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Saturday, October 7, 2017

Annual summit: State of education in our community


My apologies if this is entirely last minute as this event occurs today! Not sure why I didn't allow myself an opportunity to post this when I first got the email for it, but here we are.
  • Let's Talk About What's Happening at the Schools in Our Communities!

    THE WEST CHESTERFIELD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION PRESENTS

    An Annual Summit on  "THE STATE OF EDUCATION  IN OUR COMMUNITY"

    Invited Guests:

    Dr. Michelle Willis, Principal
    Gillespie Technology Magnet Cluster Elementary School

    Mrs. Ramona Fannings-Outlaw, Principal
    Harlan Community Academy High School
    Mr. Jeffery Dase, Network Chief
    Network 12 (confirmed)

    Mrs. LaTanya McDade
    Chief of Teaching and Learning

    Dr. Janice Jackson
    Chief Educational Officer

    Dr. Rachel Lindsey (confirmed)
    Interim President, Chicago State University

    Guest Speaker

    Mr. Troy LaRaviere, President of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association will be our guest speaker. Mr. LaRaviere has been a regular critic of CPS, however, he provides very illuminating facts as to the state of education throughout the city of Chicago and the comparison with the charter schools, as well as the State of Illinois.

    What?

    Prepare for the conversation with CPS officials regarding the continuing tenuous status of the Harlan H.S. Local School Council.

    Where?

    Looking forward to seeing you at the Community Center on Saturday, 9351 S. Michigan,Chicago, IL. Remember, Michigan Ave. has permit parking; please park on the east-west streets.
Also
  • If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sharon Banks-Pincham, WCCA Education Chair at [redacted] (cell) or respond to this email address sherry8750 @ yahoo.com.



Friday, September 29, 2017

CTA celebrates 70 years

On Sunday in downtown Chicago there will be activities and will include rides on vintage CTA vehicles, especially buses and trains. You can see more details here. Posters marking CTA's 70th anniversary will be handed out at a "Community Connection" bus and at select CTA stations you will find a commemorative Ventra paper ticket. The ig post below from CTA shows an example of the poster.
Many of us take CTA for granted and yes even complains about the service or even the projects that slow down our commutes. At the same time it's a vital part of getting around our city, as easily as the streets and expressways and especially more recently our bicycles.

Monday, September 25, 2017

9th ward meeting with Ald. Beale on Tuesday

This meeting for ward 9 residents is tomorrow Sept. 26, 2017 from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM to be located at

Pullman Presbyterian Church
550 E. 103rd St.
Chicago, IL 60628

Of course if you want more info call Ald. Beale's office at 773.785.1100

Also refer to flyer below.


Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Tomorrow is the last day for the #SeawayBank farmer's market

Division of Self-Help FCU
It was started back up early last month and on Wednesday that's it for the year! Here's hoping they return with fresh produce for local residents next year!

Thursday, September 14, 2017

A new sidewalk near the coming Whole Foods Market disribution center in Pullman

Last year I took a walk along 111th Street towards the Pullman Walmart store and noted the lack of a sidewalk. This was not long after the announced Whole Foods Distribution Center was unveiled. If you have plenty of workers - who may be taking public transportation - at a facility that is presumably 24/7 this spot isn't very accessible.
Photo taken in April 2016
Now with other amenities coming and plans for other warehouses to come to the former site of a steel mill near the site of the Walmart anchored shopping center near 111th/Doty we now get a sidewalk. No more stepping on mud or stepping into the street! I'm sorry that these pics were taken at dusk and that you get an east and west shot here.
Photos taken Sept. 2017
From this particular evening there are more photos to come which hopefully will be see on @thesixthward instagram account.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Update on the planning for CTA Red Line extension

CTA Red Line extension
Recently got an update with regards to where the Chicago Transit Authority is currently with the planned Red Line extension south from 95th Street to 130th St. near Altgeld Gardens. You can read a two sheet update here from their official website.

With this in mind there are two videos with regards to the extension which in my opinion is beneficial to the far south side of Chicago. However, what I strive to do on this blog is to be fair and the first video is a local homeowner who is opposed to the Red Line extension because it's construction means the destruction of homes as far as whatever alignment the CTA will choose.

