Terms for Chicago Teachers to return to the classroom

 If you were concerned about the negotiations between the city and the teacher's union as far as opening public schools back up, here's a post about it from Rich Miller. Gives you a basic idea of what these negotiations are about.

Question of the day https://t.co/Cl8WgNGWB9

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) February 8, 2021

BlockClubChi: Chatham Building That Housed Black-Owned Bank For Sale For $1.5 Million

 I shared news about this last week on this blog. Jamie Nesbit Golden writes about this.

A Chatham building that housed a Black-owned bank is for sale for $1.5 million. https://t.co/YuYZrYyTlL pic.twitter.com/iq4k623UdG

— Block Club Chicago (@BlockClubCHI) February 5, 2021

High-Low Foods on E. 111th Street #tbt

Via Pete Kastanes of Vanished Chicagoland. This store was located at 409 E. 111th in the Roseland neighborhood. This is the corner of 111th & King Drive and the building itself is still standing, the business itself is still a neighborhood corner store.

Here is a photo of a High-Low Foods Store. Once located at 409 E 111th St in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago. pic.twitter.com/5MNegwpQuD

— Pete Kastanes (@PeteKastanes) January 6, 2021

Here is a Google Streetview look at the same location in 2019

Tribune: COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers

 Check out this graphic from the Chicago Tribune with regards to where the different regions of this state are as far as positivity rates and hospitalizations. If you're looking for Chicago & Cook County note that theyre basically considered separate "regions" as far as assessing positivity & hospitalizations.

COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on key metrics in your area https://t.co/ckrNpwnxLM

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) December 23, 2020

Union National Bank Christmas Club record via Vanished Chicagoland #tbt

 Here's another Throwback Thursday post, and a far more timely one. A Christmas Club record book from the former Union Nat'l Bank formerly located in Roseland via Vanished Chicagoland

Here is a Christmas Club record from The Union National Bank, once located at 11108 S Michigan Ave in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago. pic.twitter.com/40kIBZ6p8L

— Vanished Chicagoland (@vanishedchicago) December 17, 2020

The Roseland Branch of the former Seaway National Bank - now part of Self Help FCU - is a descendent of the former Union Nat'l Bank located at 11108 S. Michigan Ave. Seaway ultimately demolished the old Union Bank building and built another branch a bit south though still using that same address.

Union Bank was purchased by Seaway in the 1980s. Seaway Nat'l Bank ultimately became Seaway Bank & Trust Co. in 2008 and unfortunately failed in 2017.

Secretary of State Driver Services facilities closed until Jan. 4, 2021

 This was shown on the Capitol Fax blog on Friday, however, this is news you can use. Driver services facilities for the Secretary of State will be closed for the rest of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. This includes the facility on 99th & King Dr or 9901 S. King Drive.

SoS announces Driver Services facilities will remain closed for in-person service until January 4 https://t.co/BEKNDzAgyn

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) December 4, 2020

Here's hoping they try to take care of those long lines that seem to form when people go to a Secretary of State facility when they opened up during the course of the summer.

Supt. David Brown shared this tweet Friday about Officer Titus Moore

Titus Moore died at his West Chesterfield home Nov. 24, 2020 and Supt. Brown share this tweet Friday night noting that there will be an honors funeral for this 14-year CPD veteran.

The death of #ChicagoPolice Officer Titus Moore is a loss for this Department and the entire city. In memory of the 14-year CPD veteran, we're coordinating an honors funeral for him next week.

He left an irreplaceable void and a legacy of service we will carry on in his memory. pic.twitter.com/1qABTRpDoJ

— Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown (@ChiefDavidBrown) December 5, 2020

Winter overnight parking ban begins tonight!

 Technically it begins at 3 AM so great apologies if you see this just now and realize you need to get your car off the streets. I'm sharing this tweet from the Chicago Police which appears to have been shared as I write this post 3 hours ago.

Chicago: don’t forget to move your cars tonight if you’re parked along any of the tow away zone streets marked in red. https://t.co/HMpX59NyYv pic.twitter.com/UbhrJZNDAl

— Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) December 1, 2020

Tribune: Chicago police arrest 13 people after tents are set up outside CPS headquarters to protest officers in schools

It seems the demonstrations continue as far as protests with regards to having police officers in school. And it seems that there was a clash involving tents at Chicago Public Schools HQ - 42 W. Madison St.

More than a dozen people were arrested, including two minors, after protesters set up tents outside the Loop headquarters of Chicago Public Schools on Monday to protest the stationing of police officers in schools.

Police said they gave protesters several warnings that the tents outside 42 W. Madison St. were blocking the streets. Those arrested were charged with “illegally obstructing the roadway,” they said.

The protest was the latest call by activists for the removal of Chicago police officers in Chicago public schools. It came days before the Chicago Board of Education is to consider a resolution that could phase out use of officers.

