YoChicago's Joe Zekas stopped by the Sheridan Park section of Uptown recently. Joe got a chance to chat with a resident at Wilson and Magnolia. YoChicago also has some great Uptown photos here, as well as some more YouTube videos here.

An interesting read at Time Magazine here.
Also, check out The New York Sun's "Gentrification Can Attract Minorities"
Update: Our thanks to "Mr Holmes on Clarendon" for coming across these articles.

The 1300 block of West Wilson is looking bleaker. The space formerly occupied by Nicholas Pappas Attorney at Law is now vacant, along with Lakeview Art & Gifts. That brings the total vacant storefronts in this beautiful building to 4 out of 5 spaces. American Family Insurance occupies the far western-most space. If there is a business you would like to see in this space, email the company and forward this post to the respective party.

Demo work has begun on the Thorek Hospital owned building at Sheridan and Irving. This building was in relatively good condition, but according to the Alderman's office, it is being demolished to make "green space" until Thorek decides what they want to do with the property. Let's hope they are able to fill the spaces in this development (if that is what they end up doing) better than the newer building at Broadway and Irving. "For RENT" signs have been up for a long time now with no takers.

As seen this evening at Broadway and Sunnyside.

We have noticed scaffolding around the perimeter of the former Sheridan Plaza Hotel (at Wilson and Sheridan) for almost 2 years now. This is the same building that lost a large chunk of terra-cotta from the southwest corner in recent years (you can spot the new bricks on the right side of the photo). We hope the building can be saved but upon further inspection, most of the ornamentation has seen better days. We spotted workers high up top today repairing large sections of brick and terra-cotta. The gargoyles at the top have since been covered in a protective netting to keep them from crumbling.

Here is a quick question for all of you Uptown history buffs. In all of the old photos of the McJunkin Building at Broadway and Wilson we have seen, there was always a "McJunkin" in large letters on the corner of the building near the top. This was covered up in recent years. Does anyone know why? Inquiring minds want to know. Notice how the building looked in the 1970s in the photo below. (Image courtesy Haargis)

We stopped by the Riv building today to check on the progress and spotted new Bank of America signage wrapped around the building. We imagine opening day is imminent.

T'was the night before Cook County's big tax increase. Read all about it at the Chicago Tribune.

Note: Larry Suffredin cast the swing vote on Todd's tax increase. Suffredin was endorsed by our incumbent (and up for re-election) Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky ... and our beloved and dedicated ward alderman, Helen Shiller. Mary Ann Smith tossed her support behind him, as well.

The only way to get a good view of the Wilson Yard site, unless you live in neighboring Buena Pointe, is from the L. We got a quick shot of the site today. We will let our readers be the judge of whether construction has begun or not. It appears that most of the activity is taking place at the site of the low-income and senior housing, and not the site of the Target which can be seen in the lower photo with the pile of rubble on the left side. Target Corp said they would have more information on the Wilson Yard location at the end of this month. Whoops, the month is almost over.

From Crains:
“We are currently still working through the agreements (related to the Wilson Yard project),” the spokeswoman says Friday. “Our real estate team let me know that we'll likely be able to give additional details/updates towards the end of June.”

And in case you have forgotten:
* Costs to deliver 98 units of low income senior rental apartments has increased to $337,000 per unit - nearly double the area median sales price for 1 bedroom, 1 bath condos over the past 6 months.
* Costs to deliver 80 units of low income family rental apartments has increased to $447,000 per unit - greatly exceeding the area median sales price for 2-3 bedroom, 2 bath condos over the past 6 months.

Ald. Helen Shiller decides to not show up for the GLBT Pride Parade. Readers have told us that they saw several local aldermen in this year's parade, but no Helen. We remember just last year, she was a no-show, but the previous year, just before the election, she proudly marched next to Alderman Tom Tunney. Coincidence? We think not.
Update: It appears that it all depends on where you were standing at yesterday's Pride Parade if you caught a glimpse of the Alderman. We have heard of several Helen sightings on Halsted, but none on Broadway.
Update #2: We now have photographic proof that the Alderman was in at least part of the parade. A reader sent us the above photo showing the Alderman sitting on the back of a Sebring convertible at W. Bradley Place and Halsted. Whether or not she ducked out after this photo was taken remains to be seen.

Sorry for the late notice, but we just found out about a free Uptown & Andersonville bike tour around the area today. Big Shoulders Realty does a bike tour every month of a different area of Chicago. Their website says:

A reader noticed that the "For Sale" signs have disappeared from the ever-changing lot at Clark and Lawrence, and a zoning amendment sign is placed there instead.

Apparently a four-story building with 12 units of residential & 15 parking spaces, plus ground floor retail, is planned. We think this is much more reasonable than the original plan, which called for a six-story building (19 units of residential & 24 parking spaces), dwarfing everything else in the area.

Nathan's in Coney Island has its annual hot dog eating contest, but Uptown does them one better. Nothing says "Independence Day Traditional Fun" like stuffing mini corn dogs in your face as fast as you can. Come to Crew, 4804 N. Broadway, on July 5th, to see good old All-American gluttony in action. Click on the image above for more details.

(Uptown Update's personal favorite prize is 3rd place: More Mini Corn Dogs!)

"My First Place," an HGTV show, is looking for first-time homebuyers to showcase. Each week the show "looks at all the trials and tribulations of bidding on and buying that elusive first home."

You've gotta be within 90 minutes of downtown Chicago and be closing by September. If this sounds like you, and you want to piss off Couraj and buy a condo in Uptown, click for more details on how to apply.

Clarendon Park Neighborhood Association is looking for volunteers to promote safety in their neighborhood:

We are working hard to recruit a diverse group of people from the Clarendon Park neighborhood to commit to walking around the neighborhood in small groups in the evenings (6-9pm) for "positive loitering"-- simply being outside and present to both learn more about all our neighbors and to promote everyone's safety.

Many of us already spend time outside in the evenings, some people need some extra organization to do so. We are developing a schedule that will, hopefully, ask for a committment of one or two times a month at the most.

We need more volunteers! If you are interested in participating in this project, please send your name and email/cell phone contact to: cpneighborhoodwatch@gmail.com

(click image above to enlarge)
Note: Nick's On Wilson, The upcoming 7-Eleven on Wilson, Crew, BodyFit, Uptown Recording and other Uptown businesses are sponsoring this event that takes place August 16 and 17 at Chase Park on Clark between Leland and Lawrence. All proceeds to benefit Chase Park to build a new playground and replace existing equipment. Volunteers for this event are still needed. Please contact Devin Ball at 847-677-8273 to volunteer your time.

By Steven Chaitman - Chi-Town Daily News

A park advocacy group is threatening continued legal action unless the Chicago Park District cleans up an abandoned soccer field construction project at the south end of Lincoln Park and pursues an alternate site for the field.

The district agreed two years ago to allow the Latin School to construct a field near its campus at West North Boulevard and Clark Street. The field was partially finished when Protect Our Parks sued to stop the deal earlier this year.

As a result of the lawsuit settlement, the project was halted. The district says it is also required to reimburse Latin School for $2 million in construction costs.

Protect Our Parks argued yesterday that the $2 million should be spent on a new field at Montrose Harbor.
"One look at the space available in this location should make it totally obvious why any new soccer field construction belongs there and why the present construction site in south Lincoln Park is completely inappropriate," POP president Tom Tresser said yesterday at a news conference. Continue Reading

In 1992, Challenger Park -- running along the east wall of Graceland Cemetery -- was dedicated. The Tribune wanted the empty area that was originally there converted to Cubs parking. The neighbors wanted a park.

Ald. Shiller promised: "The Cubs get to use the lot for parking 20 percent of the year. During the rest of the year, the area will have four half-court basketball courts, soccer fields, and, in the winter, an ice skating rink."

Uptown Update took a drive along the soccer field / basketball courts / skating rink last week to see how they turned out. Promises kept?

And now we get to see how all of Alderman Shiller's promises for Wilson Yard pan out.

A reader received this response from State Senator Heather Steans in regards to Uptown's gang violence:

"The gang violence is clearly a significant (and perhaps more worrisome a growing?) problem. A number of us Senators got included in the capital plan significant dollars to address crime prevention issues in high crime areas (this plan has passed in the Senate, but not yet in the House – I am hopeful that at some point in the near future we will get a capital plan passed since the State is in dire need of one). It is clearly a key issue in any community, and I would like to be helpful in any way I can be. I have scheduled going to all of the upcoming beat meetings in Uptown (I haven’t seen a date yet for the next beat meeting for 2314, which I believe is the beat for Leland and Dover/Beacon – if you know when it is please let me know). My Chief of Staff – Jen Walling who is copied on this email – is keeping my updated on these meetings. I would also be happy to meet with you and/or others who share your concern in advance of the beat meeting to get your sense of what is or is not being done to address the problem. Let me know if you’d like to do this, and we’ll get it scheduled. My phone is 773-769-1717 – if I am not there Jen can schedule for me.

