CBS 2: 13 members of the city council are leaving

 

[VIDEO] And more to come reportedly according to this report. The latest Alderman to announce she won't run for re-election is Ward 10 Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza. You can read more about it at Crain's.

You can check out this list also from Crain's in August the Alderman who are calling it quits, some are trying to attain higher office as three Alderman are looking to challenge Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Others are outright retiring also.

Portrayed as a mass exodus, I'd pay attention if half of the 50 members of the city council are leaving.

Crain's: New hotel, grocery store pitched for Pullman #Ward09

 Some exciting projects coming to the far south side. Pullman could get a hotel and Altgeld Gardens - which is a long way from Pullman - could be getting a new grocery story.

Via Crain's Chicago Business

One year after the Pullman National Monument debuted as a hopeful tourist attraction, two developers have lined up plans to add a hotel for visitors and a grocery store for residents in the burgeoning area.

In one of two projects proposed in and around the far South Side neighborhood, a venture led by Chicago investor Andre Garner is seeking a city grant to help develop a 101-room Hampton by Hilton hotel at 111th Street and Doty Avenue, a few blocks east of the clock tower building that has been restored as a visitor center for the historic site. In the other, Cleveland-based grocery operator Yellow Banana has applied for the same grant to help it develop a Save A Lot supermarket immediately south of Pullman at 130th Street and Eberhardt Avenue.

Both developers have applied for $5 million in assistance through the Chicago Recovery Plan development grant program, according to a joint statement they issued with Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th. The grants are partially funded by local recovery money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act passed last year.

The plans could add to a series of developments in and near Pullman along Interstate 94, where the 180-acre former Ryerson Steel plant site has been transformed in recent years into a mixed-use campus, dubbed Pullman Park. The historic-but-disinvested property now includes a Method Soap factory that opened in 2015, a pair of greenhouses from produce grower Gotham Greens and a Whole Foods distribution center and an Amazon delivery center, among other new developments.

Read the whole thing. 

 

The former Illinois Service Federal branch on 87th Street soon to reopen

 If you live in Chatham and do business with GN Bank - formerly known as Illinois Service Federal - is reopening their former branch on 87th Street & King Drive. According to Steve Daniels from Crain's:

Chairman Papa Kwesi Nduom, whose wealthy family rescued the bank in 2016 with millions in fresh capital when it was on the brink of failure, says the Chatham branch is open on a drive-thru basis for withdrawals and deposits. It will return to full service once licensing is completed, he says.

“This is being done to signal to the community that we are putting customer service high on our priority list,” he says in an email.

If you were following the FB page Concerned Citizens of Chatham the issue with this closure is what would replace the bank on this property. There were concerned about a marijuana dispensary possibly being located there. Well now a bank will be back on this property.

BTW, this article was from last year. GN Bank is a Ghanian-American company who rescued ISF in 2016 from failure. In this December 2021 article from ProPublica we find out GN Bank has a number of issues:

Five years later, the historic institution — renamed GN Bank — remains deeply troubled. Under the Nduoms, the bank has closed one of its two locations, cut staff, alienated many longtime customers and effectively stopped making new home loans, though that’s one of the central reasons for its existence. In 2020, the bank was again put under restrictions after regulators found “new violations of law, rule or regulation.”

Yet the Nduoms aren’t solely responsible for GN’s struggles. Regulators have failed to carry out a federal mandate to “preserve and promote” Black-owned banks, a ProPublica investigation has found.

Leading up to the Nduoms’ acquisition, the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ordered the bank to reduce the risk in its loans, which led to less revenue. Then, the agency signed off on the new owners, even though they lacked banking experience in the United States and had investments abroad that posed known regulatory risks. Since then, the bank has been under close watch, yet the Nduoms have made a series of decisions that diminished the bank’s profile and quality of service.

Block Club Chi: Red Line extension is now closer than ever

 The most recent reporting on the future Red Line extension which will take the L further south into Roseland to 130th Street. As I read this article no money has been allocated to start this project yet.

Block Club Chi:

Political Forum: Illinois 1st Congressional District Candidates

 

[VIDEO] From the video description and it's not clear when this actually aired on CAN-TV.

Learn about these 1st Congressional District Candidates: Chris Butler (D), Jahmal Cole (D), Jacqueline Collins (D), Pat Dowell (D), Jonathan Jackson (D), Karin Norington–Reaves (D), Jonathan Swain (D), and Charise Williams (D).

And BTW, JP Paulus at The Sixth Ward is fired up about a lack of coverage of this open seat. As he states this is the first time in a generation that we have an incumbent-free election that is more open than ever.

ABC 7: Private security firms to patrol Beverly, Morgan Park and Mt Greenwood

 

[VIDEO] Out of ward 19. Ald. Matt O'Shea wasn't seen in this report however he was quoted as stating that his part of the city is safe, but acknowledged that police are stretched thin. Security will be unarmed and if they see illegal activity will remain on scene and call police. This extra layer is appreciated by residents as you see in the above story.

