Bank and Trust Company, a division of WinTrust Financial Corporation.

Ravenswood Bank is the thirteenth bank in Illinois to fail and the third in Center Square. Corus Bank, which had a branch on Lawrence and Western, closed on September 11, 2009, and became part of MB Financial. Lincoln Park Savings Bank was closed on April 23, 2010, and is also now part of Northbrook Bank and Trust Company.

To continue reading click here to be directed to Center Square Journal.

After clocking out from a long day at a stressful job, the last thing working men and women seeking a little carefree after hour entertainment want to worry about is how they’re going to get home if they’ve had one or two drinks too many. From public transportation, such as, the Chicago Transit Authorities trains and buses, to taxi cabs and the Metra, if you live in the city, you have choices. Not to mention walking.

“Whenever I go out, it’s usually pretty easy to just take a cab,” Sophia Diaz, resident of downtown Chicago said. “You don’t have to worry about having a designated driver, which eliminates the chances of somebody driving drunk.”

While taxis might be one easy way to go from place-to-place, other options of getting around the cities well-known nightlife scene include the “El” train and public buses.

“The El is easiest for me,” Jose Lozano, 22, resident of Logan Square said. “I only go out like twice a year since most of my time is spent working, and there’s a train stop right by my job, so it’s the most convenient whenever I do go out.”

Chicagoans are constantly in a battle of which side of town is better, the North Side or the South Side, while some fear their safety is in jeopardy the farther south they go, others find that the drinks are cheaper, and parking is easier on the North Side.

“I definitely think that the North Side is safer, especially in Wrigleyville,” Diaz said. “Drinks are cheaper, parking is cheaper if you’re driving, but it’s easier to get around if you’re walking.”

“I like the bars in Bucktown,” Nelly Hernandez, 23, resident of Bucktown said. “There is a lot of diversity, and there’s one bar called Stone Lotus, which is right by my apartment so it’s really close.”

One concern of many “riders” of public trasportation is the level of public intoxication in the evening hours.

“I see drunk people on the El everyday,” Donnie Levy, 22, resident of Hyde Park said. “I usually go out only once a month, and when I do go out to the bars or clubs, it’s really irritating to walk onto a train and be surrounded by such erratic behavior. It can also be extremely frustrating when intoxicated people get on the bus right before me and they have no fare money.”

Public transportation is a safe, easy and hassel-free way of getting home safe after a night of fun. Just be sure to know which buses and trains run throughout the night. The CTA Red and Blue Lines both provide 24-hour service. It is important to know your route home before heading out, certain buses do not run all night, and those that do may stop in isolated areas that are not well-lit.

“I’ve had to wait over an hour for a bus to get home before,” Levy said. “The train station I live by doesn’t run 24 hours-a-day, which makes it difficult which is probably why I don’t go out that much. I mean the clubs are great and I’m all for the nightlife scene, getting to and from them is a problem.”

No matter how you get home, public transportation, taxi cab or by walking, be sure to be safe.

We are always looking for quality, low-cost or free events. We encourage you to send us a voice report (call it in at 312 436 1820) if you attend any of these, upload photos, or send us a link to video clips. You can submit the information on any events, and we will the information to our “Look Now” section.

One of the 46000 objects by Rev. Howard Finster

Stranger in Paradise: The Works of Reverend Howard Finster

An evangelistic preacher in paint and self-proclaimed “Man of Visions,” Reverend Howard Finster became one of the most widely known and prolific self-taught artists, producing over 46,000 pieces of art before his death in 2001.

A wide range of objects, paintings, and documentation provide an in-depth survey of Finster’s career, covering the variety of themes of his work, much of it relating to his visionary experiences, including: Visions of Other Worlds, Sermons in Paint, Historical and Cultural Heroes, and his renowned installation environment at The Plant Farm Museum [Paradise Garden].