The resolution, up for a vote Wednesday, would “require that the CEO and district leaders, in consultation with school communities, identify and recommend an alternative plan to ensure safe and supportive school environments.”
...
Monday’s protest drew about 60 people and was organized by the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Assata’s Daughters, FYSH Youth — HANA Center, STOP Chicago, KINETIC Youth — Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Logan Square Neighborhood Association and Enlace Chicago.

Tweets contained from the write-up at the Tribune

LIVE NOW: CPD WE WANT YOU OUT. Listen to the young people. CPD threatening to arrest young people and adult allies demanding #CopsOutCPS https://t.co/WXDvy21Xor

— Students Strike Back #CopsOutCPS (@StuStrikeBack) August 25, 2020

Officers at the protest were ensuring the rights of peaceful protesters were safely facilitated. However, about 60 protesters set up tents in the street, illegally obstructing the roadway. Officers issued 3 warnings to leave the street. 13 individuals remained. https://t.co/PhYH7arxiE

— Chicago Police Communications & News Affairs (@CPD_Media) August 25, 2020

The Mayor breaks up a gathering on the north lakefront this past weekend

This tweet from over the weekend from Mayor Lori Lightfoot showed up on Instapundit. And I see a number of tweets on twitter that took her well intended post in a bad way.

It's called a pandemic, people. This reckless behavior on Montrose Beach is what will cause us to shut down the parks and lakefront. Don't make us take steps backwards. pic.twitter.com/FHxeYfH7Wf

— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) August 8, 2020

CWB Chicago shared this image of the Mayor at Montrose Beach crashing the so-called party along with her photographer on fb

Furthermore Ed Driscoll at Instapundit noted: "Curiously, none of the articles this weekend by the Chicago Sun Times, ABC’s Chicago affiliate, CBS’s Chicago affiliate, and NBC’s Chicago affiliate mention the July protests or Lightfoot’s blessings."

I admitted to an out of state friend that I miss Rahm Emanuel. He was unpopular as time went on but some of what's been going on in the city it wouldn't have been tolerated with him as mayor. However, the crisis going on he wouldn't let go to waste.

In addition, 2nd City Cop has an interesting post if you go to the bottom of the post about the various machines that exists in Chicago. In a fit of perhaps disrespect they refer to the mayor as Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, perhaps the Mayor will only have one term. We have a while before '23.

The Cook County State's Attorney Race

The above flyer I saw taped on a bus shelter on 95th Street Sunday. This is the first time I've seen such an accusation although if the State's Attorney is unpopular amongst some parts of the electorate it's due to her offices handling of the Jussie Smollett affair - Smollett formerly starred in the popular TV series Empire had allegedly engaged in a hoax claiming racists wearing a Make America Great Again ballcap had assaulted him.

Regardless Foxx easily won the Democrat primary in March even if it was affected by the coronavirus. And she does have a Republican opponent and I mentioned that in passing on Twitter as Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara noted the Republican opponent during his appearance on FOX News Channel.

#IngrahamAngle I hate to say it John Catanzara, but I doubt most of Chicago or Cook County knows who Kim Foxx's Republican opponent is. Who is he? Where is he?

— The Sixth Ward (@TheSixthWard) July 22, 2020

I found this article from March 2020 discussing the Republican opponent Pat O'Brien a former judge who was elected as such as a Democrat in 2006

After cruising through the GOP primary Tuesday, O’Brien outlined his plans to beat incumbent Democrat Kim Foxx in a live-streamed news conference, thanking his family, friends and “everyone who voted against Kim Foxx.”

“We really have to clean up the mess that she’s made,” O’Brien said, not even a minute into his remarks. “I think we have to restore justice to the community. We have to make it safer for people in all of the kinds of activities that they do, and we have to remember that the state’s attorney’s duty is to protect the victims of crime.”
...
O’Brien said he’s taken a hard look at the state’s attorneys office, and while he sees Foxx’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case as “a violation of oath and a lack of integrity” he said the office is “under producing in other areas.”

The former judge said that under Foxx’s administration, fewer than 200 jury trials have been held in 15 felony courtrooms, which works out to less than four trials per courtroom each year. He said that from the 1980s until the first decade of this century that number was much higher. He also said Foxx has “lost more trials and gun cases than she’s won in each of the three years” and called for quicker trials.

This article noted that it's been almost 25 since a Republican had been elected Cook County State's Attorney. I vaguely remember him, he was a man named Jack O'Malley. Perhaps some of you remember those "Back Jack" political ads from back in the day.

Either way, 2020 has proven to be an odd year in a variety of ways. We got this pandemic and this unrest over racial injustice. I thought Trump could be re-elected President and right now he's limping because of those two ongoing crises. Perhaps a Republican could win the State's Attorneys office this year.