2022 Taste of Chicago & SummerDance in Pullman Park

 Something found on the fb page of Ald. Anthony Beale. This will take place on June 18, 2022 Pullman Park is located at 11101 S. Cottage Grove admission is free. Refer to flyer below

Also click this link which shows a far more comprehensive list of events and acts for June 18.

And allow me to add TasteofChicago.us which is basically a link that sends you to a page about the Taste of Chicago from the city itself.

Sun-Times: Ward map battle over, but bitterness lingers

As stated already Altgeld Gardens will soon be in Ward 10 it is especially noted in this Chicago Sun-Times May 16, 2022 article. Altgeld Gardens is currently in Ward 9

9th Ward Summer Clean out fair June 16th

From Ald. Beale's fb page:

The 9th Ward's Annual Summer Clear Out Fair is June 16th! Shredding, electronic recycling, prescription pill disposal, and collection of any junk items will be accepted. Help us keep the community clean by disposing of your items the correct way.

• Pullman Community Center
  10355 S Woodlawn
  Chicago, IL 60628
  Thursday, June 16, 2022
  10 AM to 2 PM 

Sun-Times: Compromise on new City Council ward map could take issue away from Chicago voters

 The vote on this new map will take place when the City Council meets next week. You can check out what the ward remap looks like here.

From Sun-Times:

A deal has been struck on a new Chicago City Council ward map that, if approved, will keep the decision out of the hands of voters.

Under the deal, which still must be cemented by a City Council vote next week, the map will create 16 Black majority wards and 14 Latino majority wards, according to Ald. George Cardenas (12th).

Faced with a May 19 deadline to work it out themselves, the agreement calls for one fewer majority-Latino ward than the council’s Latino Caucus had wanted.

The proposed map also contains the city’s first ward with an Asian American majority.

Demographics are key to ward map negotiations. The city’s Black population is shrinking while the city’s Latino population is growing.

“There’s no need to bring the house down. We can own the house,” Cardenas said, referring to the next remap — in 10 years.

“Our day is coming for sure. We have to be patient and humble,” he said.

Cardenas offered a “kudos” to Mayor Lori Lightfoot for her work on Monday to facilitate the agreement and get all sides to sign on to the map.

Cardenas is grateful the map won’t go to a referendum — a step that, he said, would have siphoned energy from council members dealing with other pressing issues, including crime and a city casino.

Here's how our part of town looks in the new ward map. If you live in Altgeld Gardens, that development will now be in Ward 10.

 

Chicago Mag: ‘This is the end of Chicago’ (Geographically)

Map of Hegewisch and nearby area 

From Ed McClelland at Chicago Magazine regarding the southeast side of Chicago.

To reach the southeasternmost corner of Chicago, you have to take bumpy, potholed Boy Scout Road out of Hegewisch, then turn onto a set of tracks belonging to the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad. With Powder Horn Lake to your right, follow the tracks between tall stands of reeds, still in their winter blondeness, toward a railyard where black tankers idle. Then turn onto a disused rail spur, weeds growing between its ties. Ahead, just across the state line, in Hammond, Indiana, are the rusted sheds of some long-abandoned industrial concern.

Chicago’s southern border is, perhaps, the wildest, most undeveloped part of the city, a hinterland that, in some places, looks more rural than urban, despite lying within the boundaries of America’s third-largest city. Like the nation’s southern frontier, it is a no-man’s land that crosses woods, lakes, rivers, and federal facilities off limits to the public. It would have made sense to set the southern city limits at the Little Calumet and Grand Calumet rivers. Instead of respecting natural boundaries, though, surveyors drew a straight line that corresponds with the middle of 138th Street and is often impossible to follow, even by bicycle or on foot. Last weekend, I tried, and, for most of its length, I failed.

After leaving the Belt Railroad yards, the city limits travel west across Powder Horn Lake and through Burnham Woods. I only had a bicycle, not a canoe or a machete, so I couldn’t paddle and bushwhack through those wild barriers. To pick up the line again, I pedaled south to the village of Burnham, and into the dirt alley behind 138th Place, a street of vinyl-sided workers’ cottages and a long-shuttered Old Style bar. Running along the north side of the alley is a fence entangled with vines — a border fence between the city and suburbs, as flimsy as any in the Sonoran Desert, barring the way to Mexico. On the other side is Chicago.

The alley dead ends near the south bank of the Grand Calumet River, the body of water that lends its name to the Calumet Region. From there, the city limits cross the confluence of the Grand and Little Calumets. When they hit land again, they slice through the northern tip of Burnham Park. A few square feet of that suburban park actually lies inside Chicago, although the village of Burnham still mows the grass. Such is what happens when man’s Euclidean determinations impose themselves on nature’s beguiling irregularities.

They go from about Altgeld Gardens which is contained within Ward 9 and further east into the area known as Hegewisch as you see in the above map. Read the whole thing.

