Woman defends herself at a bus stop in Fernwood #ChiMayor19

[VIDEO] Tuesday morning a woman was waiting for a bus near 103rd & Wallace and was forced to use her own conceal carry gun on a teenaged attacker. His attempt to claim a victim whatever his motives cost him his life. I don't like to read about the death of a teen, however, I'm glad that a woman had the wherewithal to not allow herself to be victimized.

You think someone like an Ed Burke - longtime Alderman of the 14th ward who was recently charged by federal authorities with extortion - cares whether or not you use a gun to protect yourself. Well it doesn't matter when federal authorities raided his offices they found 23 guns. Also bear in mind he usually had a police protection detail with him as well which he was stripped of once he resigned his powerful position as chair of the city council committee on finance.

Finally this is one of the more important issues in this year's mayoral campaign what you would've read on today's CapFax blog. An important issue for many Chicagoans, public safety.

Poll: Crime, public safety top list of Chicago voters’ concerns https://t.co/TZhOtsWNui

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) January 9, 2019

Not to say everyone owning a gun will protect each and every citizen, however, citizens are concerned. Why not empower citizens to defend themselves in the absence of police.

The new 95th terminal is now open... #Ward09 #BuildingwithBeale

The CTA terminal at 95th is 90% complete. The north terminal is now open as of Friday morning. As a result it gives me the excuse to share this article from the Tribune before the north terminal opened:

The $280 million project replaces the original 50-year-old rail and bus terminal at the southern end of the Red Line, which runs along the Dan Ryan Expressway. The station, one of the busiest on the CTA system, serves 20,000 daily commuters and sees about 1,000 CTA, Pace and Greyhound bus trips on an average weekday, CTA officials said.

The four-year station construction was also a necessary step in building the extension of the Red Line south to 130th Street, which is part of the agency’s long-range plan.

“This is a huge, huge accomplishment for the city of Chicago and the Far South Side,” said Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th. Beale said the station will be more user-friendly for bus, rail and pedestrian traffic and will draw business to the area.

The south terminal was completed last spring. Having two terminals eliminates the conflict between eastbound and westbound buses on 95th Street, allowing eastbound buses to use the south terminal and westbound buses to use the north terminal, CTA officials said. Previously, there was only a north terminal.

The new station includes a heated, glass-enclosed pedestrian bridge over 95th Street, connecting the north and south terminals and cutting down on conflicts between cars and people walking. The number of bus bays has increased to 26, from 12, CTA officials said.

The station also will have more turnstiles and Ventra vending machines, a longer train platform to reduce overcrowding, additional bike racks, and new signage.

“I think it’s a great lift to the community,” said Ald. Howard Brookins Jr., 21st. “It’s a beautiful station. It will spur additional economic development down 95th Street, and it will ease traffic going down that corridor.”

As for that future CTA Red Line extension:

The construction of the new station needed to be done before the Red Line can be extended to 130th Street, CTA officials said. Last year, the CTA picked a route for the extension, which will include four new rail stations. The agency is now preparing to complete the preliminary design and engineering work needed to pursue federal funding for the project.

You want to know the financial scale?

The cost of the station exceeds that of two recent big projects: the $203 million Wilson Street station rebuilding on the Red Line’s north branch and the $75 million Washington/Wabash station in the Loop. The 95th Street station construction was larger than the other projects and included track work in the rail yard at 98th Street, CTA officials said.

Finally seems like an unnecessary expense:

The new station, which has a distinctive red roof, will feature two new public art displays by Chicago native Theaster Gates. The south terminal will have a pair of tapestries made from the strips of decommissioned fire hoses that are sewn together, and the north terminal will include a radio station and DJ booth that will broadcast over the station’s public address system.

A DJ Booth and a radio station, really? Though I hear that there will be public bathrooms available. Still not sure about that idea of DJ at a transit terminal.

Regardless can't wait to see the finished project... 

Family of Thana Muhammad seeks her murderer #Ward09

[VIDEO] This is a pretty grisly story, Ms. Muhammad had just moved to 100th & Forest when her dismembered body was found in her home back in June. Her vehicle was stolen and abandoned on Chicago's west side where she previously lived. Who did this to the young lady?