However, Cook County seemed to have trended more and more Democrat over the years and since O'Brien seems to have hardly campaigned since his primary I don't see a change in Cook County. Then again who knows time will tell..

Tribune: CTA and Pace buses will begin collecting fares again, as riders slowly return to public transit

If you've gotten used to boarding the rear of a CTA bus during the course of this coronavirus pandemic, that time is ending. If you enjoyed avoiding paying your fare, especially for those of you who prefer to pay with cash as opposed to using a ventra card those days are about to end.

In another sign that things are getting closer to normal in the Chicago area, the CTA and Pace will start collecting bus fares again, and the CTA will end rear-door boarding.

The CTA will require customers to enter buses via the front door and pay fares starting Sunday, while the Pace suburban bus service resumes fare collections Monday.

Both agencies had waived fare collection as a way to protect operators and passengers from the coronavirus. But since the agency started rear-door boarding in April, the state and the agency have adopted other ways of keeping people safe, including providing masks for all drivers, requiring that passengers be masked, and implementing new cleaning technology, said CTA spokesman Brian Steele.

The agency limits the number of passengers on buses to no more than 15 people on a 40-foot bus and no more than 22 on a 60-foot bus. The CTA also has a ridership information dashboard on its website that shows when buses are the most crowded to help people choose a better time to travel.

Keith Hill, president of the bus drivers’ union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, said his group agreed with the resumption of front-door boarding. Hill noted the CTA had agreed to increase the “standee line,” or how far passengers have to stand back from drivers, to more than six feet.

In addition to outdoor dining, opening the lakefront, even allowing businesses that provide such services as barbers, pedicures, tatoos, etc to reopen it's a start!

Starting Sunday, rear-door boarding on CTA buses will end. As we begin to welcome people back, riders will return to boarding at the front as we’ve taken many steps to provide the healthiest environment possible for customers and employees. Learn more: https://t.co/VDccvU5ct2 pic.twitter.com/SuRgcZfCwr

— cta (@cta) June 19, 2020

CapFax: CTU slammed for “clearly racist” tweet

I found out about this tweet from the Chicago Teacher's Union at Capitol Fax today. He's noted what if Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police had tweeted this out. And I'm guessing the police would be universally condemned for this.

Y’all too much sometimes. 😂😂💀#DefundthePolice #PoliceFreeSchools #CopsOutCPS (IG: @electricstripe) pic.twitter.com/I4ryy3vOvM

— ChicagoTeachersUnion (@CTULocal1) June 18, 2020

EDIT 7:53 PM: That tweet has since been taken down so therefore I was prepared with this below screencap. 

Rich Miller further notes: "According to Chalkbeat, more than half of Chicago public school teachers are white. The CTU’s president is a wealthy white man."

Bad optics on all fronts. I get that the CTU and Mayor Lightfoot had been at odds since the strike late last year. However, this seems very incendiary. Further more I'm glad the mayor had a response to this noting what the response would've been if a right wing group had put this out. The condemnation should be no less if it was police, right-wingers, or even the teachers.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot blasts this tweet: “If that kind of tweet, which is clearly racist, had been put forward by a right-wing group, we would rightly be denouncing them. I think our scorn should be no less because it was put out by the CTU." https://t.co/VLYlwkwrXl

— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) June 18, 2020

She's been taking a beating for her response to the unrest, however, she's not wrong in her comments.

CTA cleaning #Pandemic

[VIDEO] Since I shared Amtrak's response, what about the response from the Chicago Transit Authority. Unfortunately many Chicagoans have a love hate relationship with their public transportation provider.

I don't often see CTA workers giving the "spit-shine" to at the very least the CTA trains especially when they get into their respective terminals. To be honest it's probably hard to do when say a train get into its final destination and it has to go right out and you have passengers coming around and taking their seats.

Another thing I've noticed on trains during the heat of this pandemic is that increasingly you see homeless people riding the trains. Unfortunately they're just as vulnerable to the coronavirus and I get the idea less likely to seek out medical help for this very dangerous illness. So unfortunately there's that the content with on CTA at all hours.

It's great to see this b-roll footage of CTA workers sanitizing even train stations from handrails to Ventra card machines. It's great to see workers get on the buses and deep clean once their in their respective garages. Indeed, this is also occurring to CTA trains once they're in the yard.

There could be more CTA could do to insure passengers are in a very clean and safe environment on public transportation during this pandemic. Perhaps make more of an effort to keep the homeless from using CTA as a shelter for example - although granted I hear a lot of the shelters are crowded right now.

Another odd thing that has been going on with CTA right now is their attempt to protect their employees, especially bus drivers. CTA riders will have to board the back of the bus now.

To help #KeepTheDistance and better protect you and our frontline workers, beginning today, we’re implementing rear-door boarding on all buses and allowing some buses to run as “drop-off, only” to avoid crowding.