Thanks for your time and involvement on this – safety is clearly fundamental to a strong community, and I very much believe that active resident involvement helps enormously."

Best,

Heather Steans

YoChicago's profile of Kenmore Avenue made us think of the Ginkgo Organic Community Gardens there, so we went by yesterday and sat for a spell in this quiet little secret niche at 4055 N Kenmore. If you want to get involved, or just enjoy the serenity, click on the link for more information.

The latest email from Business Partners reminds us that this Saturday, June 28th, there's a lot brewing in Uptown:

The Shop Around is a neighborhood wide sidewalk sale. Local businesses will set up shop in front of their stores and offer specials and sales from 10am to 7pm.

The Family Fest is a free event in the parking lot at Lawrence & Winthrop (kitty-corner from the Aragon Ballroom) from 11am to 3pm. It will feature a petting zoo, jumping jacks, local arts and crafts vendors, performances, demonstrations, a safety fair and more!

In addition to the many businesses participating in the Shop Around (click on the link, it really is quite astonishing), Unique So Chique tells us:

"Along with the Uptown ShopAround, we are doing an outdoor sidewalk sale with TONS of product that we are drastically needing to move. The discount will be anywhere from 50%-75%. CASH ONLY!!"

So spend an hour or two in the community this Saturday, taking advantage of some of the good things we've got.

• The owner of the housing is the City of Chicago and it is managed by Housing Resource Center, a division of Hull House.
  
• The managers of the HRC property in question are Stephen DeWhite and Serie MacDougal (Updated)
  
• These sites have a long, long history of mismanagement -- and were and still are havens for drug dealers.

So what can we do? WRITE, WRITE, WRITE!

We suggest a snail mail or email to those listed below, reproducing the "Open Letter." If enough of us make noise, maybe we can get someone -- anyone -- to address this ongoing, tedious and dangerous problem.

Jerry Williams
Vice President of Housing
Housing Resource Center
Administrative Office
1030 W. Van Buren
Chicago, IL 60607

Lewis A. Jordan
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Housing Authority
60 East Van Buren
Chicago, IL 60605-1207

The Hon. Richard M. Daley
Mayor, City of Chicago
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle Street
Room 406
Chicago, IL 60602
Fax: 312-744-8045

*UPDATE: The mayor does not have an email address. The Mayor's office only accepts faxes or mail.

Superintendent Jody P. Weis
Chicago Police Department
3510 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60653

A reader made us aware of a series of articles that Raymond Coffey wrote in the Sun-Times about Uptown nearly ten years ago, detailing the problems and roadblocks to revitalization.

The one below is deja vu all over again:

The CHA scattered site housing was being used by drug dealers and the residents were afraid. The property manager, HRC (which Coffey links with Shiller), did nothing. And Couraj (led by Denise Davis) jumped up and down and yelled, "Bigots! Yuppies! Property Values!" And then they pulled out their favorite one-trick pony and cried (wait for it.....) "Police Brutality"!

It would be funny if it weren't so sad. Hasn't nine years of living with this "same old - same old" situation been long enough?

A reader alerts us that the Red Line is closed in our area. He had to exit at Addison and overheard a report that someone was hit by a train at Wilson.

The Tribune says: "Northbound train service along the CTA Red Line was shut down Tuesday afternoon between the Wilson and Thorndale Stations after firefighters had to pull a person off the tracks, officials said."

If you're planning on taking the Red Line today, keep refreshing the Trib's link for updates.

UPDATE: "Northbound train service on the CTA Red Line was temporarily shut down Tuesday afternoon for more than a mile after a train hit someone on the tracks, officials said. The person's condition was unknown, and it's unclear how that person ended up on the tracks. The incident occurred about 2:30 p.m. on the northbound tracks at Wilson Avenue and Broadway, said Catherine Hosinski, a CTA spokeswoman. Service along the northbound Red Line was shut down between the Wilson and Thorndale stations, but has since resumed, she said."

We received the following post from a CHA scattered-site housing resident who requests anonymity, for reasons that will be made clear as you read this letter:

As a CHA resident, I'm writing this email so I can give the residents of Uptown a view inside of what I and others go through on daily basis. I can't give out my name for fear of the safety of my family and other residents where we reside.

The problems that we're having are the gangs and drug dealing in and around the place where we reside. I've attended several CAPS meetings and I'm afraid to speak up because I don't know who may go back and say anything to the gangs. One of the main problems is a family who resides in the building has allowed the gangs and drug dealing to go on in their apartment, and management hasn't done anything to remove them. The address where we reside is 4440 and 4500 north Magnolia.

As I'm writing this email, the gangs decided to have a barbecue inside of our yard and none of these guys live here. I'm afraid to say anything to them for fear of my safety and that of my children. The property has been used to stash drugs, hide gangbangers and other dangerous things. The tenants live in fear because management has turned a blind eye to our complaints and done nothing to ensure our safety.

At 7:13 am, Sunday, June 22, my family and I woke to the sounds of a loud boom only to discover that someone had let some fireworks go off inside of the front entrance of our building. I know other residents are having that problem, but just imagine it going off inside of the place where you and your family live.

Please let the residents of Uptown and posters on uptownupdate know that there are some CHA residents that are a part of the solution for the safety of Uptown and NOT the problem of Uptown.

Okay, readers, what can we do to convince the management of these buildings to address and solve this situation?

Joe Zekas of YoChicago has a video tour of Kenmore as he drives between Irving and Montrose (with a brief detour that takes him to Buena, Sheridan and Montrose). Pretty fun to see the scenery from the dash-cam, and to hear Joe's commentary. He compares and contrasts the days of Kenmore being "Desolation Row" to how it is today. Check it out here.

It was a busy night last night. Our friends at the "Uptown Crime Blotter" were busy keeping up with the activity in the neighborhood. Several residents also emailed us to give us updates on the shootings near Leland and Dover.

A reader writes in:
"Eight shots fired last night at Dover and Leland. A white Bonneville 4 door car driving towards a blue 4 door sedan coming the other way - blue car containing 4 African American males. Shots fired from both cars. The blue car sped south down Dover with bullet holes throughout and turned east on Wilson. The other white car, also shooting, was a larger car that headed west towards Clark. Three of the 4 people in the blue car were hit and treated at Weiss. They drove themselves to Weiss and were followed by a police car who saw them at a high rate of speed down Wilson."

Another reader added:
"They are still searching for the weapon which should be on the 4600 block of Dover! Please check around your cars and in your yards - we certainly do not need another loose gun on the streets!"

If you are a frequent rider of buses, as we are, you will be delighted to hear that the CTA's bus tracker system expanded today to include some major northside buses, including the 78 Montrose and 81 Lawrence. We didn't see the always-late 36 Broadway, but hopefully it will be added in the future.
Check out www.ctabustracker.com
We found the "bus location map" to be most useful. This is a great system and we have to hand it to the CTA and Ron Huberman. Now, about those long vacant Wilson El storefronts...

A reader just sent us a great pic of the rainbow many of you may have seen this evening in the neighborhood. This particular view is from the "Sheridan Grande" near Sheridan and Gunnison. Enjoy.

We saw skywriting (advertising skymailme.com) all over the place this weekend. It inspired one of our readers -- okay, it was Irish Pirate -- to create his own version of what's happening in the skies over Uptown. Click here.

From the comments:

"HE'S HOME!!!! Jeff and I got a call this afternoon from a vet - someone found Stash - all the way down in the LOOP!!!

A good Samaritan named Todd was coming home from work when Stash came right up to him and started nuzzling his leg, so he brought him home. He and his girlfriend Hillary took him to the vet, and they scanned his microchip and found us!

After almost a month and a half missing, he's sickly skinny and his whiskers are singed off - but he's healthy and he's home. Thank you so much to everyone who helped and loved us through this - the outpouring of support from the community was overwhelming, and will never be able to say thank you enough."

We've been getting a lot of e-mail lately saying, "What are those BOOMS I hear all evening?" Since gunfire's not exactly been an unknown event around here lately, readers -- and we -- have been a bit on edge, wondering if it's time to make yet another 911 call.

