Next level squatting pt. 3 - moving in with them

 

[VIDEO] This is related to the other two entries. According to this ABC 7 report the alleged squatters involved in the other two stories had found another home to occupy. Of course I have to admit it took some guts to bring a few friends and move into this house - which March Velasquez expected to place on the market.

And, I'm wondering if there is any attorney's reading this blog. Are the police correct that this is a civil matter and they just can't kick any trespassers off a property? What does Illinois law say about situations like this?

Update to the story about "next-level squatting"

 

[VIDEO] You saw a story about this last month about a squatter who was able to produce some documents showing that they owned the home although the address shown on documents was actually in the south suburbs.

A good conclusion that squatter was removed from the property and arrested. She's being charged with burglary, fraud, obstructing identification, and trespassing.

The couple who sought media attention for this is doing work on the house and clean-up, and expect to put this house back on the market soon.

Thanks to media attention the couple got a call from a detective who said they were taking a closer look at this. I don't know about you, but this was a bit sketchy anyway.

Chicago Tribune: Downtown alderman considering Cook County Board run against Preckwinkle

 Just remember 2026 is next year. We will be voting for a new US Senator (Dick Durbin who's represented Illinois in the US Senate since 1997 is retiring), for Governor for sure (Gov. Pritzker was in New Hampshire recently an important primary state and he may want to run for President), and now maybe a contest for Cook County Board President.

42nd Ward Ald. Brendan Reilly is considering running against longtime County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Though in her case she's probably the one of a handful of Chicago-area politicians engaged with the reorganization of public transportation.

Tribune:

Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly said Wednesday he is exploring a challenge to Toni Preckwinkle in the 2026 Democratic primary for Cook County Board president.

Reilly, 42nd, told the Tribune he would make a final decision in the coming weeks, but claimed he’d been approached to take on Preckwinkle — who is so far unchallenged for her fifth term — in recent weeks. He made similar overtures for a congressional run against Democratic Rep. Danny Davis in 2015 and has also explored mayoral runs in past cycles but has stayed put in City Hall.

One of the City Council’s moderates, Reilly has represented downtown for nearly two decades. An ally to the business community, he has been one of the best fundraisers on the council and has run uncontested for the seat since defeating longtime Ald. Burt Natarus in 2007. He closed the last fundraising quarter with more than $700,000 in the bank.

Preckwinkle ended the same quarter with a little over half of that, $365,000, in her main campaign committee.

But Preckwinkle also chairs the Cook County Democratic Party, which gives her additional political power and fundraising heft.

You think it's time for a change at the county? Perhaps time for a younger person to step up to the plate? 

Sun-Times: Mayor Johnson takes aim at Rahm Emanuel, ex-mayor's 'neoliberal agenda'

Rahm Emanuel

Does Mayor Brandon Johnson view his predecessor as a threat? It sure seems that way if you believe this report from the Chicago Sun-Times:

Johnson’s barbs directed at Emanuel came when he was asked during his weekly City Hall news conference whether the school funding increase he plans to seek next week during a lobbying trip to Springfield would be enough to avert a stalled, $300 million, high-interest loan at the Chicago Public Schools.

Instead of answering the question directly, Johnson unleashed a tirade against Emanuel, whom he has attacked before, though never so aggressively.

The mayor said he was watching an interview with Emanuel recently and was “incredibly bothered by his temerity.” Johnson said there has been a “long, sustained movement” in Chicago to push back against the “neoliberal agenda” that Emanuel championed to “set up austere budgets” targeting African-Americans and the “public accommodations” that support them.

“The playbook that Donald Trump is running is a playbook that Emanuel executed in this city,” Johnson said.

“We didn’t get here because we just happen to have a tyrant in the White House. We got here because someone gave him the script… The shutting of schools. The firing of Black women. Privatizing our public education system is why the system is as jacked up as it is today.”

Johnson said Emanuel, who famously closed nearly 50 public schools in 2013 in one fell swoop, had “immense disdain for public education and particularly Black, Brown and poor children, and he was vocal about it.”

“He told one of my heroes — sheroes — that 25% of children won’t become anything. Those are his words directly to Karen Lewis,” Johnson said of the late Chicago Teachers Union president whose planned 2015 mayoral campaign against Emanuel was derailed when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

“And now, he’s prancing around this country asking people to reconsider him,” Johnson said. “It is not just frustrating. It is beyond offensive.”

I've commented a lot about the prospect of a future third term for Rahm Emanuel and there is speculation on him running for either Governor next year, mayor in '27, or even President in '28.

The reason why he had forgone a third term in '19 was because of his standing among city voters. It was clear he was unpopular and think about it, he had to deal with a runoff in '15.

In considering the last two mayors we had, we know what we were getting. We might have an issue with what happened with Laquan McDonald and that was a tragedy, however, the last two mayors didn't know what they were doing.

What are your thoughts on the former Mayor Emanuel possibly running for another term as Mayor? You see anyone else who you'd think would be a better candidate?