Full details: https://t.co/xFgooEI7lQ pic.twitter.com/5wq3YGDmOj

— cta (@cta) April 9, 2020

While this had in my mind conjured up images of the Montgomery Bus Boycott - and its not really something I've seen discussed in the media - I realize these are not those times. There are reports of CTA bus drivers being diagnosed with coronavirus and have little issue with ensuring their safety. Getting on the bus through the back doors are something we have to get used to for now for the safety of the transit workers.

Not that I advocate for this, however, at least until we get back to normal if you pay cash fare to board a bus CTA isn't collecting your fare. Reportedly, however, they plan to place Ventra card readers at the back of the bus though so far most buses don't use this feature yet.

CapFax: More of this, please

More of what? Well a solution to a special education teacher shortage. Perhaps in general a teacher's shortage in this state whether in rural, suburban, or even urban areas like Chicago. Via Rich Miller.

More of this, please https://t.co/URqKUP5m5Y

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) January 16, 2020

Capitol Fax: CPS receiving about three adult sexual misconduct complaints per day

Rich Miller writes in today's post about this: "Sounds like it’s time to revamp the vetting process." Referring specifically to 4.7% of CPS security guards.

CPS receiving about three adult sexual misconduct complaints per day https://t.co/raOqJ3b5cT

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) November 21, 2019

No CPS classes in 8 days

This was on the Capitol Fax blog yesterday, Rich Miller isn't buying whatever numbers the teacher's union has been using.

Why I’m not buying the numbers that the CTU is selling https://t.co/u6bFh5bozS

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 28, 2019

Meanwhile CPS has a struck a deal with SEIU over the weekend as they still continue negotiations with the teachers.

Also I've been using social media to keep up with the strike to the best of my ability. From CPS's FB page to the Chicago Teacher's Union ig in addition to CapFax. My apologies for not keeping up with any updates with regards to negotiations between CPS and CTU on this blog.

Today marks the 8th straight day of cancelled classes for CPS students and this is considered the longest strike since 1987.

My hope is that classes will resume for CPS students and soon! 

Capitol Fax: Must-see CPS strike videos

[VIDEO] The first video you see above was shared Friday on CapFax is of strike teacher's mocking Michael Jackson's thriller. I' giving them credit for making this strike entertaining at least. That video among other teacher's strike fun.

Must-see CPS strike videos https://t.co/T1IP3tuIXz

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 25, 2019

Chicago Teacher's strike updates

I haven't done a great job at keeping up with the strike so far on this blog. Classes have been cancelled all week for CPS students due to this impasse between the city and the teacher's union. Here are some items that might interest you from during the week via CapFax.


This first item from earlier this week involved the negotiations between the Mayor and the teachers. Funny thing about this is the notion that if you want to frustrate the process just bring more people to the table. Main thing is there is a real strategy to doing so if you know the other side has something to lose in this.

Pick a lane, please https://t.co/dUIUxtQn1C

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 22, 2019

This other item is from yesterday which aside from any mention of civil disobedience training also notes that there is some progress in recent negotiations. Perhaps students will be able to return to class soon, although it appears that student athletes who hope to go the their respective playoffs might have lost that opportunity.

Pressure intensifies on both sides as legislators stand with CTU https://t.co/bW3ySccRUx

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 24, 2019

Also in noting the title of that last post, some state politicians and city alderman have sided with the teacher's union publicly. It is hardly of any surprise that this needs to be a consideration, especially if the mayor has something to lose if this strike drags on and could affect her objectives with the General Assembly in Springfield.

Finally here are a couple of Instagram posts shared on Thursday from CPS with regards to their teachers union offer.

View this post on Instagram

In addition to raising the average teacher’s salary to $100K, we’re making significant investments to support students and schools.

A post shared by Chicago Public Schools (@chipubschools) on Oct 24, 2019 at 7:11am PDT

This other post is a video

View this post on Instagram

Our latest offer will raise the average teacher’s salary to nearly $100K, offers support staff double-digit raises, and provide a full-time nurse and social worker for every school, every day.

A post shared by Chicago Public Schools (@chipubschools) on Oct 24, 2019 at 10:20am PDT

Governor's mansion history from Curbed...

I liked this history of the state's Governor's Mansion and of all the work done to that Springfield house since it was first built. Of course all is noted in light of the renovations that will start this month and end just in time for the holidays. Via Curbed Chicago

After $15 million update in 2018, the Governor’s Mansion will close for more renovations. https://t.co/ktq0b7Th5o pic.twitter.com/Iqjcl1NPJ0

— Curbed Chicago (@curbedchicago) October 4, 2019

One thing to remember is that Gov. J.B. Pritzker will pay for these renovations out of his pocket!