I've been hearing a lot of big bang-type noises recently - many more than before. Each time I jump because I think they're gunshots, but I realize they could very well be fireworks (these aren't the multiple-pop-type fireworks, more like one big bang). I've noticed a bunch of kids doing fireworks in the alley by me, and when I watched them and heard the noise I realized that what I had been mistaking for gunshots was really fireworks. Could you please post something on how to tell if what you're hearing are fireworks or gunshots, or pose the question to the group?

So how 'bout it, readers? How do you tell the difference?

We just heard about a spa that recently opened in Uptown. It's called "Le Petite Spa" and is located at 4058 N. Sheridan, just a block north of the Sheridan El stop. Check it out if you are in need of some pampering or know someone who is.

We were surprised to learn from a long-time Uptowner that the Holsten/Shiller partnership that's bringing Fabulous Wilson Yard to Uptown goes way, way back. One hand's been washing the other practically since the alderman took office, back in the days before Wrigley Field had lights, and Rick Astley and Belinda Carlisle topped the charts. Check out this Sun-Times article from March 13, 1988:

Uptown hotel is now SRO

With a lot of cooperation, the Norman Hotel has been redeveloped as Uptown's largest single-room occupancy building. The Norman Apartments will include 66 sleeping rooms with mini-kitchens, 77 studios, and 11 one-bedroom apartments. Sleeping rooms with private bath will rent for $240 a month, studios for $285 to $300, and one-bedrooms for $400 a month. (Prices are subject to change without notice.)

Developer Peter Holsten of Oakwood Development; Alderman Helen Shiller (46th); a downtown banker, and a neighborhood investment center all pulled together on the project at 1325 W. Wilson. "I already have a waiting list for these SRO units," Holsten said.

And on November 14, 1991, when the Inspiration Cafe opened at 1319 West Wilson:

During opening ceremonies, landlord Peter Holsten tore up next month's rent check. ... Contributions can be mailed to Shiller 's ward office at 1138 W. Montrose, 60613.

We had to laugh when we saw this furniture ensemble with a note attached reading: "Returning your Garbage - Stop dumping in our yard." Our own Uptown Hatfields and McCoys!

Where did the junk causing the feud end up? In the middle of the new and beautiful landscaping at El Pollo Loco. Nothing says "Welcome to the Neighborhood!" like a ripped couch and a couple of nasty mattresses.

There are some real Einsteins and Eagle Scouts living amongst us. Be careful out there!

‘Gimme your watch’
A 51-year-old was walking June 12 at 5:30 p.m. on the sidewalk on the 900 block of W. Sunnyside when he was approached by a group of five men. One asked “Are you straight?” and then the men started punching and kicking him in the head and body and one yelled “Gimme your watch” before they ran away. The victim was treated and released at Weiss Hospital.

Man, 28, spray paints building, goes into bar for drink
While watching the surveillance camera at 1140 W. Wilson, Nick’s Uptown Bar, observed a man spraying down a building with a can of spray paint. The man then threw the spray bottle into a flower pot at 1136 W. Wilson and went into Nick’s Bar for a drink. Witnesses observed this, called police and the man, 28, of the 4400 block of N. Racine, was arrested. His hands and pants had red paint on them at the time of his arrest.

Battery
A 24-year-old from the 1000 block of W. Lawrence was arrested for punching a 31-year-old several times in the face June 10 on the 800 block of W. Waveland. A gang affiliation to the Spanish Cobras street gang was cited. The victim was treated and released at Thorek Hospital. The attacker has a July 28 court date.

Mother punches daughter in face twice
A 50-year-old mother of the 4600 block of N. Sheridan became enraged June 6 at 8:40 a.m. when she learned her daughter, 13, had borrowed $5 from a McDonald’s security guard, 1004 W. Wilson, in order to take the bus home to get to school and retrieve her house keys. She then punched the girl in the face twice with a closed fist. She tried to punch a third time but the girl and her stepfather, 58, exited their vehicle and the woman drove away. A police officer was flagged down at 1050 W. Wilson and the child was taken to Ravenswood School, 4232 N. Paulina. The mother then came to the school where she was arrested for domestic battery and issued a June 16 court date. The mother made an excited utterance to officers saying, “I was just trying to teach her a lesson.”

Driver flashes gun in traffic dispute
A business owner, 38, was driving June 8 on the 4600 block of Broadway when he became involved in a traffic altercation with a man driving a Nissan. The driver, who was in his 20s and had a large Afro haircut, flashed a gun and then drove away when the owner pulled out cell phone and called 911.

Scooters stolen
A blue 2003 Yamaha parked on the street was stolen on the 900 block of Lakeside Place June 9. Also, a 1998 Kawasaki was stolen June 9 also on the 900 block of W. Lakeside Place.

Girlfriend steals $500
A 64-year-old disabled man of the 4500 block of N. Sheridan Road said that on June 4, his occasional girlfriend, 50, who stays with him sometimes, took $500 cash from his drawer as he slept and departed before he woke up the next morning.

Financial dispute leads to choking
An argument about the finances of a grandmother occurred June 9 at 7:53 p.m. on the 900 block of W. Montrose Ave. During the argument, a man, 42, who allegedly took the grandmother’s bankcard and ID, became angered then put his hands around the neck of a woman, 35, and said, “I’m going to choke the sh-t out of you.” The victim called 911 and left an open line. The dispatcher heard a loud man’s voice in the background and sent out emergency responders. The woman suffered an asthma attack during the choking and was treated at Weiss Hospital.

Mechanic attacked at Hotel Chateau
A mechanic, 41, was walking down the hallway of Hotel Chateau, 3838 N. Broadway, June 1 at 3 a.m. when he was stopped by two known offenders who punched him, knocked him down, kicked him and then removed $200 from his pocket. The attackers, of 3838 N. Broadway, 45, and 24, are related.

Gun pulled on taxi driver
A taxi driver, 28, picked up a fare in Evanston June 8 at 2:20 a.m. and drove the man to 4200 N. Broadway. Then, instead of paying, the rider pulled out a gun and told the driver to hand over his money. The driver instead jumped out of the cab and ran away. The rider also ran away then.

Bike robber taped
A man taking a bicycle was videotaped in the act June 9 at 7:21 p.m. at 4950 N. Marine Drive. The camera shows the offender enter the building, walk to the bicycle storage area, look at the bikes, open the door, put on a helmet and drive off on a bike that was not his. The lock to the room was later found damaged.

Motorcycle stolen from street
A 2008 Suzuki motorcycle was stolen June 8 on the 5000 block of Marine Drive.

Unique So Chique, at Wilson and Magnolia, is having a big sale through the end of June. Customers can get 40-50% off ALL RETAIL (excludes consignment pieces or tea and tea accessories). While you are there, check out their great menu and get a bite to eat.

A reader writes in:
"These photos are from this morning at the Wilson Red Line El Stop. The half hazard(ous) attempt to patch up the deteriorating el stop is sickening. Is this the way our tax dollars are being spent on public transportation? This needs to fixed IMMEDIATELY before someone injures themselves!"

Read all about our own Hutchinson Street Historical District at the Sun-Times here and register for the tour here.

A reader writes in:
"My BFF Honey made several phone calls to 311 about the sinkhole near the corner of Winthrop and Kenmore. She called morning, noon and night and nothing was done.

Finally, she realized that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself in the 46th ward! She strolled over there, dug up some dirt and filled the hole.

I thought her talent and ambition was very newsworthy, so I took a picture of her. (Doesn't she look tuckered out?!?!?!?!!)

That'll do, Honey, that'll do."

Just when we think the 46th Ward can't get any wackier, our readers make us aware of something new. This is an article from 1990 on how Ald. Shiller's then-secretary (currently chief of staff) Denice Davis helped fight AIDS on our streets.

We've lost a lot of loved ones to AIDS, and we're certain Ms. Davis's heart was in the right place, but it makes us wonder just how many aldermanic chiefs of staff have prowled their ward in tight leather skirts, hoping for johns to stop them?

Oh, Uptown, we love you.

From the Chicago Tribune:

CTA Red and Purple Line trains experienced slight delays Thursday morning after reports of smoke on the tracks at West Leland Avenue and North Broadway, officials said.

No one was hurt and no trains were in the area, said Chicago Transit Authority spokesman Wanda Taylor.

She said power to the stretch of tracks around Leland and Broadway was shut off in both directions from about 9:16 a.m. until about 9:30, after which trains began moving again.

Did anyone see the smoke or find out the source? Was it drifting north from all the construction activity at Wilson Yard?

Letters to the Editor in the current issue of the News-Star:

Tactic polarizes Uptown community

I would have to disagree with the assessment of Mr. Williams, a spokesman for COURAJ, that the mission of CAPS is to promote gentrification of the neighborhood. The desire for a safer neighborhood to raise children spans all socioeconomic and ethnic groups of people in the neighborhood. It insults everyone to even suggest that people living in poverty have different standards for safety. This tactic is an attempt to pit one economic group against another, and that's what polarizes this community.