The Red Line extension: It's starting

Red Line Extension

Via Block Club Chi: 

With preliminary work underway, transit officials say the long-awaited Red Line Extension is set to break ground early next year.

The $5.7 billion, 5.6-mile Red Line Extension project would move the south end of the Red Line from 95th Street to 130th Street. The CTA plans to build stations at 103rd and 111th streets near Eggleston Avenue, at Michigan Avenue near 116th Street and at 130th Street near the Altgeld Gardens public housing project.

Officials with the CTA and contractor Walsh-VINCI Transit Community Partners updated neighbors on the project Thursday during a Meet the Contractor session at St. John Missionary Baptist Church, 211 E. 115th St. in Roseland.

Groundbreaking is set for early 2026, and the project will be split into six zones, said Rob Cheeseman, construction manager for the project with Walsh Construction and senior project manager for Walsh-VINCI.

The project is said to be in it's design phase and currently prep work such as demolition, utility relocation, and soil sampling is underway. A lot of buildings were condemened in the areas where the extension is to be built.

Construction will begin in the middle of the route. Crews will start from 106th Place to 118th Street — including two new stations at 111th Street and Michigan Avenue — then from 99th Place to 106th Place along Eggleston Avenue, with a new station at 103rd Street.

From there, crews will complete the remaining segments from north to south:

• The existing 95th Street-Dan Ryan terminal to the Interstate 94/Interstate 57 interchange.
• Interstate 94 to 99th Place.
• 118th Street to 120th Place, including a bridge over the Metra Electric tracks.
• 120th Place to 132nd Street, including the new 130th Street-Altgeld Gardens terminal.

 Also

Much like the North Side’s Red-Purple Modernization project, two bridges for the Red Line Extension will incorporate pre-cast segments that will be built off-site. This will allow construction to be completed in a “much faster fashion” than traditional methods, Cheeseman said.
...
One resident asked project leaders to prioritize plant life along the extension route and at the four new Red Line stations.

The CTA and construction teams will return to neighborhoods near the new stations for public input sessions later this year, and residents can share their ideas for greenery, benches and other aspects of the station developments, said Tammy Chase, CTA director of communications.

I can't believe it, it's starting and very soon! 

ABC7Chgo: 'Next-level squatting': Chicago couple says squatters moved into home, state lawmaker taking action

 

[VIDEO] Next-level squatting?

Well these people were able to get into this house, so somehow they got keys. And according to this report there is a mortgage document that shows an address in the south suburbs not this city location - which wasn't established. 

What do you all think of this situation? Should the police have kicked these alledged squaters out in this situation with the evidence presented? Should there be a simpler process for situations like this?

Current pics of Jones Hamburgers

Snapped these shots on March 11, 2025. Just decided to walk along South Michigan just south of Harlan High School. I'm just curious what caused this building to get to this state. I'd rather there was a functioning business here and people living in the apartments upstairs.

This on the west side of Michigan near 98th Street.
 

This last pic below, this is the garage to this building with a Jeep outside of it. It's been there for as long as I can remember. Who owns it? In fact who owns the property?

May 2008: Mama J's #Ward09 #tbt

UPDATE March 27, 2025 - Earlier this month I snapped some shots along Michigan Avenue and will share the shot of this place at a later time. This building is boarded up currently, which is a shame. When I was in school a classmate lived in the apartments above and I had visited him occasionally. I knew another classmate - who's since passed away - who was said to be connected with the family that owned Mama J's. I only wonder what happened to the business and the family that owned it and how the building is now basically abandoned.

Originally posted to The Sixth Ward on May 14, 2008. And with some of the shots around Roseland Heights taken over the years I wouldn't mind trying to recreate some of these shots!
 This is near 98th and Michigan. Known for their Jones hamburgers. I haven't patronized this business in years and at that this was when I was much younger. I wish I could give you a review of how good the burgers and service was here.

Perhaps I might do that in the near future. I do know that this place didn't always look like this and that this place certainly doesn't have the window lettering it does now! It's been a while since I paid attention to this place.

Here's a shot of this place now!

Chicago Transit Tours: 103rd Street/Rosemoor Station Tour

 

[VIDEO] This video from Chicago Transit Tours is only one day old of the newly refurbished 103rd Street Metra Electric station. Officially the station is 103rd St./Rosemoor and the entrance is at the east corner of 103rd & Dauphin.

I like the more inviting entrance which is right off of Dauphin, as opposed to having the reach the platform under the viaduct as was the case for most of the Metra Electic stations on the south side. A platform where you can wait for a train in inclement weather, though you can also wait in an enclosed space on the platform or wait at street-level where you can either take an elevator or stairs to the platform.

Per another video about these Metra Electric station improvements shared on this blog earlier this month, these same improvements are coming to 95th and 87th. The necessary work at 79th Street had already been completed.

I have some other comments which I would share at a later date. However, these improvements might be great for those who prefer to take the Metra Electric for their commutes to and from downtown Chicago.