Dates:
July 24 through September 26

Hours:
Monday – Thursday 8 a.m. to  7 p.m.
Friday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Admission is FREE.

Location:
Chicago Cultural Center 78 E. Washington St, Exhibit Hall, Chicago, IL 60602

• Thursday, August 12, 12:15 p.m.: Gallery Talk with Michael Bonesteel, author and art historian
• Monday, August 30, 6 p.m.: Film Screening and Panel Discussion of the 30 minute version of the still in progress documentary, I Can Feel Another Planet in My Soul: Strange Visions. Wondrous Art. The Remarkable World of Howard Finster, screens, followed by a panel discussion with film producer Steven Pattie, collector Jim Arient, writer Monica Westin, and moderated by Lanny Silverman, Curator of Exhibitions for the Chicago Cultural Center.
• Thursday, September 2, 12:15 p.m.: Slide Lecture with Lisa Stone, Director of the Roger Brown Study Center 

This exhibition is curated by Glen C. Davies, organized by the Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and sponsored in part by Fox Development Corporation; Thomas E. Scanlin; Office of the Chancellor, U of I; Office of the Provost and Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, U of I; Illinois Arts Council; Krannert Art Museum Director’s Circle Fund; and Krannert Art Museum Council.

This exhibition is made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

There is a similar story at the Fisk Generating Station in Pilsen.

The smell is acrid at times. Plumes of smoke rise in to the air depositing black ash onto car doors and window sills.

Photo/Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization's Website

The two facilities burn coal directly into the atmosphere.

But aside from the more obvious symptoms, it’s the invisible particulate matter released into the air that causes real concern. Generally a term referring to a wide range of particles suspended in the air, particulate matter — in the case of the coal plants — refers to emissions such as mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and soot.

It’s, in part, the approximate 2.8 million pounds of soot jettisoned into the atmosphere, per year, that has given Chicago some of the worst asthma statistics nationwide. The Crawford and Fisk plants, two of Illinois’s six coal plants, are the single largest sources of particulate-forming air pollution in the city.

According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, the two plants combined contributed to 41 deaths, 550 emergency room visits and 2,800 asthma attacks each year. Together they put out enough carbon dioxide for every resident of the city to have a share of around two metric tons each.

“When it comes to the pollution in the atmosphere, you can’t really see it, and when you can’t see it you don’t realize how much it affects until it’s too late,” said Ian Viteri, clean power campaign organizer for the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.

At less than six miles apart the two coal plants together are unique in that they are located in heavily populated residential areas; they are, in fact, the top two nationwide. Originally built in 1903, the Fisk Generating Station is located within 3 miles of approximately 314,000 people; likewise, the Crawford plant, built in 1924, is within 3-miles of nearly 375,000 city residents.

Once heavily populated by Czech and Irish immigrants, both Pilsen and Little Village have since become important entry points for Mexican immigrants. To this day the area is roughly 86 to 96 percent Hispanic, largely lower-income and culturally vibrant.

“This is what we call environmental injustice,” said Dorian Breuer of the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization. “We’re talking about people that are struggling and yet they have one of the highest pollution rates.”

Within a few blocks of the Crawford Generating Plant sit Meyer Steel Drum; a waste disposal site, MRC Polymers and Prima Plastics. This high concentration of toxic-emitting sources—which can be seen in a “toxic tour” offered at request through LVEJO—is locally referred to as the ‘cloud factory’.

It’s the law

Because of their age, the two plants have been ‘grandfathered’ in; and are therefore exempt from most federal regulations requiring generating plants to use cleaner and safer, modern technologies.

In the case of Chicago’s two coal plants, the grandfather clause is used to skirt regulations such as the Clean Air Act, which, among other things, would force the plants to employ scrubbers—large towers that use an aqueous limestone mixture to absorb significant amounts of sulfur dioxide from emissions.

Instead the Crawford and Fisk plants emit freely into the atmosphere.

Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of Edison International, owns six of the state’s 22 coal-generating stations, which, in all contribute to nearly half of Illinois’ electricity.

Ald. Joe Moore (49th) said Midwest Generation is, “treating the plants like an old jalopy.”

The corporation is also being sued.

In July of 2009, five environmental and public health groups announced a Clean Air Act lawsuit against Midwest Generation. A month later the Environmental Protection Agency, along with the Illinois Attorney General filed a similar lawsuit against the corporation.

Though the two coal plants are exempt from many modern restrictions outlined in the Clean Air Act, the EPA has issued a notice against Midwest Generation accusing the company of frequently violating air safety standards.

Opponents of the coal plants hope to force Midwest Generation into compliance with higher air safety restrictions.

“The coal plants are largely operating legally,” said Breuer. “That’s why we have to change the law.”

Clean Power

Regulations that would force both the Crawford and Fisk plants to clean up their act were proposed by Moore last April, a proposal which Midwest Generation, owner of the two plants, has expressed no interest in supporting.

The Chicago Clean Power Ordinance acknowledged that coal-fired power plants have a “devastating impact on public health” and would, in effect, impose significant restrictions on Chicago’s coal plants despite their grandfathered status.

If enacted the Ordinance would impose fines of $1,000 for every pound of mercury over 4 pounds, annually. Likewise, any offender would be fined $1,000 for every extra ton of sulfur dioxide over 500 tons and every extra ton of nitrous oxide over 1,000 tons, annually.

The two combined plants, according to 2004 data obtained by P.E.R.R.O, emit 230 pounds of mercury and nearly 18,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide a year.

Despite the negative health affects suffered by Chicago residents, especially those living in closer proximity to the plants, none of the power generated at Crawford and Fisk is sold explicitly to Illinois companies. Midwest Generation sells its power to the highest bidder, not necessarily to the community which it pollutes through production.

This is more than corporate business strategy; it is also Chicago politics.

The Chicago Clean Power Ordinance is currently logging time in the Rules Committee, chaired by Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), a place widely considered the graveyard for doomed proposals. It will take the support of 26 Alderman to resuscitate the Ordinance, which, at the time of this article, remains 14 short of a resurrection.

According to Moore, the Ordinance is “still very much alive”; Mell, however has yet to show as much optimism.

No Conflict of Interest?

The number of aldermanic supporters of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance is a scattered group including wards from all over the city, now, announced August 3, with the addition of Pilsen’s own Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd).

“He had a change of heart,” said Moore.

This is an important change, seen by many local environmental organizations as a sign of hope. With the addition of Munoz, more Aldermen are expected to end the blockade and sign on.

The two Aldermen, of the city’s two wards where the coal plants are located, have according to the Illinois Board of Elections, taken a total of approximately $75,000 in campaign contributions from Midwest Generation over the last 9 years — since 2001 Midwest Generation has contributed nearly $1.34 million to various Chicago political campaigns.

Ald. Daniel Solis (25th) whose ward contains Little Village’s Fisk Generating plant and who has yet to lend his support to the Ordinance, according to the Illinois Board of Elections website, has taken nearly $49,000 in campaign contributions from Midwest Generation since 2002, the most recent in the amount being $1,500 in April of this year.

The same month, coincidentally, in which the Ordinance was introduced by Moore.

“There is no conflict of interest,” said Maya Solis, the alderman’s spokesperson and daughter.

According to Kristie Menas, an assistant at Solis’s office in charge of reviewing the Ordinance, the alderman, “does not currently have a position, but is currently doing research (on the issue).”

Though the support of Solis would go a long way toward breaking resistance to the Clean Power Ordinance, the support of Munoz directs a renewed attention to Chicago’s public health.

“The increasing number of Aldermanic support reflects pressure from constituents concerned about their health, the health of their kids and the health of the planet,” said Moore. “Cleaning the plants would be a meaningful impact.”

So, “Where is Alderman Solis?”