Those who attend CAPS will often observe a diverse group of residents who share the belief that everyone can step forward and work together to make our neighborhood a safer place for everyone. It's this shared belief that actually helps to unite and strengthen this very diverse community.

As for the motives of residents attending the June 7th anti-crime rally, I think it more appropriate to ask those who attended about their motives. Nevertheless, Ald. Shiller has issued no statement about the recent murder, nor has she said anything about the increase in gang activity. She also continues to send no representative to the CAPS beat meetings. It is a fair assumption to expect residents to feel upset when they see other local aldermen responding differently.

James Cappleman
Uptown

Ben Joravsky in The Reader has an enlightening article ("The Road to 2016") about the recent Children's Museum vote and how it was meant to show the International Olympic Committee that Richard Daley's wish is Chicago's command. It details how the Mayor uses The Power Of TIFs to control and intimidate the City Council into voting his way:

They had their reasons. Mayor Daley plays rough. He let aldermen know that he would cut off funding for pet TIF projects if they didn’t vote his way. Obviously, the tactic was effective, though several waited until the final days to cave. [...]

It does seem as though Daley has a special fondness for onetime independents who knuckle under his command. So far he’s thrown millions of TIF dollars into Wilson Yard, alderman Helen Shiller’s pet project. On the other hand, what the mayor giveth, the mayor taketh away. He’s not averse to promising an alderman one thing when it comes to TIF spending and then doing something else, as aldermen from Eugene Schulter to Leslie Hairston can tell you.

Read the entire article here.

Make sure to stop by Truman College tomorrow from 8am-3pm for the Uptown Farmer's Market. If the offering at this year's market is as varied as last year's, we are in for a real treat. This year's market will be every Thursday till October 23. Mark your calendars.

A reader writes in:
"I just walked by 4650 N. Sheridan, the former Mi Ranchero convenience store that has been closed for quite some time, and saw someone working on the outside. When I asked him if it was reopening, he said, yes, as a grocery store."

Some days, you've just gotta kick back and enjoy what you've got.

Our Graceland West neighbors (Ashland-Clark-Irving Park-Montrose) are sponsoring a free Garden Walk on Sunday, June 22, between noon and 4pm. Maps will be available at participating gardens which are identified by a marker in front.

A reader writes:

Just a heads up that another vacant storefront is disappearing. Work has been going on to the closed laundromat on the NW corner of Sheridan and Lawrence, in the JJ Pepper's plaza. New walls, paint, and floors, along with refurbished washers & dryers. The place looks to be opening up any day now!

Also, although it's been open for a few months, there is now a State Farm agency in one of the storefronts on the ground level of the Sheridan Grande.

Update: Post corrected to state the location as Sheridan and Lawrence.

Ald. Schulter sends information that may affect your commute:

Excavations and repairs need to occur at 1955 W. Montrose. Once again, Montrose Avenue between Damen and Ashland will be closed to through traffic. The Montrose Brown Line Station will remain open. The closure begins at 9:00 am on Thursday morning and should be completed by the end of Saturday.

And isn't this a nice sentiment from the alderman?

I know that the continuing closures on Montrose Avenue are a major inconvenience, but I am confident that the Department of Water Management is working around the clock to mitigate the ongoing damage caused by the water main break in January. The necessity of this work was discovered as the Department of Water Management prepared for the installation of new lining in this area. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Information! Apologies! Courtesy! We in the 46th Ward can only dream...

A leopard never changes its spots, at least in Uptown.

ALDERMAN BLOCKS UPTOWN GRANT

Chicago Tribune, November 3, 1987
by Manuel Galvan and Charles Mount

Freshman Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) flexed her political muscle Monday and persuaded a Chicago City Council committee to cancel a federal grant for a community group in Uptown that is a rival of her own group.

The action came while the City Council's Budget Committee was approving the distribution of $95.1 million in federal spending for community projects, as part of the Community Development Block Grant package.

Shiller requested that the committee deny the Uptown Chicago Commission its entire grant of $20,000.

"I can prove this organization is not doing what it is supposed to," Shiller said.

She conceded the 32-year-old Uptown Chicago Commission has criticized her in the past. The Uptown Commission has long been at loggerheads with the organization of which Shiller is cochairman, the Heart of Uptown Coalition.

Ald. Kathy Osterman (48th), part of whose ward is also served by the Uptown Chicago Commission, asked the Budget Committee to award the group the $20,000 as recommended by Mayor Harold Washington in his community block grant recommendations.

The Uptown Commission's application had already been reviewed and approved at three levels in the city bureaucracy.

Funding for the Uptown Commission had come yearly since 1984 with backing by former Ald. Jerry Orbach, who was defeated by Shiller in this year's ward race.

After heated debate, the Budget Committee voted 9-5 in favor of Shiller's amendment to remove the entire grant for the Uptown organization.

"I'm disappointed," said Pat Reskey, executive director of the Uptown Chicago Commission. "What we're seeing is Helen Shiller's thinking that she has an agenda that is different from ours in serving the community."

Reskey said the $20,000, which was reduced from $25,000 last year, would have been used to pay the salary of a staff person to help residents, including senior citizens, get money for home improvements.

The Midnight Bike Ride last Friday, where civilians and police biked the area together, was a success. It sounds like a good time was had by all attendees, with the 23rd District Commander seeing them off from Bar On Buena. The route they pedaled is above. We hope this is just the first of several bike runs.

We've been watching 4623 North Broadway for several months now, intrigued by the demolition going on in the back of this beautiful old building.

Neighborhood gossip had it that a restaurant and banquet hall had expressed interest in the site a while back, but no one knew if they were the same people behind the demo or if someone else had bought the building.

Today we noticed a building permit has been posted, at long last. It's for "interior alterations on existing building, 1st and 2nd floor and foundation, to columns work at basement for a restaurant as per plan." The owner's name on the permit is the same as the owner of Bolat in Wrigleyville, so we're eager to see what will show up here in Uptown.

In any case, it's good to see another "For Rent" sign taken down on this blighted stretch of Broadway, and we have high hopes that the extensive rehab denotes a solid commitment to our community.

Several locations near Uptown will be holding "Bake Sales For Barack" this weekend, with proceeds going "to support MoveOn's campaign to win back the White House." Grab a goodie if you're so inclined!

Nearby locations are:

- Kelly Park (east of Wunders Cemetery), 3900 N Seminary

- Lincoln Square, Fountain at Giddings and Lincoln (near Selmarie)

Uptown Update is an equal opportunity blog, so if anyone has any fundraising events in the area for any candidate, let us know and we'll shill for ya.

For those of us who are old enough to remember when filling your tank meant getting a gift from the gas station, like a Sunday paper or a Cubs iced tea glass (and who bugged their parents into pumping enough gallons for a complete set), this sign at the Marathon station at Foster and Broadway always brings a smile.

Uptown Update likes to spotlight locally owned businesses in our area. Today's is From The Center Pilates Studio, located at 4721 North Clark, across from Chase Park in the Chase Park Commons building.

From The Center opened 2 years ago this past June and owner/director Patrick O'Brien has been teaching Pilates longer than any other person in Chicago. This is his company's second location. For more information, go to www.fromthecenterpilates.com or call 773-334-1199.

A reader sent in this Zoning Notice he received in the mail last week. We're not sure why this seems to be the same zoning notice filed by Ald. Shiller in March. Perhaps a savvier reader can help explain.

Incidentally, the two multi-unit homes it will affect are two of the five remaining homes from the days when the 4600 block of Winthrop was segregated and designated for African-Americans only. The descendants of those residents are aware that the buildings may be torn down and regret losing part of their history on Winthrop.

A reader sent the following article to us and said it was with the knowledge and approval of the owner of the storied Golden House pancake restaurant near the Riviera. Are the alleged facts true? We suggest you talk to the restaurant owner for any further details or clarifications.

Hugo Espino, owner of Golden House Restaurant on Racine just next door to the Riviera, has been having some issues with the project manager for the new Bank of America.

Basically, the new bank needs a parking lot to do additional outside work. Several weeks ago, Hugo was approached by the project manager to see if he would allow them to use the [Golden House parking] lot. The project manager told Hugo they would pay him $300 a day.

Hugo said that he would have to charge the bank $2000 a day for the 5 days (a total of $10,000) they needed the parking lot because he would lose lots of customers.