This first video is courtesy of The Chicago Reporter - and posted to YouTube in December 2016 - and shows commentary by Shari Henry who opposes the extension as the project could threaten her family home. We see a drive around through the communities that are affected by this proposed project. As I may hope there could be further development Henry uses 95th as a guide with little business development around the 95th Terminal. [VIDEO]
The next video shows a proposal for the revitalization of the intersection at 115th & Michigan - although yeah they refer to this as 116th & Michigan. This is geared towards transit oriented development with mixed use buildings that hopefully will include storefronts, low-income housing, a grand entrance to the nearby L station, and greenspace to be used for community events. Seems like a great plan that should be considered even if it must be refined. The video was posted to YouTube in May 2017. [VIDEO]
Here's yet another video which was posted to YouTube in Dec. 2012 - 4 years ahead of The Chicago Reporter video with Shari Henry. Of course this is a video that is in favor of the Red Line extension to 130th Street and certainly wants us to know the benefits of building this extension. An hour commute to downtown Chicago for cultural, education, or even jobs. The far south side won't be so disconnected or it won't take so long to take advantage of all the opportunities the city of Chicago has to offer. [VIDEO]
Forgot to add the above video was before the 2013 Red Line south reconstruction and before the current redevelopment of the 95th Red Line terminal.

What you see below is the project development phase which is the final environmental impact statement and record of decision as far as the Red Line alignment along the Union Pacific Railroad route. I suppose this means which side of the tracks will have their properties impacted which is also explained in the two-page report from CTA.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Tribune: Planned warehouses could bring thousands of jobs to Pullman

On Wednesday @thesixthward on instagram reposted a screen cap that is a rendering of the future warehouses expected to come near 103rd/Stony Island provided by this Chicago Tribune article. As a matter of fact, these warehouses will be closer to 111th Street near the Walmart. Below I will share the post provided by Ian Lantz who owns The Pullman Cafe.
A post shared by Ian Lantz (@ianlantzart) on

And now onto the article itself which lays out future development in Pullman:
Minneapolis-based developer Ryan Cos. and nonprofit community developer Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives said they plan multiple industrial buildings totaling as much as 1.2 million square feet on land immediately north of the Whole Foods facility. U.S. Bank, which owns the land, is also involved in the project.

The exact number of jobs will depend on the type of tenants that lease space, but the project could potentially create as many as thousands of jobs, according to 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale.

"This is the culmination of a lot of our work to bring more jobs to the community," said David Doig, president of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives. "In the last 30 to 40 years this area has lost tens of thousands of jobs, which has been a source of the area's decline. Jobs are important in rebuilding the area."

Construction of the more than 50-acre complex, called Pullman Crossings, could begin by next summer, said Tim Hennelly, Ryan's president for the Great Lakes region.

The warehouses will be along 103rd Street and Woodlawn Avenue, just west of Interstate 94 and Harborside International Golf Center.

Warehouses are the latest phase of the larger, 180-acre Pullman Park development to replace a former Ryerson Steel plant. Previous phases brought in the nearby Method Products soap factory and Gotham Greens rooftop greenhouse.

The community, which once had a dearth of shopping options, also has been boosted in recent years by a Walmart store and other retail, including Ross Dress for Less and Planet Fitness.
Tribune Graphics provided an illustration of the expected development.
There is of course more to come beyond these warehouses to come near the Walmart in Pullman:
Other construction in the area includes the 135,000-square-foot Pullman Community Center at 103rd and Woodlawn and retail buildings at 111th Street and Doty Avenue, where a Potbelly sandwich shop, a bakery and a dry cleaner will open later this year.

A visitors center to the Pullman National Monument, created in 2015 by the federal government to commemorate the neighborhood's rail-car-making past, will open in 2019, Doig said.
...
Other construction in the area includes the 135,000-square-foot Pullman Community Center at 103rd and Woodlawn and retail buildings at 111th Street and Doty Avenue, where a Potbelly sandwich shop, a bakery and a dry cleaner will open later this year.

A visitors center to the Pullman National Monument, created in 2015 by the federal government to commemorate the neighborhood's rail-car-making past, will open in 2019, Doig said.
...
The exact number of warehouses will be determined by the preferences of tenants, although the developers may decide to build without leases signed by next summer, Hennelly said. The combined cost of the warehouses could range from $50 million to $90 million, depending on the uses, he said.