Be careful out there everyone!

#fbf 111th Street & Michigan Avenue

The photo above was taken in 1907 and the building you see in the front foreground according to Chicago history blogger J.R. Schmidt remains at the corner of 111th & Michigan Avenue. If I recall correctly for many years it was a Walgreen's until that location moved across the street. Though now the former Walgreen's store on the north side of 111th Street is now a dollar store.

Of course the progress of time over the course of 111 years ago (111th street and 111 years ago hmmm), we see a lot of the buildings are no longer standing. And of course the city ran its last streetcar in 1958. Even better according to Schmidt who posted this late last month:

A century ago traffic was so light on this stretch of Michigan that small children could wander around aimlessly in the street—not advisable today, in the era of the automobile.

Yeah totally agree with that statement! Click the link to see the photo Schmidt took in 2018 of this same area.

Suspect linked to officers' death charged #Ward09 #PrayforCPD

[VIDEO] Well the suspect officers Gary & Marmolejo were chasing on railroad tracks when they were hit but a southbound South Shore commuter train has been charged.

Edward Brown, 24, of Chicago, is charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. He was scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Thursday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Calumet District Officers Eduardo Marmolejo and Conrad Gary had been called to an area near 103rd Street and Dauphin Avenue around 6:20 p.m. Monday after a ShotSpotter sensor picked up gunfire, police officials said. Marmolejo, 36, and Gary, 31, saw a suspect, got out of their car and scrambled up to the tracks, according to police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

When the officers stopped Brown and asked him if he was carrying anything illegal, he said, “Yes, I have a gun on me,” said Guglielmi. He said the officers confiscated a Kel-Tec handgun from Brown’s sweater pocket and Brown acknowledged firing the weapon on the tracks.

Brown told the officers he found the gun in an alley a few blocks away at 101st Street and Vernon Avenue and that he was “just testing it out,” Guglielmi said. Brown was then arrested and taken to a police station.

Guglielmi said that’s where the arresting officers learned Marmolejo and Gary had been fatally struck by the train.

Brown will not faces charges of murder despite his link to the deaths of these two officers. 

How did two officers miss seeing a train that hit them #Ward09 #PrayforCPD

[VIDEO] Check out yesterday's report from CBS 2. Megan Hickey retraces the steps of the two police officers who were hit by that South Shore line train on Monday night. They were chasing a suspect onto the railroad embankment and reportedly distracted by another train having never saw the train that hit them. It's unimaginable that there is a record of this from their body cam.

Also this was posted to Ald. Beale's fb page yesterday showing the image of the two officers from the Calumet - 5th District who lost their lives chasing the suspect on the railroad embankment at 103rd & Cottage Grove.

May officers Gary & Marmolejo R.I.P.

Two police officers hit and killed by train 103rd & Cottage Grove #Ward09

[VIDEO] I'm sorry to share this story not long after sharing another story about a police officer from the Calumet District who committed suicide in the district HQ parking lot back in September. If that suicide is any indication being a police officer is a very taxing job and we charge police with doing so much for our city. Especially insuring people who do very bad things are arrested and charged with their respective crimes.

To start two police officers identified as Eduardo Marmolejo and Conrad Gary were chasing a suspect when they were hit by a South Shore train near 103rd Street and Cottage Grove. While we do have the above video that aired on the local news how about a Block Club Chi write-up:

Two Chicago Police officers who chased a gunman onto Metra tracks in the Rosemoor neighborhood were hit and killed by a passing train Monday night, the latest tragedy to rock the Chicago Police Department.

Officers Eduardo Marmolejo, 37, and Conrad Gary, 31, died instantly when they were hit by the outbound South Shore train, which was traveling as fast at 70 mph, Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said.

Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the “devastating tragedy” happened on the tracks near 103rd and Cottage Grove.

The Calumet (5th) District officers, partners for the night, responded to a “ShotSpotter” automatic detection of gunshots at 101st and Dauphin just after 6 p.m. Monday.

A suspected gunman ran up the train embankment at 103rd and Cottage Grove, and the officers followed, Johnson said.

They were struck by the South Shore train at 6:21 p.m. on tracks owned by Metra.