The project manager took this information back to the owner of the building, who then called Hugo. The owner told Hugo he was being ridiculous. Hugo then told the owner that the project manager told him that the city wanted to charge the bank $150,000 to use the alley and part of the street to do the work. Not to mention that it would take several weeks longer to finish the job if they had to use the street and alley.

Hugo said to the owner, why not just pay me the money I need and you can have the lot? But the owner refused. A few weeks later, an inspector shows up at Golden House. The inspector told Hugo that someone "nearby" called on the restaurant, saying the food was horrible. Hugo is not sure, but believes that it was probably someone from the bank job site.

This past Tuesday, Yvonne Odell and George Atkins from Helen's office show up at Golden House. They ask Hugo if he would reconsider allowing the bank to use the lot because the construction company was supposed to begin work on the 9th of June to meet deadline opening.

Hugo said to them that he was fairly certain that one of the workers called the city inspectors on him. Both Yvonne and George guaranteed Hugo that the inspectors would not be back. Hugo asked them how they could guarantee that. Yvonne told Hugo that he had "her word".

Hugo then asked George and Yvonne if the bank did not pay him the $10,000, would they???? George said "NO". Hugo told them at that point that he would prefer to work with the owners of the building on his own.

Of course Hugo is very upset by all of this. He feels as if he is being bullied. At this point, he does not want to allow the bank to use his lot at all. He said that the bank could have just paid the $10,000 and the lot would have been theirs but, instead, they had to run to the Alderman's office like children to try and get what they want. He said he "WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED."

Uptown Update has done a lot of stories on how the journalism students at Northwestern's Medill School have covered Uptown this year, but this may be our very favorite yet:

TIFS For Tots. Click the arrow and see how to explain Tax Increment Financing to your tyke!

Adam Verwymeren, we may just have a crush.

We -- and a lot of readers -- have noticed a lot of equipment and drilling and land moving at the Wilson Yard site. So what's up? Is it a $52 million secret?

I believe they are continuing the environmental remediation. Several weeks ago I talked to Illinois EPA (IEPA) and they told me that in a few weeks the remediation will begin the final phase. This entails removing the urban fill that covers the whole site. They have to strip the whole site of about 7 ft.-10ft of the top layer of soil. Also they will install a barrier/retaining wall around the site's perimeter - I believe so the outer perimeter doesn't cave in. This will take about 2-3 weeks. Then ?????

The windows at the JPUSA-owned property at 935 West Wilson are now manifesto-free and campaign-poster free.

Graffiti Blasters came along this morning to remove the bright red graffiti tags that showed up along Wilson Avenue right after the Anti-Crime Rally last week.

Work is coming along nicely on the outdoor patio and fountain of the new Italian restaurant going in at Beacon and Wilson.

Not only have the Sinkholes of Doom at Windsor and Hazel been filled (after being open since last autumn), but the pile of rubble and trash that was left on the parkway at the northwest corner has finally been removed as well. We look forward to seeing some lawn there soon.

The long-open sinkhole that caused the bubbling geyser at Leland and Magnolia has been fixed as well.

Our Friend The Sinkhole at 4621 North Winthrop is still open, nine months (and easily, 20 calls to 311) after we first reported it. (The residents had been calling it in for months before a reader wrote us about the situation.)

The City came out to do some sewer rodding on Winthrop last week and told us, nope, not their job, it has nothing to do with the sewers, no idea what it is or why it's still lurking.

As much as we love the addition of three (three!) construction horses and a jaunty orange cone (upside down, yet), we wonder what it's going to take to get this deep hole closed. Some suburban kid stumbling into it in the dark after a concert at the nearly Aragon? Frankly, folks, we're out of ideas.

Just a reminder that the Midnight Bike Ride (sponsored by the Uptown Crime Blotter and 23rd District Community Policing) takes place tonight. The weather report at midnight is "Clear, 63 degrees, a light wind from the west." Couldn't be better for a midnight ride!

Leave from Bar On Buena, 910 W Buena, at the witching hour. The event is free, but cyclists are required to wear helmets and have lights and reflectors.

Can you name the location of this cherubic looking ornamentation?

A reader sent in a pic of a photo shoot yesterday in front of the soon-to-be-repaired and long time crumbling Lawrence Avenue viaduct over Lake Shore Drive. Looks like it was some sort of fashion shoot and the model was sporting a hoodie and jeans. If the person scouting for a location for this shoot was looking for a "gritty" looking bridge, they sure found the right place. They were smart not to shoot the photos under the bridge or that white hoodie might end up looking a tad bit dingy from whatever was raining down through the bridge at that time.

News-Star Editor Lorraine Swanson was booted from a community meeting tonight discussing how a rehab operation (run by Heartland Alliance) is being run from a residential building in Rogers Park. Residents of the building are furious. Read all about it at the "Broken Heart." Be sure to check out the video as well.

(photo: The 'Broken Heart of Rogers Park')

A reader writes in:
"Thought you might get a kick out of this... After several months of calls from me and my neighbors to Shiller's office, heated emails with her assistant Michilla, and 311 calls, the sewer catch basins on the 4700 block (Magnolia) are now supposedly clean (as of today). This has been a sore subject for residents of this block because the standing water iced over during the winter creating a virtual skating rink that "iced in" cars, and then this spring brought the stench of raw sewage. Hopefully the problem is solved.

However, look at Michilla's response below. Apparently the problem was from dog walkers dropping bags of dog poop down the storm drains, and the occasional landscaping debris. Uh, how about the countless number of litter bugs in the hood who throw trash around left and right with no regard to the community? Nah, couldn't be them - its those evil dog owners... yeah, them.... I find it hard to imagine a dog owner would go to the trouble to bag their dogs waste up only to jam it down a storm drain. Maybe I'm wrong. Interesting."

Thanks,
A Resident of the 4700 block of Magnolia

Michilla's response:

Hello all,

I spoke with the Water Department and confirmed their promise to clean
your catch basins! So you have relief -for now. The General
Superintendent, who supervised the project himself, said that all four
catch basins on the block are now clean.

A couple of things I learned from the GS (and please share this with
your neighbors as well): Your sewers are being clogged your neighbors
with dogs throwing plastic baggies of poop down the sewers. He said it
appears that someone does that regularly and this is clogging the
vortexes that I described in a previous email.

Also, encourage your neighbors to dispose of their landscaping waste
into a trash receptacle. Do not just brush it down the sewer.

According to the GS, the sewers were clogged with plastic baggies and
cut grass/landscaping debris. I will always help get the sewers
cleaned, but you see it took my office 2 weeks to get you some relief,
so anything you can do on your side to educate your neighbors would be
greatly appreciated.

Thank you, and feel free to ring me with any questions or concerns.

Michilla Blaise
City Services Coordinator
46th Ward Service Office of Alderman Helen Shiller
4544 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
773.878.4646
fax - 773/878-4920
michilla.blaise@cityofchicago.org

We featured a small blurb a while back about "Tiztal Cafe" on Clark between Leland and Wilson, but think its well worth another mention. Several readers have emailed us to rave about the food (primarily brunch food but they plan to expand the menu soon), and fresh squeezed juices. If you are looking for a great place for brunch in the neighborhood (besides our favorite Unique So Chique) be sure to check them out. We also heard that there will soon be an outdoor patio area for dining in the back section of the building. Check out the Yelp listing for this restaurant. Call 773-271-4631 for hours and info and tell them Uptown Update sent you!

We spotted workers outside "Demera" Ethiopian Restaurant at Broadway and Lawrence today assembling chairs and tables for their new outdoor seating area. Across the street at "Fat Cat," patrons have been enjoying the outdoor seating area on Broadway and down the Gunnison side for a few weeks now.

Workers were seen at Wilde Pug today, at Broadway and Lawrence, prepping the storefront for windows while folks enjoyed the beautiful weather by dining outside at Fiesta Mexicana next door.
Also, for those monitoring the progress of the Uptown Broadway Building south of here, workers were seen installing the metal framing to the lower section of the first level windows today. A reader emailed the realtor for the building and they said they expect the building to be completed in 90 days.

From the 46th Ward website.

Give feedback on places you'd like to walk?

• On Broadway, without getting killed.
• On Wilson without getting robbed.
• On Sunnyside without getting gang-banged.

Alderman Shiller, can we talk about it?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breaking News:

Alderman Helen Shiller’s Website Invites Us to:

Pedestrian Plan Public Meeting June 12

06/11/2008
The Chicago Dept. of Transportation Invites you to an Open House for the Pedestrian Plan:

Thursday June 12, 2008
5:30 - 7:30 PM
Grant Park Field House
(Daley Bicentennial Plaza)
337 E. Randolph St. Chicago,
Wheelchair accessible

The City of Chicago has embarked on its first Pedestrian Plan.