Walk with us to what feels like an abandoned frontier. Southeasternmost Chicago may surprise you.https://t.co/th6aGuojBK

— Chicago magazine (@ChicagoMag) April 15, 2022

 

CBS Chicago: Mayoral candidate Willie Wilson hosts third gas giveaway

 

[VIDEO] Here's what WBBM-TV shows as far as yesterday's Willie Wilson gas giveaway. Anyone out there participated in this? How long was the wait for you.

Another Willie Wilson gas giveaway coming

This week 2023 mayoral candidate Willie Wilson announced yet another $1 Million gas giveaway. As the last time if there are any updates I will share it with you all. This time he's separating out the city locations and the suburban locations. The closest station for the next giveaway is 111th & State Street on Saturday April 23, 2022.

Also you can follow Willie Wilson on his fb page and on Twitter.

 

UPDATED Willie Wilson gas giveaway list

 This is advertised as a final updated list. So here it is, just released not long after I wrote the post yesterday.

Ready for the next Willie Wilson gas giveaway

 On March 24, 2022 starting at 7:00 AM you can go to 50 locations actually to the graphic contained in the tweet people I see only 47 anyway you get $50 worth of free gasoline. At these 50 stations while supplies last well at least $1 million dollars of supply total among those 50 gas stations you can take advantage of this giveaway.

Wilson Announces $1 Million Worth of Free Gas as Cook County Residents
Participating Gas Stations Free Gas Starting March 24th at 7:00am until $1 million is exhausted. | This s the Second Round Stations List pic.twitter.com/rC0DBPNdso

— Dr. Willie Wilson (@DrWillieWilson) March 19, 2022

Capitol Fax: The Willie Wilson gas giveaway should be a wakeup call

 You may have heard about this all on the news yesterday and he'll do it all again March 31, 2022. We know among other economic news nationally gas prices have been going up and the situation in Ukraine is part of it. People are hurting and former Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson is attempting to help the people who are hurting from free gas prices.

The Willie Wilson gas giveaway should be a wakeup call https://t.co/iQyQylwKpy

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 17, 2022

From Rich Miller's post today: "The Democrats at the national, state and local levels ought to pay close attention to this reaction to Wilson’s offer."

Here's a news story about this [VIDEO]

Block Club Chi: New Culver's restaurant in Pullman now hiring

 Culver's is a burger chain that has locations in Bronzeville near 33rd & King Drive and one in Evergreen Park near 95th & Kedzie. They're expanding into the historic south side neighborhood of Pullman. And they're seeking applicants.

Via Block Club Chicago:

The Culver’s will open in early November at 111th Street and Doty Avenue. The restaurant is seeking applicants to fill 60-70 full-time and part-time jobs.

“It’s important that we work in the community to provide people of all ages with new opportunities that offer the skills and experience,” Baron Waller, the owner and a mentor who grew up on Chicago’s West Side, said in a statement. “It is one of the best ways to build a brighter future.”

Although prior restaurant experience is a plus, it is not necessary. Interested applicants can apply on Culver’s website.

...

“We’re excited that Baron has chosen to bring Culver’s to the Pullman and Roseland community,” Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) said in a statement. “Culver’s will be a great addition to the community serving not only residents, but the visitors to the Pullman National Monument Visitor, the Pullman Community Center and employees of all the businesses in the area and more.”

Sept. 5th Pullman Nat'l Monument Opening

 

[VIDEO] I see there were other festivities on Labor Day that featured the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago among other dignitaries. And of course the Alderman of Ward 9 Anthony Beale was around for this since the nat'l monument is in our ward. Here's to the positives of this new tourist destination on this part of town.

This was recorded by local YouTuber artistmac. Enjoy!

I hope you get a kick out of those antique bikes called penny farthings and the two gents riding them in period clothing.

I hope everyone had a restful and safe Labor Day weekend.

Urbanize Chgo: Historic Pullman Nat'l Monument ready for Labor Day grand opening #Ward09

The Chicago Neighborhoods

Something to look forward to this weekend the National Monument in the historic Pullman neighborhood in our part of the city will have a grand opening this coming weekend.

Former Ald. Robert Shaw dies #Ward09

 Robert Shaw served two non-consecutive terms as Alderman of the 9th Ward with his more recent tenure ending in 1998 when he was ultimately succeeded by current Alderman Anthony Beale.

Robert Shaw, a longtime powerhouse of Black leadership in Chicago politics, died Thursday after a battle with cancer at the age of 83.https://t.co/WPfz96Vz91

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) July 27, 2021

It was noted that in addition to be an alderman he served as a member of the Cook County Board of Appeals and not only ran for Village President of South Holland but attempted to run against Rahm Emanuel in 2014. Here's a statement from Ald. Beale regarding Shaw's death

Current 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale remembers Shaw for his determination and push for inclusivity.

“On behalf of the 9th Ward and the Roseland and Pullman community, I want to express my sincere condolences to the family of Robert Shaw,” Beale said in a statement. “Chicago lost a man whose passion for public service, reaching out to everyone and working with everybody, is one I enjoyed and respected. I will remember him as one who sought solutions to bring people together and to make positive change.”