In response to the number of gay teen suicides across the United States, efforts like the “It Gets Better Project” have sprung up online. Locally there are several resources available to young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (LGBT) Chicagoans. A minor who lives on Chicago’s North Side and decides to come out can find support...
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The line of approximately 3,500 people stretched around the block in Chicago’s South Loop. The wait lasted for two hours as parents and potential students tried to get inside of Jones College Prep High School. They were not there to just see the school. They were standing in line for one of the best...
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Following an impassioned exchange of words at a recent Chicago Public Schools board meeting, CEO Ron Huberman agreed to meet with Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis to discuss concerns over the amount of mandatory testing conducted in Chicago’s schools. “This excessive regime is boring our kids,” Lewis told Huberman, referencing the 23 required...
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By Chandler Rollins “Si se puede!” – or “Yes we can!” –  was the anthem chanted by Albany Park residents in the crowded basement of Our Lady of Mercy Church on Sept. 30, as the Albany Park Neighborhood Council celebrated 10 years of community activism. The room was full of youth in green T-shirts...
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Mayor Richard Daley’s proposed 2011 budget plan will draw from TIF funds and money from the 2008 private parking meter deal to avoid raising taxes this year. Under Daley’s plan, which was announced Oct. 13 at a special City Council meeting, $120 million will be borrowed from the parking meter lease funds, leaving $76...
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Danette King is a trooper. Still sore from back pain that landed her in the hospital, King sat on the steps of a modest two-story home on the 4700 block of West Race Avenue, smiling, eating ketchup-covered fries and quizzing some kids. “The doctors found some nodules in my back. They’re not cancerous or...
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From Humboldt Park Smart Communities Last Wednesday, Oct. 13, more than 200 people crowded into the Humboldt Park Field House to be part of the Humboldt Park Smart Communities launch of its new community portal. The event, which had more than 12 tables staffed by Humboldt Parks Smart Communities organizations and selected technology vendors,...
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By Elizabeth Beyer and Nancy Traver Educating people of all ages would be the most efficient way to curb violence on Chicago’s Southside, according to Ald. Carrie Austin. “We’re trying to work at the core of why our areas are so violent now,” said Austin, 34th Ward alderman and chairwoman of the city council’s...
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There are currently more than 160 Chicago public schools without libraries, according to CPS spokeswoman Monique Bond. Bond said in a phone interview recently that while most schools without libraries do have a “books section” in the classroom, they do not have access to a librarian. While having librarians in all the schools would...
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By Alice Rossignol and Rachael Gleason, Great Lakes Echo Zebra mussel, sea lamprey, round goby – they’re household names when it comes to Great Lakes invasive species – but which one is the worst for the ecosystem? That’s what the “Great Lakes SmackDown!” will find out. We chose eight of the Great Lakes’ most...
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