The Plan will improve pedestrian safety and encourage more walking.

+ Join the Chicago Department of Transportation to discuss the first phase of the Pedestrian Plan

+ Come learn about the City's current and upcoming initiatives to improve the walking environment

+ Give feedback on places you walk & places you'd like to walk

The News-Star offers some Father's Day gift suggestions in the current issue, including some from Uptown:

Octavia Tea $13, Unique So Chique, 4600 N. Magnolia (Magnolia and Wilson)
Unique So Chique carries a wide assortment of manly whole leaf teas. Octavia of Geneva, Ill. makes all of its teas organically in bold flavors, including "Boost Metabolism," "Spiced Chai Mate," "Grand Earl Tea" and "Organic Black Tea." The tearoom is also offering a "Real Men Eat Quiche" Father's Day brunch from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. this Sunday. Buy yourself a truffle while you're at it.

Led Zepplin bootleg, Shake, Rattle, Read, 4812 N. Broadway
Chicago's only rock and roll book store offers loads of vinyl, vintage magazines and books. What dad wouldn't love to receive an authentic, vinyl Led Zepplin bootleg for Father's Day?

Shiller’s office says ‘No comment’

By LORRAINE SWANSON, Editor

Chanting "Hey, hey, ho, ho, the crime has got to go," Uptown residents staged an anti-crime rally in front of Ald. Helen Shiller's 46th Ward service office at 4544 N. Broadway last Saturday morning in response to the shooting death of a Truman College student on May 21.

Residents have complained that since Chicago's bloody weekend of April 18-19, during which six people were fatally shot and another 36 wounded citywide, there has been a noticeable uptick of crime in certain neighborhood hot spots, including the 1100 block of Wilson Avenue, and the intersections of Wilson and Sheridan and Lawrence and Sheridan.

"(Street crime) is not really different from any other summer," said Gina Camiola, who's lived in Uptown for two years. "What concerns us is that an apparently innocent man was shot."

Read the rest of the story here.

Meanwhile, Couraj hauls out their Magic Eight Ball (which, oddly enough, always says the same old thing) and tell the News-Star that it's all about those darn condo owners practicing class discrimination and racial hatred -- just an excuse for a hundred of their neighbors protesting the killing of a black man on the streets of Uptown.

Uptown Justice group lauds Ald. Shiller, says anti-crime group opposes low-income

Organizers from the community organization COURAJ - Community of Uptown Residents for Affordability and Justice - claim that the residents staging the rally are "condo owners" and members of other community organizations that are against Ald. Helen Shiller because she supports low-income housing.

"[Police] will stop any person of color or any person who looks low income and search that person, talk negative to that person, and threaten to take them to jail," Williams said. "We aim to slow it down as much as we can."

Alderman Shiller's chief of staff Denise Davis was on hand today at 4550 N. Clarendon to perhaps christen the new fence that is now encompassing the building. A "Neighborhoods Alive" sign was in front of the building this week until the wind blew it down.

"A handful of chronically unhappy residents" -- that's how Denise Davis, Shiller's chief of staff, refers to the alderman's critical constituents (i.e., the ones who pay her six-figure salary and fund her insane TIFs). A vision of Denise with her fingers in her ears ("Lalalalala, I can't hear you!") comes to mind.

Read all about it in Adam Verwymeren's article for Medill Reports: Shiller’s critics praise her motives even as they turn up the heat.

Our favorite part is a nice variation on the usual "Helen Shiller's office did not return calls asking for comment." This is it: "Shiller, through her chief of staff, refused to comment for this piece: 'If she has to pick and choose who she talks to, it won’t be Medill students.'"

Seen today at Wilson Yard. Could groundbreaking be close? Inquiring minds want to know. If only Peter Holsten or Ald. Shiller could update the community. But alas, the only "pertinent" information on the Alderman's website deals with rain barrels, pedestrian safety and the ever important Cub's game.

Look out below! A reader sent in a pic showing workers starting to repair the crumbling Lawrence Avenue viaduct at Lake Shore Drive today.

Update: For more info or to volunteer your time to organize this event, please email peace4uptown@gmail.com

A reader writes in:
Good afternoon UU,

While I would consider the June 7th rally somewhat successful, I have a feeling that the location of it put many who were interested in participating off from attending. I heard from quite a few people that did not attend the rally because they felt that it was going to be a hostile, anti-Shiller crowd.

I’d like to propose the following, a joint block club “peace march” that would start in one area of Uptown, and collect marchers along the way. The final destination would be in an open field/park area where perhaps we can have a large joint block club party. I am a member of the Argyle/Winmore Block Club. When I first moved to Uptown almost 4 years ago, our block club hosted a huge block club party on Kenmore that featured a live band, games for the kids, dancers, a martial arts demonstration and free food sponsored by the local restaurants. Hundreds of people attended our block club party, and the theme was our block club theme ‘Pride of Place’. It was extremely successful, and diverse.

This event would require a lot of volunteers and work to pull off, we would need donated tables, and food, and people willing to serve food, set up and clean up. We would need permission to use open park space to pull something like this off. However, I think it will be a fantastic way to unify everyone in Uptown, in one huge group and show the unsavory element of our community that we are all unified in our stance that drugs, gangs and shootings are not welcome in Uptown.

A march like this would be very public and draw a lot of attention. People would feel comfortable joining in as we would be marching from one area to the next. Because the destination would be neutral, no one group would be feel polarized and concluding with a party would encourage people to meet their neighbors and discuss the issues at hand.

-We could invite Aldermans of participating wards to speak on their plans to keep moving Uptown forward
-We could invite Kathleen Boehmer and CAPS officers to attend and speak on ways we can help keep Uptown safe
-It would provide local restaurants an opportunity to draw customers by letting them sample their food for free, thus boosting business
-It would be an excellent media opportunity to draw attention to a Chicago city that quite frankly, I think is completely ignored by the media.

One good place to start might be Truman College. It’s somewhat centrally located, and they have the land space as well as tables we might be able to use. Or we can see about utilizing public park space by the lake, perhaps Margate Park?

I would be willing to donate my time in setting something like this up, as well as doing the PR to draw media attention as I have experience doing PR. Of course, I will need A LOT of help. We will need people willing to be leaders to step up to the plate to make this happen.

Given that this will take time to set up, my suggestion is to host this in August.

If you can please post this as a possible suggestion to readers of UU, I would appreciate it.

Check out the full list here.

UPDATE: As The Reader predicted, Alderman Shiller continued her allegiance to Mayor Daley and voted for the Children's Museum. Interesting to note that Alderman Tunney (44th Ward Alderman just to the south of the 46th Ward) and Alderman Schulter (47th Ward Alderman to the west of the 46th) both voted against the Mayor's plan to give the Children's Museum a piece of Grant Park. If only the 46th Ward had a large chuck of vacant land with public transportation access and parking options ....

A reader sent us a note and schedule for outside movies in the park this summer:

Starting at dusk on July 10th and continuing on each Thursday through August 21st, a movie event will occur on the east slope of the toboggan hill, north of Montrose Harbor.

July 10 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off (PG-13)

July 17 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (PG-13)

July 24 - Transformers (PG-13)

July 31 - The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (PG)

August 7 - A League of Their Own (PG)

August 14 - The Wiz (G)

August 21 - Dirty Dancing

August 28 - Rain Delay Day

September 4 - Rain Delay Day

And, perhaps more important: Where was I located?

A note from Ald. Gene Schulter (47th) that might make your commute easier after today:

A reader writes in:
"I'm a resident who lives on Wilson. I caught a silver sedan full of 3 hispanic youths driving up Wilson and pasting gang signs (on US postage labels) on most all the light posts on Wilson today (heading west from Dover)

For what its worth - here's photos I took, one with the youths face, the other with the car as well as the gang signs."

A reader sent us info on "4 The Music," a website devoted to stopping the "event promoters ordinance" that would require music promoters to carry extra insurance in addition to the insurance already provided by the venues where the productions take place. This could potentially affect live music venues in Uptown and have a devastating effect on our entertainment district. Check out the website here and voice your support.

This entry on Sunday's "Uptown Crime Blotter" made us chuckle:

1:00pm 3838 N Broadway, Hotel Chateau
Woman beating a man with a baseball bat for selling "bad crack." Police respond and as far as they can tell the crack is good.

Sadly, this establishment is having its business license renewed through 2010, so we are stuck with it till then.

From the Chicago Tribune: A man was shot and killed Monday night at a gas station in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Chicago's Far North Side, police said.