Government incentives including tax increment financing, enterprise zone tax breaks and the federal New Markets Tax Credit program could fund about one-third of the warehouse development's cost, Doig said.
Here's hoping these developments will prove to be a boon for Pullman and Roseland.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Another property tax increase coming soon...

Chicago Board of Education
Remember during the 2015 municipal elections where I expressed support for an elected school board - though my idea was a hybrid with both appointed and elected members? Well we need to get to work on this idea especially if Gov. Bruce Rauner signs legislation that sets up another property tax increase here in Chicago that would be approved not by Chicago Aldermen, but by the appointed Chicago board of education.

Tapped-out Chicago property owners would face yet another tax hit for teacher pensions — but their aldermen would escape another difficult vote — under a historic new statewide school funding deal now headed to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk.

That “compromise” bill — approved by Illinois lawmakers this week — authorizes the Chicago Board of Education, comprised of mayoral appointees, to impose a property-tax hike worth $125 million without any involvement whatsoever from the Chicago City Council, whose members are elected.

The Board of Education does indeed plan to approve the increase, enabling the Chicago Public Schools to walk away with a total of $450 million in new state and local money for the 2017-18 school year once Rauner puts his signature on the bill, school officials said.

Rauner plans a bill-signing ceremony on Thursday, his office said.

It’s unclear when the city’s school board will take up the property-tax increase.

This hike would amount to a 2.5 percent increase in the tax bill for an average Chicago homeowner. The owner of a home worth $200,000 would pay an additional $83 in property taxes, records show.
It brings to mind a recent column written by John Ruberry of Marathon Pundit
In Chicago it’s great to be part of the ruling class. But Chicago’s roads are crumbling, barely one out of four of its students in its government schools read at grade level, its bond rating is the lowest among major cities, and businesses lack confidence in Chicago and Illinois as a whole. If you are part of Chicago’s ruling class you might view high taxes as a downpayment on your next paycheck or your retirement, but Chicagoans endure the nation’s highest sales tax rate and they were slugged with the highest property tax increase in the city’s history to fund public-worker pensions.

Yet Chicago’s public pensions are the worst-funded among America’s biggest cities--at a rate of just 25 percent of its obligations. But the cruel joke may be on these well-compensated public-servants. Despite the strong pension protection clause in the Illinois constitution, a pension “haircut” seems unavoidable for retirees. Michigan has similar wording it its constitution, yet Detroit municipal retirees saw their pension checks cut after the Motor City declared bankruptcy.
h/t Newsalert

BTW, what you see in that Newsalert post is a screencap of the Sun-Times front page which is what I share now.
 

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

West Chesterfield moves up on leader board State Farm neighborhood assist

From The Chicago Neighborhoods
We got an e-mail recently from West Chesterfield's Michael LaFargue
  • THANK those who have voted! and ask PLEASE VOTE TODAY, TOMORROW, THURSDAY and FRIDAY!

    UPDATE!
    We have moved up on the Leader Board to #145. We need to be at #40.

    VOTE:
    GO TO: www.neighborhoodassist.com
    SIGN UP: name, personal email…
    SEARCH: type in West Chesterfield
    VOTE: Today *
    VOTE: Daily **

    Please help the West Chesterfield Community Association Inc. win a $25,000 State Farm "Safety" Surveillance Camera Grant!

    Only the "The forty (40) Causes earning the highest number of votes by 11:59:59 P.M. ET, Friday, August 25, 2017 will be designated the winners"
Also there was a press release attached to this e-mail which includes reference to Cook County Judge Raymond Myles who had been murdered this past spring. The private surveillance camera network of West Chesterfield was instrumental in capturing his killers.


Let's support West Chesterfield in their efforts!

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Seaway Bank Farmer's Market Aug. 2nd to Sept. 20th, 2017

Seaway Bank as a division of Self-Help FCU is hosting a farmer's market every Wednesday from Aug. 2 to Sept. 20, 2017 from 9 AM to 2 PM. at the main branch located at 645 E. 87th Street. Refer to flyer below for more details or click this link for a printable flyer.