“By doing the most dangerous thing any police officer can do, and that is to chase an individual with a gun, these brave young men were consumed with identifying a potential threat to their community and put the safety of others above their own,” Johnson said.

Furthermore:

The crowded train, part of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, had departed Chicago’s Millennium Station en route to Indiana. Investigators went through the train interviewing passengers before they were transferred to buses to finish their commute.

Johnson said a gun was found on the scene, and a “person of interest” was being questioned.

What's mentioned in this article are the other tragedies of the police department during the course of 2018. Especially the most recent death of a police officer during the Mercy Hospital shootings. Of course the suicide of police officers especially two who came from the same police district as the officers who were hit by that train.

Also I want to note that as dangerous a job being a police officer is, they have gotten a bad rap as there has been some bad publicity. However, let's not forget how being a police officer is a dangerous job and how much we need them to ultimately work to keep our neighborhoods safe.

ABC 7: Officer suicides spur Chicago police effort to break mental health stigma

[VIDEO] Story aired earlier this week on ABC 7 about the police officer who killed herself in the parking lot of the Calumet District on 111th Street. Her family talks about her and we hear from police superintendent Eddie Johnson who said he worked with Regine Perpignan.

 I wrote about this over at The Sixth Ward in September and said, "We have to treat them better than it seems we have been recently." I'm glad to hear the steps the police plan to take to normalize the notion that police officers need help. And it's great to know that counselors will be available to officer in the various districts.

Tribune: Mayor Rahm Emanuel floats port district land as Chicago casino location #Serving17

Even though Rahm Emanuel will only remain mayor until May 2019, he seems to be coming up with some proposals. He's still trying to use what's left of his political heft to come up with some ideas for the city:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday floated a port district site on the Far Southeast Side as the possible location for a Chicago casino, if state lawmakers finally grant the city the long-sought gambling palace.

In a meeting with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Emanuel noted his “love-hate” relationship with the idea of a casino but said if the city finally builds one it should be away from the Loop and McCormick Place. Instead, he said it should bring economic development to an area of the city that needs it, before floating an Illinois International Port District site near Pullman as “an example.”

The land, just off the 111th Street exit on the Bishop Ford Freeway, currently is home to the Harborside International golf course with some harbor operations and terminals nearby on Lake Calumet. The port district that owns the land is a joint city-state entity.

“If you go down to the port authority where the golf course is, there’s enough land there for both a hotel and a casino,” Emanuel said. “That would be a big boon economically to the Southeast Side of the city.”

Emanuel made the remarks on the same day he gave a speech to aldermen on his recommendations to address the city’s pension funding shortfalls moving forward. The mayor’s plan included revenue from a proposed Chicago casino as part of the answer.

Personally I'm with this, who says a proposed casino has to be in or near downtown Chicago. Put one in a neighborhood that's struggling. In this case Pullman, and then again hopefully there are other proposals.

However, to be honest it seems like forever that there's been discussions of a Chicago casino that seems to have a tendency to fall through. So perhaps deciding on a site or finally building one will still take years. Wait and see I suppose.

h/t to state Sen. Elgie Sims FB page hence why I used the #Serving17 hashtag.

 

103rd & Michigan back in the day #tbt

Man I can't believe this is 103rd & Michigan as it appeared in 1940, 78 years ago. Hmm just like another old photo of 93rd & Jeffrey which is also from 78 years ago - both provided by Chicago History Today. Here's what the blogmaster there J.R. Schmidt wrote in March 2017:

In 1848 Dutch farmers established Roseland’s first permanent settlement, along what’s now the Michigan Avenue ridge.  By 1940 much of the area was built up.  However, aside from a few older homes, this particular stretch of 103rd Street remained vacant, zoned for business.  The rise in the street to the ridge is visible in the foreground.

Of course you can go to that post to see a more recent photo and it's almost like night & day. When you think about it, there is an old photo of Bennett School - which unfortunately is lost for now - that shows that school surrounded by undeveloped land. I can imagine it fits this image from 78 years ago. The above vantage point is no more than two blocks away from Prairie which is the street Bennett is located.

93rd & Jeffrey and 103rd & Michigan it's funny both photos contain a streetcar.