Initial reports indicated the man, identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office as Brandon Arnold, 26, of the 4600 block of North Kenmore Avenue, was filling his vehicle with gas at around 6:30 p.m. at a Citgo station at Sheridan Road and Touhy Avenue when an unidentified gunman opened fire and fled.

Police said the assailant possibly was in a maroon or red van.

Arnold was taken in critical condition to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.

Police said the motive for the shooting was possibly gang-related, but they could not provide specifics. No one was in custody Tuesday morning.

Seen in front of the infamous Broadway Wilson Currency Exchange.

A reader writes in:
"Signs appeared last week in the window of the commercial space at 838 W. Montrose foretelling the arrival of Kahawa House, a coffee shop. It ends the protracted vacancy created when the storefront’s former tenant, the Urban Tea Lounge, was shuttered about one year ago. The signs also indicate that the coffee house will offer Wi-Fi and a mail drop service. There’s no word yet about when Kahawa House will open."

Driving through the neighborhood Sunday, after Saturday’s successful anti-violence rally, an Update Update reader couldn’t help but notice that Shiller’s hood had been graffiti-bombed overnight. It looks like our alderman has some work to do if, or when, she ever shows up for work Monday morning. The bombers hit her “turf” this time.

- across the street from her office, at the spot where Francis Oduro Jr. was murdered

- across the street from her office, at Peter Holsten’s Graeme Stewart School Park

- on the 1100 W. Wilson Avenue, near Wilson Men’s Club and Truman College

- around the Shiller-controlled Uplift School.

Put in those graffiti removal requests, alderman!

The Uptown Crime Rally held on Saturday was a huge success, with over 100 people of all ages and backgrounds attending. While Alderman Shiller's office was open during the rally, she was not present in the office and her office staff refused to address the rally. Thanks to everyone who helped plan and attend the event. Here are some pictures of the event.

(This post is pinned to the top of the page until Saturday morning. Please scroll down for any new posts.)

The Anti-Crime Rally is just around the corner!

To recap, we'll meet at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 7th, at 4544 North Broadway, in front of Ald. Shiller's office (and across the street from the spot where Francis Oduro lost his life to gang violence last month).

Please come to show that Uptown's residents are sick of the shootings, the brawls, and the murders, and that we want -- and demand -- safety on our streets for every single person who lives in and visits our community.

We encourage you to carry signs or placards to show how you feel, in case there's media coverage. You can make your own, or download one or several from this page.

Flyers with the details of the event are here. There's still time to distribute them to your friends and neighbors. We encourage you to ask stores in the area to put them in their windows or put a stack on their counters.

Enough is enough! We demand safe streets. Please come to the rally to make your voice heard!

Student slaying sparks anti-crime rally

By Hayley Carston, Special to Inside

On June 7, Uptown activists will remember slain Truman College student Francis Oduro, Jr. with an anti-crime rally in front of Ald. Helen Shiller’s office, 4544 N. Broadway. Oduro was shot on May 21 at 9:15 p.m. as he was walking to the Wilson Red Line station after stopping at Truman to inquire about summer classes.

He was shot twice about 9:15 p.m. and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to news reports.

Police have yet to make an arrest in the slaying of the 22-year-old Ghana native. Police consider him to be an innocent bystander in what they are calling a gang shooting. A second man was also shot, but survived. “It’s still an active and open investigation,” said Officer John Maribelli, of Chicago Police News Affairs.

Oduro arrived in the United States to join his father, who is also named Francis Oduro, in Chicago. He was a South Side resident, but worked in an Uptown grocery store in addition to taking classes at Truman.

“It’s seasonal,” said Pam Merema, an activist involved in Uptown. Merema says that the area where Oduro was slain is a crime hot spot and when the weather gets warmer, the crime gets worse. “I think that police are content to push it (the criminal element) into that area, because it keeps it out of 90% of the district and that keeps 90% who live in the district happy.”

Additionally, Merema says that the Wilson TIF has made things worse by adding more dead-end streets to the area, which in turn makes the area more dangerous. The activists refers to a 1999 paper written by Loyola University professor Richard Block that ranks dead end streets as one of the reason why there is crime in the area.

The article states that Wilson and Broadway is a robbery “hot spot” and is ranked fifth worst of 21,000 Chicago census tracts for street robberies. The article cites such factors as a seedy appearance to the area, an ATM in the El station, dead end streets and alleys giving robbers a place to hide and the fact that the area attracts a large amount of people.

This is not the first time this academic year that a Truman College student was slain. In November, Issac Pink, 18, was slain on the South Side. A suspect was arrested in that case.

Lynn M. Walker, Interim President of Truman College issued a statement. “We at Truman College are shocked and saddened by the death of Francis Oduro. He was a good student and a wonderful young man and he will be sorely missed by his teachers and his fellow students.” There was a memorial to Oduro on the Truman College website.

According to a flier for the rally, there has been an increase in shootings and other violent crime in Uptown. For more information about the rally visit uptownupdate.com. Shiller’s office did not respond to a request for comments about the rally.

We're hearing that the police are conducting a death investigation at Wilson and Clifton and that a body has been removed from the scene. Does anyone have any further information? We sincerely hope this was a death by natural causes and not by foul play.

From Chicago Real Estate Daily: Retail giant Target Corp. on Friday for the first time confirmed negotiations to open a store in Uptown at the Wilson Yard mixed-use project, a critical step in the long delayed development.

A spokeswoman for the Minneapolis-based retailer says in an e-mail that the company might disclose details about its plan later this month.

“We are currently still working through the agreements (related to the Wilson Yard project),” the spokeswoman says Friday. “Our real estate team let me know that we'll likely be able to give additional details/updates towards the end of June.”

The deal for a Target has been the subject of much speculation, and the developer Peter Holsten acknowledged in 2006 that Target was considering pulling out over the proposed “Big-Box” ordinance that would have regulated wages at big stores like Target and Wal-Mart.

Mr. Holsten, president of Chicago-based Holsten Real Estate Development Corp., didn’t return calls seeking comment.

Ald. Gene Schulter sent out an email alert that may affect your route if you drive Montrose (sidewalks remain open). Looks like the giant sinkhole of last winter has developed some problem spawn:

This evening, I was notified by the Department of Water Management that emergency sewer repair work will be conducted on Montrose Avenue beginning tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. Excavations and repairs need to occur at both 1747 W. Montrose and 1911 W. Montrose.

Montrose Avenue between Damen and Ashland will be closed to through traffic. Local traffic will be permitted except for the specific areas in which the Department of Water Management is working. Sidewalk will remain open. Through traffic will advised to turn and CTA busses will be rerouted to Lawrence between Damen and Ashland. The Montrose Brown Line Station will remain open.

The closure begins at 9:00 am on Friday morning at 1911 W. Montrose and will continue through the work day. Work will resume at 7:00 am on Saturday and should be completed by the end of Saturday. Work will then be moved to 1747 W. Montrose beginning on Monday morning.

A reader writes in:
This 1997 Chicago Reader front-page story documents the history of day labor abuse in Alderman Helen Shiller’s 46th Ward. In it you will read that:

1. Day-labor firms seek to locate in Uptown’s Montrose/ Broadway/ Wilson area because it allows them to discriminate on behalf of employers by tapping a poor, white labor pool. In 1997, not one day labor agency located anywhere on the predominately African-American South and West sides, but four located on Uptown’s Wilson Street and Broadway Avenue. In 1971, 26 day labor agencies thrived in Uptown. Thirty-five years ago, most of Chicago’s daily-pay hiring halls located in the skid rows of the West Loop and Uptown, home to immigrants and poor, Appalachian whites.

2. Critics say employers companies prefer day labor temps because they’re less likely to speak up about racial discrimination, sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions, and other abuses, and street wisdom is that this is because so many are immigrants without papers.

3. John Donahue (Shiller’s activist preacher buddy at the Chicago Coalition of the Homeless) states that, without benefits or guaranteed work, these workers “get stuck in day labor and when they don’t get out, then they don’t have a place to stay.”

4. Urban League reports show that race influences how day workers are treated and blacks and Latinos proportions are double of that of the area work force.

5. In 1974, 46th Ward Alderman, Chris Cohen outlawed paying day laborers with vouchers that could be cashed only at taverns owned by day labor agency bosses or friends. (We know this practice continued at Mike Siegel’s notorious Wooden Nickel bar at 1134 W. Wilson, long into Ald. Helen Shiller's aldermanic terms.)

6. At our Wilson Club chicken-wire ,"cage hotel," residents often worked as low-paid day laborers to barely subsist in a cycle of substance abuse.

7. In the late 1990’s, Uptown day labor activists concluded that raising the minimum wage could not solve the day labor problem. Ironically, they, along with the Mayor’s Office of Employment and Training and the MacArthur Foundation, determined that “job readiness training” and cheap transportation out of the city to jobs in the west and northwest suburbs were the answer. With city and foundation funding, our Uptown day laborer advocacy program relocated from Uptown to Bensenville and was renamed the Suburban Job-Link.
Read the article here

Update: Another reader sent us a photo showing the day labor van's that used to park on Clifton across from Truman College (when a day labor office was open in the building currently housing Nick's On Wilson). It will surely be a trip down memory lane for many residents. We will assume this was taken in the late 1990's, but perhaps the photographer can comment.

The News-Star reports on a missing cat in the Truman Square area.

Stash, short for "Mustache Pete," is a tuxedo cat with black and white markings. The Uptown couple adopted Stash about nine months ago from Felines Inc., a group that rescues feral kittens.

There are signs posted all over the neighborhood. Alexandra told News-Star that Stash has been spotted roaming the alley by numerous dog walkers.

If you see Stash wandering around the alley between Kenmore and Winthrop, please send an e-mail to Alexandra at alexandra_horwitt@yahoo.com, or walk over to the couple's gate on the 4700 block of North Kenmore and call the phone number on the poster.

Read the entire story here, and if you see Stash, help him get home! (The photo in our story is not of Stash himself, who probably has slightly different markings. Please contact his owners if you find any tuxedo cat in the area Stash is frequenting.)

UPDATE: The email address for Stash's owners has been corrected.

(click to enlarge)

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A reader writes in:
"This just posted on Alderman Shiller’s Website: Alderman Shiller’s Moral Imperative is the Environment!
Meanwhile she continues to ignore the gang murder of a Truman College student on the street in front of her office.
What’s moral about that?"

By Fran Spielman, City Hall Reporter, Tribune

Mayor Daley's plan to require Chicago building owners to secure, maintain and light up their vacant buildings was advanced by a City Council committee today amid concern it would saddle building owners with expenses they cannot afford and trigger an avalanche of demolitions.

“To deal with the worst set of circumstances, we’re requiring that everyone spend the money to do it in every circumstance, even though it’s not necessary in every circumstance. I’m fearful this will lead to more demolitions, rather than more opportunities to use the properties,” said Ald. Helen Shiller (46th).
Ald. Ed Smith (28th) said a “whole lot of buildings” in his impoverished West Side ward are owned by senior citizens on fixed-incomes.

“What happens if they can’t afford an alarm system? Does the building get torn down? It may be a perfectly good building,” Smith said.

Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) added, “If a person is struggling, we’re setting these folks up to fail. And we’re setting ourselves up for coming into possession of a lot more buildings.”

Buildings Committee Chairman Bernard Stone (50th) said safety standards are needed to convince lenders City Hall “means business” about the need to maintain vacant buildings. Chicago already has 10,000 vacant buildings. The inventory is growing fast because of the foreclosure epidemic.

“There are buildings all over the city just sitting there wide open. Most of these lenders aren’t doing a damned thing. … If you go after the buildings, lenders have to fix ‘em up. Otherwise, they have no investment,” Stone said.

As for fears that Ma and Pa owners would be saddled with added costs, Stone said, “I’m not going after the two-flats and three-flats. I’m going after big buildings. You can be selective as to what you go after.”

The use of plywood to cover doors and windows would be strictly prohibited on buildings vacant for at least six months, under the ordinance, advanced by the Buildings Committee after a four-hour hearing.

A six-month vacancy would also trigger a requirement that buildings either be secured with steel panels or have all windows and doors installed, a functioning security system and an “active account” with a private security company. Dusk-to-dawn lighting would be required at all exits.

From ABC 7 Chicago:
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Hundreds of North Side residents held a vigil Monday night outside Alderman Mary Ann Smith's home.

They're fighting her plans for Senn High School.

The group, Organization of the Northeast says the plan would keep many neighborhood kids out of Senn and make it less diverse.

Smith has proposed turning the high school into four separate academies. Smith says only the college prep school would have selective enrollment. The others would accept any student living in the Senn community.
The group left a letter on Smith's door.

"We are tired of the alderman saying she wants to better the school. But who does she want to better the school for? She doesn't want to better it for everybody," said Brian Roa, Senn teacher.

"We really don't want Senn to turn into a place where you have to apply to get into it. It should be a community school that everyone in the community can go to," said Cassandra Chen, ONE supporter.

The group says they would like Smith to work with them on a plan for the school.

At tonight's Beat 2311 CAPS meeting, the police stressed that they aren't getting 911 calls about the gang and drug activity they see happening. The police are out there, they're making arrests... but the calls aren't coming in from the community. If you see any suspicious activity, make a call. You can remain anonymous. But we are the eyes and ears on our blocks. We need to let the police know when things aren't right.

23rd District Cmdr. Kathy Boehmer was the speaker at the meeting and she said that additional police units are being allocated to our district in light of the recent increase in activity.

Greg Harris, as well as the usual representative from his staff, attended the meeting due to all the community calls and emails his office has received expressing concern about the murder of Francis Oduro and heightened gang activity.

Anyone who wants to add more details about the meeting, please comment.

A reader writes in:
"COURAJ was called in to distract the media from Saturday's peace rally by preempting it with their own media event this morning in our Sunshine Community Garden. The protesters decided to use our community garden, created by families and residents living by Clarendon Park, an ironic choice.

Looks like the political natives are restless about the Saturday rally planned for outside the alderman's office, Marc Kaplan and the few remaining remnants from COURAJ held a press conference to talk about police brutality and Uptown youths.

The plan backfired in their face when residents who built the garden showed up and voiced their concerns about the most recent murder of a Truman student and the rash of gang shootings on the rise in the immediate neighborhood."
Check out the video at CLTV here.

A reader writes in:
Wouldn’t it be nice if our alderman asked for our opinion on how to vote on this controversial topic? This was sent by Ald. Schulter from the 47th Ward seeking the opinion of his constituents.

What a groundbreaking day at Wilson Yard THIS would have been!

As you have probably already noticed, the latest deadline for construction to begin at Wilson Yard has come and gone. No press release from the Alderman's office or from Holsten Management has been issued to explain this latest delay, which is reflected by our new timer ticking away on the right. We encourage our readers to email both Dave Roeder (droeder@suntimes.com) from the Sun-Times and Thomas A. Corfman (tcorfman@crain.com) from Crain's Chicago Business. Both of these reporters spoke with Mr. Holsten who confirmed the June 1 deadline for construction that has since come and gone.

Someone had asked whether at one time there was a gas station on the current day Wilson Yard site. The answer is yes. Check out the photo above from "Forgotten Chicago." You can see a bus turning around the north side of the now demolished Azusa building with a "Martin" gas station visible on the right.

Update: For more info on the Wilson Yard shops, click here.

Someone posted in the comments this weekend:

"My partner and I live on Sunnyside. We use the Red Line Wilson Stop about every day. They JUST put artist renderings of the development in the display case / poster case back-lit signs outside of Aldi! And it DOES show the Target store."

A couple Update Update contributors went to Aldi's today and checked out the display cases while we were there. No sign of anything having to do with Target or renderings. Just the badly-lit SSA banners and Aldi's ad that have been there since the beginning.

We also had a chance to notice the three blank cases, empty except for graffiti and the now-ruined display case glass where previous graffiti was eradicated. Surely this isn't the "art-filled atrium" that residents were promised by the alderman's office when she was promoting her wonderful plan for Wilson Yard?

We are left to wonder ...

If $52 million in public funds, Aldi, Holsten Development, Alderman Helen Shiller and the Department of Planning and Development can't even manage to keep a promise about putting schoolchildren's art on display ... how can they possibly be trusted to get Wilson Yard built?

And remember, Uptown residents: Your money paid for this. Behold the ruined glass and broken promises your tax dollars have bought in the name of Ald. Shiller's "vision" for Wilson Yard.

"Now since we’re killing each other in the areas where we live, no politician is running on law and order. They’re afraid they're going to be accused of picking on the poor." -Bill Cosby

Read the entire article here.

Think of it as a "coming attraction" of what will be there if Shiller's vision of Wilson Yard ever gets built.

Shhh! If you're very, very quiet, and wish very, very hard, you can almost see them!

"Construction is scheduled to start by June 1." - Peter Holsten

"Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality." - Jules de Gaultier

"How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg." - Abraham Lincoln

From the Chicago Uptown Crime Blotter:

Sunday, June 1, 2008
4:55 multiple shots fired, Sunnyside and Hazel area. multiple calls.

Enough is enough. How high does the body count have to be before this stops? Powers That Be, are you hearing this?